An image printing apparatus including a communication interface, a printer, a user interface including an operation panel, a controller configured to control the printer and the user interface is provided. The controller is configured to receive preliminary data sent from an information processing apparatus through the communication interface; control the printer to perform a warm-up action; receive job data including image data through the communication interface; control the user interface to perform a receipt-notification and control the printer to start printing based on the image data; during a period from the receipt of the preliminary data until start of receiving the job data, withhold from accepting a cancellation command sent in response to user entering a cancellation operation; and after the start of receiving the job data, accept the cancellation command and cancel printing of the image based on the job data associated with to the entered cancellation command.

An image forming apparatus includes a print device, a communication device, a print executing circuit, a job managing circuit, and an another-apparatus transmitting circuit. The print device executes print on a recording medium. The communication device performs communications. The print executing circuit causes the print device to perform a print job addressing a first port number received by the communication device. The job managing circuit manages a print job addressing a second port number received by the communication device. The second port number is different from the first port number. The another-apparatus transmitting circuit transmits the print job managed by the job managing circuit to another image forming apparatus upon request from the other image forming apparatus via the communication device.

Delaying processing based on received commands is suppressed while preventing executing parallel processes involving operation of hardware. Servers can send printing commands and non-printing commands to a printing device. When a printing command is received from a first server and a printing command is then received from another server different from the first server while a process based on the printing command received from the first server is executing, the printing device does not execute the process based on the printing command received from the other server; but if a non-printing command is received from another server, the printing device executes a process based on the non-printing command received from the other server parallel to the process based on the printing command received from the first server.

An image printing apparatus including a communication interface, a printer, a user interface including an operation panel, a controller configured to control the printer and the user interface is provided. The controller is configured to receive preliminary data sent from an information processing apparatus through the communication interface; control the printer to perform a warm-up action; receive job data including image data through the communication interface; control the user interface to perform a receipt-notification and control the printer to start printing based on the image data; during a period from the receipt of the preliminary data until start of receiving the job data, withhold from accepting a cancellation command sent in response to user entering a cancellation operation; and after the start of receiving the job data, accept the cancellation command and cancel printing of the image based on the job data associated with to the entered cancellation command.

A tandem type image forming system includes a first image forming apparatus, and a second image forming apparatus connected in series to the first image forming apparatus and located on a downstream side in a sheet conveyance direction with respect to the first image forming apparatus. The tandem type image forming system has a controller which shortens a second sheet interval when conveying a plurality of consecutive sheets from the first image forming apparatus to the second image forming apparatus than a first sheet interval when conveying the plurality of consecutive sheets from the second image forming apparatus to a post processing apparatus connected to the second image forming apparatus.

An image forming apparatus includes: a processor that analyzes printable data to generate rendering data, renders the rendering data to generate image data, and acquires the number of pages of the image data, supplies the printable data to one or more external image forming apparatuses, and acquires, from each external image forming apparatuses, the number of pages of image data generated by the corresponding external image forming apparatus by analyzing the printable data to generate rendering data and rendering the generated rendering data, sorts the information processing apparatus itself and the one or more external image forming apparatuses into one or more groups of the same number of pages, and determines whether or not the information processing apparatus itself belongs to a group having the largest number of image forming apparatuses, and outputs the generated image data where the information processing apparatus itself belongs to the group.

A printer includes a first receiver, a second receiver, a specifying unit, and a printing unit. The first receiver receives, from any of at least one print instruction information holding device that holds print instruction information giving instructions to print, specific print instruction information associated with a first identifier and instructing the printer to print. The second receiver receives, from a print settings information holding device that holds print settings information indicating settings for printing, specific print settings information associated with a second identifier and indicating settings for printing by the printer. The specifying unit, on the basis of the first identifier and the second identifier, specifies the specific print settings information as print settings information corresponding to the specific print instruction information. The printing unit uses the specific print settings information to conduct printing based on the specific print instruction information.

An image printing apparatus including a communication interface, a printer, a user interface including an operation panel, a controller configured to control the printer and the user interface is provided. The controller is configured to receive preliminary data sent from an information processing apparatus through the communication interface; control the printer to perform a warm-up action; receive job data including image data through the communication interface; control the user interface to perform a receipt-notification and control the printer to start printing based on the image data; during a period from the receipt of the preliminary data until start of receiving the job data, withhold from accepting a cancellation command sent in response to user entering a cancellation operation; and after the start of receiving the job data, accept the cancellation command and cancel printing of the image based on the job data associated with to the entered cancellation command.

Delaying processing based on received commands is suppressed while preventing executing parallel processes involving operation of hardware. Servers can send printing commands and non-printing commands to a printing device. When a printing command is received from a first server and a printing command is then received from another server different from the first server while a process based on the printing command received from the first server is executing, the printing device does not execute the process based on the printing command received from the other server; but if a non-printing command is received from another server, the printing device executes a process based on the non-printing command received from the other server parallel to the process based on the printing command received from the first server.

An image printing apparatus including a communication interface, a printer, a user interface including an operation panel, a controller configured to control the printer and the user interface is provided. The controller is configured to receive preliminary data sent from an information processing apparatus through the communication interface; control the printer to perform a warm-up action; receive job data including image data through the communication interface; control the user interface to perform a receipt-notification and control the printer to start printing based on the image data; during a period from the receipt of the preliminary data until start of receiving the job data, withhold from accepting a cancellation command sent in response to user entering a cancellation operation; and after the start of receiving the job data, accept the cancellation command and cancel printing of the image based on the job data associated with to the entered cancellation command.