An image forming apparatus includes a conveyance path, a plurality of setting portions, a printing portion, an operation panel, and a control portion. Before starting a mixed-sheet job, with respect to each of such setting portions of the plurality of setting portions as have a first sheet or a second sheet set therein, the control portion calculates first time, which is a period of time required for the first sheet to reach a registration position in a case where the first sheet is fed from the each of the such setting portions, sets a setting portion with respect to which the first time is shortest as a first setting portion, and makes the operation panel display recommendation information recommending setting the first sheet in the first setting portion.

An image reading apparatus includes a transport unit, a reader, a detector, and a controller. The transport unit transports a document. The reader reads the transported document. The detector detects whether or not a document bundle prior to being transported is present. While a document in a first document bundle corresponding to a first job is being transported, if the detector detects that a document in a second document bundle corresponding to a second job as a subsequent job is loaded, the controller changes pre-feeding operation for preliminarily pulling a document in the second document bundle into the image reading apparatus in accordance with a pull-in position of the document in the image reading apparatus.

An image forming apparatus includes a conveyance path, a plurality of setting portions, a printing portion, an operation panel, and a control portion. Before starting a mixed-sheet job, with respect to each of such setting portions of the plurality of setting portions as have a first sheet or a second sheet set therein, the control portion calculates first time, which is a period of time required for the first sheet to reach a registration position in a case where the first sheet is fed from the each of the such setting portions, sets a setting portion with respect to which the first time is shortest as a first setting portion, and makes the operation panel display recommendation information recommending setting the first sheet in the first setting portion.

A print job received by a printing system has subsets of items. Multiple items are printed on each sheet. Finishing devices of the printing system are limited to processing a single subset of the items at a time, causing printing devices to wait skipped-pitch delays. An unadjusted number of machine-hours to complete the print job is determined based on continuous printing without interruption. A skipped-pitch delay is assigned to each of the subsets of items based on the number of sheets used to print each of the subsets of items. A revised number of machine-hours to complete the print job is calculated by adding the total skipped-pitch delay for the print job to the unadjusted number of machine-hours. The number of the printing devices and the finishing devices to use to complete the print job is determined based on the revised number of machine-hours.

A reading unit is configured to capture an image of a shadow generated at a leading end of a document, and a control unit is configured to estimate a thickness of the document based on a pixel value of the shadow. A multifeeding error is displayed on a display unit when it is determined as thin paper in a thick paper determination. The control unit turns multifeeding detection to OFF and stands by until a feeding is completed, and upon completion, returns the multifeeding detection to ON.

A print job received by a printing system has subsets of items. Multiple items are printed on each sheet. Finishing devices of the printing system are limited to processing a single subset of the items at a time, causing printing devices to wait skipped-pitch delays. An unadjusted number of machine-hours to complete the print job is determined based on continuous printing without interruption. A skipped-pitch delay is assigned to each of the subsets of items based on the number of sheets used to print each of the subsets of items. A revised number of machine-hours to complete the print job is calculated by adding the total skipped-pitch delay for the print job to the unadjusted number of machine-hours. The number of the printing devices and the finishing devices to use to complete the print job is determined based on the revised number of machine-hours.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer readable instructions configured to, when executed by a processor of a computer, cause the processor to: receive preparation instruction information from an information processing terminal, in response to receiving the preparation instruction information, cause an operating unit to execute at least one pre-printing operation of which operation content accords with a particular execution condition indicated by particular condition information in the preparation instruction information, receive print instruction information from the information processing terminal, the print instruction information instructing execution of the printing operation according to an execution condition, in response to receiving the print instruction information, determine whether the at least one pre-printing operation has already been executed; and in response to determining that the at least one pre-printing operation has been executed, cause the operating unit to execute the printing operation indicated by the print instruction information.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer readable instructions configured to, when executed by a processor of a computer, cause the processor to: perform a print instruction receiving process comprising receiving a print instruction from an operating system; in response to receiving the print instruction, perform a preparation instruction process comprising transmitting preparation instruction information to a printer, the preparation instruction information being information for instructing execution of at least a part of at least one pre-printing operation, the at least one pre-printing operation being executed by the printer to record an image having particular quality in the printing operation, the particular execution condition being the execution condition changing operation content of the at least one pre-printing operation; in response to executing the preparation instruction process, perform a generating process comprising generating print data; and perform a print instruction process comprising transmitting print instruction information to the printer.

An image reading device includes a motor 3, a reading section 7 that reads an image on a medium 5, a first transporting roller 9 that transports the medium in a transport direction F by driving force of the motor and that is provided upstream of the reading section in the transport direction, a second transporting roller 11 that transports the medium in the transport direction by driving force of the motor and that is provided downstream of the reading section in the transport direction, and a measuring section 17, using an encoder sensor 15, configured to measure the rotational position of an encoder scale 13, wherein the encoder scale 13 is provided on a rotation shaft 19 of the second transporting roller 11.

An automatic document feeder, which is included in an image reading device and an image forming apparatus, includes first and second document trays, a document output tray, a document conveying passage, multiple document conveying bodies, a drive source, a detector, and a controller. The multiple document conveying bodies include a document holding and conveying body to convey and hold the original document sheet on the second document tray. On detection of the original document sheet on the second document tray while conveying a different original document sheet from the first document tray, the controller stops feeding the different original document sheet, causes the different original document sheet downstream from the document holding and conveying body in a document conveying direction to be conveyed to the document output tray, and stops the drive source after the different original document has been conveyed to the document output tray.