A control device that is communicable with a plurality of image forming apparatuses, comprises: an information obtaining part that obtains history information from the plurality of image forming apparatuses; a spool destination deciding part that decides two or more image forming apparatuses as spool destinations of an accepted job from the plurality of image forming apparatuses based on plural pieces of history information obtained by the information obtaining part; and a job transmitter that transmits a job to the two or more image forming apparatuses decided by the spool destination deciding part.

The printing apparatus of the present invention includes: a memory storing a program; at least one processor configured to execute the program and function as: an interpretation unit configured to interpret print data of the page to obtain objects contained in the page; an optimization prediction unit configured to check each of the obtained objects to identify the at least one object to be subject to the predetermined conversion process, and to predict, in accordance with the identified object, characteristics of the new objects which are to be obtained by the predetermined conversion process without performing the predetermined conversion process; and an estimation unit configured to estimate a time required for the rendering process of the page, based on at least parameter values corresponding to the predicted characteristics.

An information processing system includes processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to analyze a print job taken out of a printer queue storing the print job for ordering an execution of printing; transmit the print job to an output device when an analysis of the print job indicates that the print job is a re-input job that is input to the printer queue again after being taken out of the printer queue; execute a predetermined processing when the analysis indicates that the print job is not the re-input job; embed re-input information indicating that the print job is the re-input job into the print job after the predetermined processing is executed; and return the print job having been edited to the printer queue.

An information processing apparatus includes a memory and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor is configured to receive first print data from a client apparatus, generate at least one first preview image from the first print data for a predetermined period from a start of generation of the at least one first preview image of an initial page of the first print data, transmit the generated at least one first preview image to an image forming apparatus, and generate second print data for generating at least one second preview image that is not generated from the first print data during the predetermined period. The second print data are the first print data from which a page of which the at least one first preview image is generated during the predetermined period is excluded.

An image forming apparatus includes a network interface and a processor configured to upon receipt of a print job from an external apparatus via the network interface, determine whether hold printing is instructed for executing the print job, when the hold printing is instructed, determine a state of the image forming apparatus, generate information about execution of the print job according to the determined state, and control the network interface to transmit the generated information to the external apparatus.

An image forming apparatus includes a sensor to output a signal, and a processor. The processor is to change an operation state of the image forming apparatus based on the signal indicative of an amount of change in the signal maintained for a time period.

A printing apparatus determines whether or not a printing job accumulated by a different printing apparatus different in type from the printing apparatus itself is configured to be performed by the printing apparatus, based on at least one determination of a first determination of whether or not the printing job includes a printing setting dependent on a type of apparatus, a second determination relating to processing that rotates a printing image, and a third determination relating to a data format of the printing image.

In a cloud mediation service, a server comprises an acquisition unit configured to acquire a first storage period for storing, in a first cloud service, a first job submitted to the first cloud service, and a second storage period for storing, in a second cloud service, a second job submitted to the second cloud service, and an execution unit configured to execute, based on one of a first timing at which the first job is deleted due to an elapse of the first storage period and a second timing at which the second job is deleted due to an elapse of the second storage period, a cooperation process of making a period for storing the first job in the first cloud service and a period for storing the second job in the second cloud service cooperate with each other.

Various systems and methods maintain a print job of a user in a print queue and identify the user approaching a printing device using a user identification device operatively connected to the printing device. Such systems/methods alter the position of the print job within the print queue (e.g., to a higher priority position) or even begin printing the print job when the user identification device identifies the user approaching the printing device (i.e., before the user reaches the printing device). Systems and methods can also identify the urgency of the user using the user identification device. The amount that the print queue is altered can be based on the amount that the urgency of the user is elevated.

Sheet feeding has been started after storing image data for one page of a document. A control method for a printing apparatus includes feeding a sheet from a sheet holding unit by a feeding unit, reading an image of a document by a reading unit, storing image data of the document read by the reading unit in a storing unit, and reading out, before image data for one page of the document is stored in the storing unit, the image data of the document from the storing unit and printing, by a printing unit, the image based on the read image data to the sheet fed from the sheet holding unit by the feeding unit, in which the feeding unit is able to start to feed the sheet from the sheet holding unit before the image data for the one page of the document is stored in the storing unit.