Text data is acquired from print request data, print content is expressed as raster data and print data is generated using a printer command based on the print request data, the acquired text data is added to the print data using the command, and the print data is sent with the text data to the printer.

A script language compatible with HTML is used to define methods or objects capable of communicating directly with an intelligent module for printing operations without going through a web browser's print selection option. A print API library provides the needed methods/objects for creating an HTML print document, and converting it to raster image data using a user-selected conversion method. The intelligent module may function to provide a communication bridge for conveying communication between a web page on a user terminal and a target printer. The print API knows the IP address of the intelligent module, and sends a created print document directly to the intelligent module by means of the known IP address. The API may be part of an application that provides tools for visually creating or editing an HTML document without the user knowing how to program in HTML.

A terminal uses a web application to control a printer on a network. The web application includes an API that permits the terminal to send instruction and inquiries to the printer over the network. The terminal submits, to the API, the printer's IP address and instructions for defining a print document or printer commands. The API then sends the print document or printer commands to the printer in accordance with the IP address. In this manner, the terminal can request status updates without sending a print job to the printer. The terminal sets the printer's ID address, identifies a type of status event inquiry, and submits the inquiry to receive the printer's current status related to the identified status event. To submit a print job, the terminal creates a print document using the API, sets the printer's ID address, and sends the print document as a print job to be printed.

An image forming apparatus includes a sheet conveying portion, an image data outputting portion, a plurality of buffer memories, an image forming portion, and a timing control portion. At least one of the plurality of buffer memories corresponding to at least one predetermined channel among the plurality of color channels other than a head color channel is configured to store image data of two different pages individually. After the image data outputting portion starts outputting image data of the first page to the buffer memory corresponding to the predetermined channel, the image data outputting portion starts outputting image data of the second page to the buffer memory regardless of whether or not the image data of the first page has been read from the buffer memory.

A control server is configured to: receive, through a communication interface, a guidance image data request and specific information which are transmitted from an image processing apparatus, the guidance image data request being a request for guidance image data representing a guidance image of an acquiring procedure for acquiring authentication information required for receiving service provided by a service providing server connected to the image processing apparatus through the network; determining location information representing a location of data to be accessed in the acquiring procedure, based on the specific information transmitted from the image processing apparatus; generating the guidance image data representing the guidance image including the location information determined by the location information determining processing, when the guidance image data request is received from the image processing apparatus; and transmitting the guidance image data to the image processing apparatus through the communication interface.

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention performs image processing on image data in units of pages stored in a page memory on the basis of parameter setting, transferring the image data to a buffer at a first speed, transmitting the image data, which is read out from the buffer at a second speed, to an image forming unit, and executing parameter setting for image processing performed when image data for a subsequent page is transferred after the image data for a single page has been transferred but before image data for the subsequent page is started to be transferred, wherein the first speed is faster than a second speed.

Disclosed are printing devices and methods that accommodate the use of multiple different output color modes and, thereby multiple different output color profiles and that support user selection of any of the profiles for printing different logical pages on a single print surface. Consequently, they do not require a user to trade off between a desire to achieve a particular result in an image on one logical page, wherein the particular result is only achievable with an extended gamut profile, and a desire to avoid the higher cost associated with unnecessarily using the extended gamut profile to print a different image on a different logical page on the same print surface. Thus, the printing devices and methods provide for rendering of both standard and enhanced quality images on the same print surface in accordance with user selections and for minimizing costs associated with printing (e.g., due to excessive colorant usage).

Text data is acquired from print request data, print content is expressed as raster data and print data is generated using a printer command based on the print request data, the acquired text data is added to the print data using the command, and the print data is sent with the text data to the printer.

A control server is configured to: receive, through a communication interface, a guidance image data request and specific information which are transmitted from an image processing apparatus, the guidance image data request being a request for guidance image data representing a guidance image of an acquiring procedure for acquiring authentication information required for receiving service provided by a service providing server connected to the image processing apparatus through the network; determining location information representing a location of data to be accessed in the acquiring procedure, based on the specific information transmitted from the image processing apparatus; generating the guidance image data representing the guidance image including the location information determined by the location information determining processing, when the guidance image data request is received from the image processing apparatus; and transmitting the guidance image data to the image processing apparatus through the communication interface.

A script language compatible with HTML is used to define methods or objects capable of communicating directly with an intelligent module for printing operations without going through a web browser's print selection option. A print API library provides the needed methods/objects for creating an HTML print document, and converting it to raster image data using a user-selected conversion method. The intelligent module may function to provide a communication bridge for conveying communication between a web page on a user terminal and a target printer. The print API knows the IP address of the intelligent module, and sends a created print document directly to the intelligent module by means of the known IP address. The API may be part of an application that provides tools for visually creating or editing an HTML document without the user knowing how to program in HTML.