Abstract: An image forming apparatus of the present invention has a scanner unit for obtaining text data by scanning a document, an external storage device for, if the text data obtained by the scanner unit are confidential, saving the confidential text data on an attachable/detachable medium, an internal storage device for temporarily saving the confidential text data, a device for deleting the confidential text data after a first predetermined time has elapsed since a point of time when the confidential text data were temporarily saved on the internal storage device, and a control unit for controlling the whole of the image forming apparatus. The internal storage device can be utilized as a device for temporarily saving the confidential document. The system further includes a password registration module for registering user names and passwords.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus has a forming mechanism (6) forming, upon receipt of a sort printing instruction, an image on a plurality of recording media based on given image information, a sensor (29) for detecting an empty state of each bin in a sorter, a control circuit (12) for judging whether or not to feed the plurality of recording media as an additional print output into bins based on a result of this detection, and an output mechanism (21) for, if it is judged that this can be done, allows the recording media to be fed as an additional print output into the corresponding bins in the sorter, in which whether or not the recording media can be additionally print-outputted is automatically judged, for example, under the condition that the former user and current user is the same person and printing can be carried out in a sort mode.