An information processing apparatus includes a communication interface, a storage, and a controller. The controller is configured to acquire consumable item information including remaining amount information about a remaining amount of a consumable item, determine whether an order condition for ordering a new consumable item is met on the basis of the remaining amount information, determine whether the consumable item has been used in rapid pace on the basis of the remaining amount information, receive a user instruction whether an order of the new consumable item is placed when determining that the consumable item currently in use has been used in rapid pace, and transmit order information including information about the order of the new consumable item to a server when determining that the order condition is met or in response to receipt of the user instruction to place the order of the new consumable item.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores computer-readable instructions for an information processing apparatus including: a processor; a display; and a memory storing at least one set of printer information. First and second type printers transmit status information to the information processing apparatus. The status information from the first type printer includes first information. The status information from the second type printer includes second information. The computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the information processing apparatus to perform: setting target printer information to one of the at least one set of printer information; receiving the status information from a printer specified by the target printer information; and displaying, when the received status information includes the first information, a first screen on the display; and displaying, when the received status information includes the second information and does not include the first information, a second screen on the display.

An image forming apparatus includes: a signal output unit configured to output a signal in response to a user operation; a reading unit configured to read a document and generate image data having a first resolution or a second resolution lower than the first resolution; a recording unit configured to form an image on a recording medium; and a controller configured to control the reading unit and the recording unit and execute: (a) primary preparation operation start processing of, when a signal is output, controlling the reading unit so as to start a first preparation operation or a second preparation operation; (b) determination processing of determining; (c) secondary preparation operation start processing and/or reading processing; (d) decision processing of deciding the continuous number of recording copies; and (e) recording processing of causing the recording unit to form the image on the recording medium.

An apparatus includes a specifying unit that specifies a color; an input unit that inputs an image; a converting unit that converts a color in the image, which has a hue within a predetermined range with respect to the specified color, into a color of a predetermined hue and converts a color in the image, which has a hue outside the predetermined range with respect to the color, into black; a printing unit that prints the image subjected to the converted color; and a counting unit that separately counts a number of sheets when the printed image includes the color of the predetermined hue and a number of sheets when the printed image does not include the color of the predetermined hue.

An information control apparatus includes a storage unit storing, for each user, results of use of respective functions of devices and a display control unit performing control so as to preferentially display a device to be used next among the devices based on a pattern group having patterns close to one another and including continuous function values when the pattern group is present in a case where the user-specific use result is represented by a function axis indicating a function value including the used function and a setting value thereof and a time axis indicating a time of use of the device.

An information control apparatus includes a storage unit storing, for each user, results of use of respective functions of devices and a display control unit performing control so as to preferentially display a device to be used next among the devices based on a pattern group having patterns close to one another and including continuous function values when the pattern group is present in a case where the user-specific use result is represented by a function axis indicating a function value including the used function and a setting value thereof and a time axis indicating a time of use of the device.

A method, a non-transitory computer readable medium, and a system are disclosed for detection and avoidance of printing of previously printed print jobs. The method includes storing one or more digital copies of print jobs in a central storage system; storing one or more physical copies of the one or more digital copies of the print jobs in a document stacker; receiving a print job on a printer; sending a request from the printer to the central storage system to determine if a physical copy of the print job is in the document stacker; and when the print job is in the document stacker sending a code from the central storage system for retrieval of a physical copy of the print job from the document stacker.

An example method of setting ink limits for a printing system is described. The method involves printing a first set of color ramps. Each color ramp has test areas which are printed based different Neugebauer Primary Area Coverage (NPac) vectors. A test area for each color ramp is indicated that meets an image quality metric and Neugebauer Primary ink use limits are set based on these test areas. A second set of color ramps, for combinations of the set of available Neugebauer Primaries, is then printed, The test areas for each ramp are defined by monotonically-varying vector element values for one Neugebauer Primary in a combination and the second set of ramps are defined by monotonically-varying vector element values across said ramps for another Neugebauer Primary in the combination. Test areas are then indicated again for the second set of color ramps to set ink use limits for the printing system.

In a case of a first function of carrying out a cooperative processing in accordance with an instruction from a user of a multifunction peripheral (10), the user is set as an execution user. In a case of a second function of carrying out a cooperative processing in accordance with an instruction from an application, a user instructed by the application is set as an execution user. Further, in a case where an execution user of a cooperative processing carried out using the first function and an execution user of a cooperative processing carried out using the second function are identical, use history information of the execution user is managed as use history information of a single user. This makes it possible to appropriately manage use history information of a cooperative processing.

An image forming apparatus connected to a sheet hole punching apparatus that applies a punch process to a sheet, and a method for controlling the same, in which from a die-set mounted to the sheet hole punching apparatus, die-set information including at least identification information for identifying the die-set is obtained, and in association with the die-set information, a number of times that the punch process has been executed using the die-set is counted. Control is performed to prompt a user to lubricate the die-set when the number of times counted by the counter unit exceeds a threshold value.