A system and method for enhancing digitally informed delivery of delivery items such as mail. The sender of a delivery item creates custom electronic text, files, images, web pages, or other electronic/digital resource(s) to provide to the recipient. A postage meter, a server of the delivery service, or the like creates a digital indicia that includes the digital resource, associating it with the delivery item. When the delivery item is processed by the delivery service equipment during transit, the digital indicia is read and the associated digital resource is are identified therefrom. The delivery service equipment transmits, to the delivery item recipient, an electronic notification indicating that the delivery item is en-route to the recipient, and also provides the associated digital resource. The recipient can then access the resource, e.g., the custom text, files, images or web pages associated with the delivery item.

An image transmission method and a system thereof and an image transmission apparatus are provided. The method includes: determining an estimated distortion area of at least one first image; zooming out the first image to generate a second image according to the estimated distortion area; adding the estimated distortion area around the second image to generate a transmission image and filling a transmission pattern in the estimated distortion area of the transmission image, wherein a resolution of the transmission image is equal to that of the first image; and transmitting the transmission image through at least one channel.

In a maintenance system, a controller of an information processing device is configured to perform receiving; storing; determining; and transmitting. The receiving receives a set of input information including device information, time information, and setting information via an input interface. The device information specifies a target image forming device. The time information specifies access time to access the target image forming device. The setting information relates to control data to be set in the target image forming device. The storing stores correlation information correlating the device information with the time information and setting information in a memory. The determining determines whether the access time has come. The transmitting transmits, in response to determining that the access time has come, the control data to the target image forming device via a network interface. The target image forming device is specified by the device information correlated by the correlation information.

In an image processing system, a multifunction printer carries out image reading or printing in accordance with processing execution condition information stored in a storage apparatus of a host PC. A storage apparatus of a client PC stores processing execution condition information. In a case where the client PC is connected to the host PC via the network, a control apparatus transmits the processing execution condition information stored in the storage apparatus to the host PC. The host PC stores the received processing execution condition information in the storage apparatus.

According to the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus that has a scan function. The image forming apparatus comprises a restriction converter for converting, in a case in which a file upload and a file restriction are designated in a web content received from a web server, the file restriction into a scan function restriction, a scan cooperation unit for calling, in accordance with a file input instruction made by a user for the designation of the file upload, the scan function with the restriction converted by the restriction conversion unit, and a transmitter for transmitting a file generated by the scan function called by the scan cooperation unit to the web server.

A quota management apparatus includes a management section. The management section manages a value of a printing quota indicating a usable amount of an image forming apparatus by a user according to an image forming instruction by the user. If the image forming apparatus forms an image on a sheet on which an image is erased, the management section performs either a control of subtracting a value smaller than that in a case in which the image forming apparatus forms the image on a sheet on which the erasing of an image is not executed from the value of the printing quota, or a control of not subtracting the value of the printing quota.

An information processing apparatus includes circuitry to execute workflow processing on data according to a workflow. The workflow defines a plurality of processes in a predetermined order. The circuitry obtains a first size of the data after a specific process of the plurality of processes is performed. The circuitry performs a subsequent process based on the first size. The subsequent process is one of a plurality of subsequent processes each of which is defined as a process subsequent to the specific process in the workflow.

An image forming apparatus is provided with USB sockets on front and back sides, and includes a determining unit for determining whether or not a USB device inserted to a front side USB socket is a function enhancement device, and a control unit making, when it is determined by the determining unit that a function enhancement device is inserted to the front side USB socket, the USB device unusable and making, when it is determined that a USB device other than the function enhancement device is inserted, the USB device usable. Thus, it is possible to prevent a USB wireless LAN adapter or the like from being used constantly connected to the front side USB socket and thereby to reduce possibility of USB wireless LAN adapter of being damaged or removed.

An image processing apparatus connected to an external user terminal includes a scanner unit that optically reads an original to acquire a scanned image, an information acquisition unit that acquires user information, an image storing unit that stores the scanned image in association with the user information, a type acquisition unit that acquires an image conversion type, which indicates a desired converted image type, from the external user terminal, and an image conversion unit that, in response to acquiring the image conversion type, reads out a scanned image from the image storing unit based on the user information and converts the read-out scanned image into an image of the acquired image conversion type.

An image integrated printing system includes an image capturing device, a host device, and a printing device. The image capturing device is for capturing an image of an object. The host device is electrically connected to the image capturing device and includes a storage unit, a recognition unit, and a processing unit. The storage unit is for storing the image transmitted from the image capturing device and a form. The recognition unit is for recognizing a field corresponding to the image from the form. The processing unit is electrically connected to the storage unit and the recognition unit and for combining the image with the field corresponding to the image to generate an output file. The printing device is electrically connected to the host device and for printing the output file.