A toner cartridge including a carrier container in which one surface needed for discharge of carriers faces a toner discharge outlet, an image forming apparatus, and a method for controlling the image forming apparatus are provided. The toner cartridge includes a case, a toner container in the case so as to contain the toners; a toner outlet disposed over the case so as to discharge the container toner to the outside; and a carrier container including carriers therein such that one surface of the carrier container, through which the included carriers are discharged, is arranged to face the toner outlet.

In an image forming apparatus, an image scanning device scans a document image of a document. An image type identifying unit identifies a type of the scanned document image. An operation detecting unit detects an image quality adjustment operation by a user. A preview processing unit selects one of whole preview displaying and partial preview displaying on the basis of the type of the document image and a type of the image quality adjustment operation, and performs the selected whole preview displaying or partial preview displaying. The whole preview displaying indicates a whole of the document image, and the partial preview displaying indicates a part of the document image at a higher resolution than a resolution of the whole preview displaying. An image processing unit performs image quality adjustment of the document image according to the detected image quality adjustment operation.

A printing apparatus capable of conveying sheets to a sheet processing apparatus and to control the type of a sheet to be used as a cover sheet in a case where a book bound product is generated by switching back sheets each having an image printed, inverting the sheets and folding the inverted sheets, and to notify an error to a user based on the type of a sheet to be used as the cover sheet in a case where printing an image on the cover sheet is designated.

An image forming apparatus includes a generating unit, a print instruction providing unit, and a display. The generating unit generates print data of a sample sheet if a request for outputting the sample sheet is received while print data formed of plural pages is being generated. The print instruction providing unit provides a print instruction for the print data of the sample sheet after providing a print instruction for the print data that has been generated. The display displays, based on the print data of the sample sheet, an attribute of the sample sheet.

An image forming apparatus includes a control portion. The control portion executes a print step, a determination step, a setting step, and a resuming step. In the print step, a print process is executed in which images of pages are printed in sequence based on image data including the pages. In the determination step, in a case where the print process has been suspended, it is determined whether a cause of the suspension of the print process is a particular cause. In the setting step, in a case where it has determined that the cause of the suspension of the print process is the particular cause, the resumption page is set in accordance with a user operation. In the resuming step, the print process is resumed from the resumption page set in the setting step.

An image processing apparatus comprises an image decoloring unit, an image forming unit, a heater and a control unit. The image decoloring unit decolors an image formed on a sheet with a decolorable color material by heating the sheet. The image forming unit forms an image on a sheet with a decolorable color material. The heater thermally fixes the image formed by the image forming unit on the sheet. The control unit carries out a control processing so that the formation of an image with a decolorable color material is different before and after a specified time elapses from the moment the image decoloring unit completes a decoloring processing.

An image forming apparatus including a conveying unit conveying a continuous paper; an image forming unit forming an image on an image carrier and printing the image on the continuous paper conveyed by the conveying unit; and a control unit controlling the image forming apparatus; wherein when a progress state of the image forming apparatus reaches a reference, the control unit performs a maintenance operation by forming an image for maintenance on the image carrier of the image forming unit, after interrupting the printing based on a job when the job is being executed, and when the job is to be executed, the control unit determines whether the progress state of the image forming apparatus exceeds the reference before the job is completed prior to the maintenance operation, and, when the progress state exceeds the reference, issues an alarm regarding the interruption of the printing based on the job.

An image forming apparatus includes a storage unit, an input unit, and a control unit. The storage unit stores therein organizational department codes previously set one corresponding to each of organizational departments for an organizational department member to use the image forming apparatus, a guest department code, which is previously set for department management guests, who do not belong to any of the organizational departments, to use the image forming apparatus, and department function management information for managing function-use permission/prohibition with respect to each of the organizational department codes and the guest department code. The input unit receives an input regarding whether a user is an organizational department member or a department management guest. On receiving a use request from a department management guest via the input unit, the control unit finds an available function based on the guest department code and the department function management information.

An image forming apparatus includes a document reader, a storage for storing image data, an image output unit and a control unit. The control unit includes: a function setup controller for setting up the image output conditions of output images; and a control-unit side controller having a function of displaying a function setup screen corresponding to the function setup controller, on a display panel. The function setup controller has an additional input mode having a function of reading documents a multiple number of times to form multiple sheaves of documents. The additional input mode includes: an individual setup function of setting up individual image output conditions for each sheaf of documents and an all-in setup function of setting up identical image output conditions for all sheaves of documents. When the additional input mode is set up, the control unit-side controller offers a display of a setup change suggestion of the image output conditions for the next input on the display screen at the stage where the first image data input has been completed.

An image forming apparatus with a detachable fixing device capable of managing a plurality of detachable fixing devices appropriately according to usages etc. A receiving unit receives a character string input through an operation screen. A storage unit stores the input character string in association with identification information about a fixing device. An obtaining unit obtains the identification information about the fixing device attached to the image forming apparatus. A display control unit displays the character string that is stored by the storage unit in association with the identification information obtained by the obtaining unit on a display unit.