An apparatus includes a setting unit and a control unit. The setting unit performs a first print setting indicating a poster printing function that divides a single piece of image data into a plurality of pieces of image data and generates print jobs, and a second print setting indicating a correction function for correcting calculated gray values when an image processing apparatus converts a plurality of pieces of color image data to grayscale, based on a number of colors acquired from each of the plurality of pieces of color image data. The control unit restricts the setting unit from performing the first print setting and the second print setting. In a state where one of the first print setting and the second print setting is performed by the setting unit, the control unit controls the setting unit not to perform the other print setting.

A data state manager may include a production intent module to define a production intent, a capability module to identify a number of capabilities of a plurality of media printing devices to which the data state manager is coupled, and a data stream module to, through a plurality of communication links to the media printing devices, stream a plurality of data streams to the plurality of media printing devices in a synchronized manner based on a number of characteristics of the streamed data and the identified capabilities of the media printing devices, with the data streams defining the production intent.

A self-organizing, distributed printing system utilizes a plurality of digital front ends coupled to to printers and configured to periodically poll a distributed electronic ledger for a print job. Each digital front end adds a bid block to the distributed electronic ledger requesting a page range of the print job to be allocated to the digital front end for printing; and further adds a vote block to the distributed electronic ledger to approve or deny a bid block for the page range added to the distributed electronic ledger by other of the digital front ends; and further may release all or part of a page range allocated to the digital front end back to the distributed electronic ledger in response to a print failure by a printer associated with the digital front end.

A method is described in which a length of an image is compared with a threshold associated to a print device. The image is subdivided into a sequence of print frames. Each print frame has length equal to or less than the threshold. A stitching operation is performed on at least two consecutive print Compare a length of an image with a threshold frames. The print device is controlled to sequentially print the at least two stitched consecutive print frames.

An image forming apparatus includes a first storage unit, a second storage unit, and a control unit that is configured to cause received print data to be stored in the first storage unit and the second storage unit. The control unit causes a printer unit to perform a print to print the stored print data in the first storage unit in a case where the first storage unit is in a normal state, and causes a message to be displayed in a case where the first storage unit has a functional failure.

When a general-use printing program implemented in an OS of an information processing apparatus receives a print instruction, a supporting program implemented in a PC determines, based on a print parameter or image data indicating at least one image subjected to be printed, whether a distribution condition is satisfied. The distribution condition is a condition to execute distributed printing of the image data using a plurality of printers. When it is determined that the distribution condition is satisfied, the supporting program transmits a part of a total printing amount of a print job to a printer through a first port which is used by a general-use printing program and transmits a remaining part of the total amount of the print job to another printer through a second port.

Strips of a page are processed according to a rendering technique, compressed, and stored in a memory buffer until a low memory condition of the buffer occurs. When the low memory condition occurs, the strips that are already stored in the buffer are decompressed, processed according to a memory utilization reduction technique, compressed, and stored in the memory buffer. Strips that are not yet already stored in the buffer when the low memory condition occurs are processed according to the rendering technique and then according to the memory utilization reduction technique before being compressed and stored in the memory buffer.

A print management apparatus includes a processor. When a job is divided into multiple divisions due to suspension of printing of the job, which occurs while a printer configured to perform printing on a continuous sheet prints the job on the continuous sheet, the processor outputs the amount of spoilage for a first division, which is a division before the suspension, of the job. When a second division, which is a division after the suspension, of the job is printed, the processor outputs, as the amount of spoilage for the job, the total of the amount of spoilage for the second division and the amount of spoilage for the first division.

A printing management apparatus includes a processor configured to acquire an order quantity being a quantity of paper required for printing, acquire a stock quantity for each attribute of paper, the stock quantity being a quantity of paper having at least one or more attributes in common with attributes of the paper which is required for the printing and is in stock by a printer, and, when the order quantity is greater than the stock quantity and a sum of at least two stock quantities is equal to or greater than the order quantity, display the printer as a printer capable of accepting an order.

An image processing apparatus includes an acquiring unit and an assigning unit. The acquiring unit is configured to acquire first image information on a first image and second image information on a second image read by irradiating, with light at respective different wavelengths for read, a printing medium on which at least the first image and the second image to be irradiated with light at different wave lengths to read are mixed. The assigning unit is configured to assign image information on one or more color systems constituting the first image information and image information on one or more color systems constituting the second image information to any of communication paths for supplying image information to a subsequent stage image processing unit configured to perform predetermined image processing on the first image information and the second image information.