Proper print processing is performed in a print system in which a first information processing apparatus capable of communicating with a printer and a second information processing apparatus capable of communicating with the printer via the first information processing apparatus are connected via a network. To this end, an information processing method executed by the first information processing apparatus includes: obtaining setting information on communications of the printer, obtaining information on a status of the printer from the printer, and executing predetermined processing. The predetermined processing is executed while waiting to communicate with the printer, in a case where the setting information indicates that the printer is ready to communicate with the second information processing apparatus and that the second information processing apparatus generates a PDL.

A printing device includes a print engine, and a controller. The print engine performs an index print to print a plurality of images on one or more sheets, the plurality of images corresponding to respective ones of a plurality of files stored in an external memory. The controller controls the print engine. The controller performs determining a type of each of the plurality of files stored in the external device. The controller converts each file, which is determined as a non-image file and includes a page description language, to an image file representing contents of the each file by interpreting the page description language included in the each file. The controller generates a print command for the index print by referring to each image file which is stored in the external memory and each image file generated in the converting.

An image forming apparatus includes a CPU, the CPU stores, in an HDD, a print job received via a network connection circuit. The CPU analyzes PDL data for each page of the print job, and executes a PDL process for generating bitmap data. When an unrecoverable error occurs in analyzing of the PDL data, only the PDL process is restarted, a print job in which an unrecoverable error occurs is re-input, and analysis is resumed from the page in which the unrecoverable error occurs. When an unrecoverable error occurs on the same page again, only the PDL process is restarted again, the page in which the previous unrecoverable error occurs is skipped, and analysis and printing of a next page are performed.

A method for configuring a raster image processor (RIP) for a digital printing system includes receiving a file for a print job; receiving or determining job characteristics of the print job or the file for the print job; receiving or determining hardware characteristics of hardware upon which the RIP is operating; inputting the job characteristics and the hardware characteristics into a trained artificial intelligence (AI) module; and selecting, using the trained AI module, a configuration or settings for the RIP for processing of the file based on the plurality of job characteristics and the plurality of hardware characteristics.

An information processing apparatus includes a hardware processor that stores intermediate data of a plurality of print jobs in a storage. The hardware processor is configured to perform, read first intermediate data of a first prim job; rasterize the read first intermediate data to generate print data; output the print data to an image forming apparatus; determine whether reading the first intermediate data allows extra, time in relation to a throughput of a print engine; determine whether reading second intermediate data of a second print job is a bottleneck of a printing time; and execute in parallel reading the first intermediate data and reading the second intermediate data, in response to a determination that the operation of reading the first intermediate data allows extra time in relation to the throughput of the print engine and a determination that reading the second intermediate data is a bottleneck of the printing time.

In a printing system, a terminal device generates a plurality of pieces of print job data based on a data format list and transmit the generated print job data to a first multifunction machine, the first multifunction machine stores a plurality of pieces of received print job data, and performs printing based on print job data having the data format supported by the first multifunction machine itself when the first multifunction machine itself receives a print instruction from a user, and the second multifunction machine receives print job data having the data format supported by the second multifunction machine itself from the first multifunction machine when the second multifunction machine itself receives a print instruction from a user and performs printing based on the received print job data.

A cloud printing method includes in response to a click on a file in an application program of a client terminal to execute printing, receiving, by a cloud server, a print request sent by the client terminal, generating, by the cloud server, a print job and a uniform resource locator (URL) of the print job based on the print request, and starting, by the cloud server, a print microservice and publishing a print task to a message queuing telemetry transport (MQTT) microservice according to the print job. After a printer is connected to the cloud server, the printer is configured to send a print subscription request to the cloud server. The MQTT microservice is configured to send the print task with the URL of the print job to the printer. The printer is further configured to download the print job from the cloud server based on the URL of the print job and print the print job.

A cloud printing method includes in response to a click on a file in an application program of a client terminal to execute printing, receiving, by a cloud server, a print request sent by the client terminal, generating, by the cloud server, a print job and a uniform resource locator (URL) of the print job based on the print request, and starting, by the cloud server, a print microservice and publishing a print task to a message queuing telemetry transport (MQTT) microservice according to the print job. After a printer is connected to the cloud server, the printer is configured to send a print subscription request to the cloud server. The MQTT microservice is configured to send the print task with the URL of the print job to the printer. The printer is further configured to download the print job from the cloud server based on the URL of the print job and print the print job.

Proper print processing is performed in a print system in which a first information processing apparatus capable of communicating with a printer and a second information processing apparatus capable of communicating with the printer via the first information processing apparatus are connected via a network. To this end, an information processing method executed by the first information processing apparatus includes: obtaining setting information on communications of the printer, obtaining information on a status of the printer from the printer, and executing predetermined processing. The predetermined processing is executed while waiting to communicate with the printer, in a case where the setting information indicates that the printer is ready to communicate with the second information processing apparatus and that the second information processing apparatus generates a PDL.

An information processing apparatus manages information about a printing apparatus incapable of interpreting print data in a predetermined format and executes operating system (OS) normal printing software that generates print data in the predetermined format. In a case where capability information about the printing apparatus incapable of interpreting print data in the predetermined format is requested from the OS normal printing software, the information processing apparatus generates the capability information based on language information held by a control unit and language information held by a generation unit, and transmits the generated capability information to the OS normal printing software.