A printing system manages printing devices. A managing server receives device update status information and pending job information from each of the printing devices. A status change for a component within a first printing device is detected, thereby updating the device information for the first printing device. The managing server parses a print job queue for the first printing device to update the pending job information to determine the print job will cause a first potential error related to the changed status of the first printing device. When a new print job is received, the managing server determines that the new print job will not occur according to the first potential error, identifies a second printing device, determines the new print job will not result in a second potential error at the second printing device, and sends the new print job to the second printing device.

Disclosed are systems, control mechanisms and methods that apply different printer control fluid parameters when forming internal and external features of a three-dimensional object within an additive manufacturing system. The identification of internal and external features may involve analysing an object model, comprising data describing the object to be manufactured, to identify all edges of a three-dimensional object and determining which of the edges are internal edges and which are external edges of the object. A control fluid strategy can be optimised for different object feature types, to improve mechanical properties of the final object and/or reduce usage of detailing agent.

Provided are an image enlargement/reduction rate calculation apparatus, an image enlargement/reduction rate calculation method, and an image enlargement/reduction rate calculation program which are capable of outputting an image with a small blurriness degree. A blurriness value is calculated for each image area, and the smallest blurriness value is decided (step S24). Resolution of a printer that prints the image is read (step S25). An enlargement/reduction rate in which the blurriness value is equal to or smaller than a second threshold value is calculated based on the decided blurriness value (step S26).

A method of controlling an information processing apparatus includes displaying an edit screen including an obtained image and a print range frame based on obtained print setting information, accepting an edit operation of arrangement of the image in the edit screen, generating image data based on an edited image, and transmitting the generated image data and the print setting information to the image forming apparatus as a print job. Where the image has been edited such that there is a region where the image is not arranged in the print range frame, combining processing in which a predetermined image is added in the region is performed and whereby image data including the image and predetermined image is generated, and where the image has been edited such that there is no region where the image is not arranged in the print range frame, the combining processing is not performed.

A first dot pattern printed according to a result of quantization performed on a multi-valued grayscale value by using a first threshold matrix and a second dot pattern printed according to a result of quantization performed on multi-valued grayscale value by using a second threshold matrix are printed on a print medium in an overlapping manner. In order to generate the threshold matrices, a first initial pattern being a dot pattern corresponding to a first grayscale value and a second initial pattern being a dot pattern corresponding to a second grayscale value lower than the first grayscale value are generated for pixel regions of the first and second threshold matrices. Then, thresholds of the first and second threshold matrices are set such that dot patterns having continuity with the first and second initial patterns are obtained at grayscale values between the first and second grayscale values.

An information processing apparatus includes a processor configured to receive a printing request for a document that is based on a spoken voice of a user and includes a designation of a specific element among plural elements constituting the document, and perform a control for printing a part including the specific element of the document.

A system and method are provided which enable overriding a custom color callout in a print job. Provision is made for a user to associate a unique ID with a custom color callout in a print job, e.g., during generation of the print job or at the printer. The custom color callout provides for a part of the print job to be rendered with a specific custom colorant, e.g., by identifying the name of the custom colorant. The unique ID is associated, in memory, with a custom colorant station of a print engine, independent of any custom colorant that may be housed in the custom colorant station. The method further includes identifying the custom colorant station of the print engine associated with the unique ID and sending the print job in a format for printing to the print engine for printing the part of the print job with a first custom colorant housed in the identified custom colorant station.

A print data processing device that is a device for processing print data transmitted from a host device, and electronically providing printouts according to user needs without making changes on the host device side and without wasting paper.

The print data processing device includes: a data storage unit that receives and stores print data sent from a host device; an information acquisition unit that acquires requirement information indicating whether or not printing on print media is required; a data processing unit that, when the requirement information indicates printing on the print media is not required, converts the stored print data to print simulation data that does not cause execution of a printing process by a printer; a data output unit that outputs stored print data or print simulation data to the printer according to the requirement information; and a response unit that receives the response to the host device from the printer based on the output print data or print simulation data, and relays the response to the host device.

An image printing method and printer is provided. The method comprises obtaining an original data file of an image to be printed from a database; dividing the original data file into a plurality of first data files and storing the first data files in a plurality of first memory blocks correspondingly; receiving an image printing request, the image printing request carrying first position information of the image to be printed; determining from its position information of the image to be printed second position information contained in the first position information, and filling a first data file corresponding to the second position information to a second memory block from the first memory block where the first data file is located through memory mapping mechanism to form a second data file to be printed; and printing and outputting the second data file in the second memory block.

A printing device can reduce the length of roll paper that is printed, and enables easily knowing how much the printed length of roll paper was reduced. A printer 200 has a print unit 240 that conveys roll paper in the conveyance direction H and executes a printing process of printing images on the roll paper; a reduction processor 222 that controls the print unit 240 in the printing process to reduce the length of roll paper to which images are printed in the conveyance direction; a calculator 223 that calculates how much the printed length of roll paper was reduced in the printing process; and a display unit 252 that displays information indicating the reduction in the printed length of the roll paper calculated by the calculator 223.