In a printing apparatus, a controller is configured to: receive compressed image data created by compressing image data for pages; store the compressed image data into a memory; read the compressed image data to determine the number of pages contained in the compressed image data without decompressing the compressed image data; register page jobs for the respective pages; create print data based on image data corresponding respectively to the registered page jobs and output the created print data; determine whether there is a next page job based on the registered page jobs each time when the created print data is output; and when the controller determines that there is the next page job, drive a drive device to start rotating a supply roller before completion of printing on a sheet for the current page job.

An extension computing device connects to a printing device using a fast data transfer connector to enable additional functionality and capabilities to support the printing device. Print jobs and other tasks may be performed in the extension computing device so that the printing device addresses more important tasks in real time. The extension computing device receives and processes a print job without the need to engage the printing device or its engine. The print job then may be stored in the extension computing device until it is printed on demand by the printing device. Other applications also may be located in the extension computing device. An extension engine performs tasks to determine when to process the print job in the extension computing device. The extension computing device includes a processor, a print job manager, a storage, an operating system, and input/output capabilities.

A print processor is provided and executes layout processing excluding reduction processing in accordance with at least a determination that a print setting causing the reduction processing is made as a print setting, and notifies a printer driver of information about the layout processing excluding the reduction processing. The printer driver scales, upon reception of the information about the layout processing excluding the reduction processing from the print processor, rendering data subjected to the layout processing excluding the reduction processing by the print processor based on a parameter included in the notified information, and generates print data to be transmitted to a printing apparatus, based on the scaled rendering data.

A method is provided of digitally imaging a secure portion and a non-secure portion of scratch-off-coating protected documents of at least one game using middleware. The method includes: (a) generating the secure variable indicia in non-vector raster format; (b) generating vector graphics to be imaged on physical document locations; (c) assigning the secure variable indicia in a non-vector raster format to documents in and shuffling the documents throughout a print run; and (d) linking via middleware the secure variable indicia in the non-vector raster format to associated vector graphics variable indicia to be digitally imaged on the documents and to generate vector graphics-formatted data for each document in the print run. The secure variable indicia assignment and shuffling are executed by non-vector raster game generation software output that is reinterpreted by the middleware to produce related vector graphic output for the secure variable indicia.

An image generation-output control apparatus for controlling an image generation and output operation based on an instruction received from a server in an image processing system. The server includes a first memory to store first image processing data applicable to an image processing for outputting a target image, first circuitry to generate first image drawing information based on output target image information and the first image processing data when performing an image forming operation. The image generation-output control apparatus includes second circuitry, having one or more capabilities compatible with one or more capabilities of the first circuitry of the server. The second circuitry generates second image drawing information based on the output target image information and the first image processing data acquired from the server, and instructs an image forming apparatus to perform an image forming operation based on the generated second image drawing information.

When an input device accepts specification of a storage destination, a processor in an information processing apparatus analyzes a printing description file stored at the storage destination. The processor makes a display display the number of sheets required for printing the printing description file. The printing description file contains data temporarily stored at the storage destination before it is transmitted to an image forming apparatus. The printing description file contains data which is generated by converting a file and which describes printing content using a command.

An image forming apparatus includes a power supply part that supplies electronic power in two different power modes (first and second modes), a communication part that includes a transmitting and receiving part that receives a network packet in the both modes, and a determination part that stores filter information and determines whether or not the network packet matches one of filter settings, a determination control part that performs a rewrite operation to repeatedly rewrite the filter information while running in the second mode, a power supply control part that transits the power mode of the power supply part from the second mode to the first mode based on a determination result of the determination part, a packet transmitting and receiving part that receives the network packet supplied from the transmitting and receiving part in the first mode and stops an operation of itself in the second mode, and an image forming part stops an operation of itself in the second mode.

A server apparatus includes: a storage device configured to store a resolution table, the resolution table being configured to record a plurality of image forming apparatuses having different resolutions, the resolutions of the image forming apparatuses respectively, and information processing abilities of the image forming apparatuses respectively, in association with each other; and a processor configured to operate as a printable data obtaining unit, an intermediate data creating unit, an image forming apparatus selecting unit, an intermediate data supplying unit, a rasterized data obtaining unit, a pull-print receiving unit, a resolution determining unit, and a pull-print data supplying unit.

A method and apparatus for printing a scheduled print job by a printing device connected to a client device over a network. The method includes transmitting, by the client device, a request to print the scheduled print job to the printing device. The scheduled print job include print data and schedule data corresponding to a scheduled time the print data is to be printed. The printing device obtains the print job from cloud storage or from local storage depending on a storage selection indicator, and executes the scheduled print job at the scheduled time. A determination is made as to whether the scheduled print job was printed successfully at the scheduled time. Further, a message indicating whether the scheduled print job was printed successfully, based on the determination, is sent to a predetermined device.

The present application relates to a method performed at an electronic device for parsing tables in a PDF document. The method includes the following steps: receiving the PDF document containing a table area; extracting horizontal lines, vertical lines and text blocks in the table area; determining the types of tables in the table area according to the extracted horizontal lines and vertical lines; if the table is a quasi full-line table, determining the structure of the quasi full-line table in the table area according to the horizontal lines and the vertical lines in the table area with the assistance of the text blocks in the table area; and if the table is a quasi non-line table, determining the structure of the quasi non-line table in the table area according to the text blocks in the table area with the assistance of the horizontal lines and/or the vertical lines in the table area.