An image reading apparatus is configured to: control a scanner unit to optically scans a document and generate scanned data; provide an input screen for allowing a user to input format information defining a particular file format of transmission data that contains the scanned data, wherein the format information includes additional information and wherein the input screen includes a first field for inputting item name of the additional information to be included in the transmission data and a second field for inputting a value of the additional information corresponding to the item name of the additional information; receive the format information input by the user; generate the transmission data, wherein the generated transmission data contains the scanned data and has the format according to the format information received in the receiving processing; and transmit the transmission data to the server through the communication interface.

Output devices supporting wireless device discovery are herein disclosed and enabled. To setup an output device for wireless connection, wireless device discovery is performed by a client of the output device to discover the output device. Upon being discovered, the output device may provide or transmit identification or information related to the output device to the client for establishing a wireless connection. Subsequently, the output device may receive, via the wireless connection, digital content from the client for output. Wireless device discovery operations may be based on one or more of a close proximity wireless communication, a Bluetooth wireless communication, or a direct wireless communication compatible with a protocol within IEEE 802.11 standards. Security information, such as a password, biometrics, or a PIN, may be required for establishing the wireless connection. The output device may automatically obtain the security information from the client or may require, in part, user input.

A printing system according to an embodiment includes a plurality of image forming apparatuses, a server, and a plurality of client terminals. The client terminal displays a setting screen for a user to select, as a print mode, one of a first print mode in which user authentication is not required and a second print mode in which the user authentication is required. When the second print mode is selected as the print mode, the user terminal transmits to the server information related to the user, a print instruction in accordance with the second print mode, and the print job. The server determines whether the user has authority to perform printing in the second print mode. When the user is determined to have the authority, the server transmits the print instruction and the print job to the particular image forming apparatus registered for that user.

Printers that support wireless printing or printing over air are herein disclosed and enabled. The printer includes a wireless communication unit that supports part of IEEE 802.11 wireless standards and a device discovery component to facilitate a client to discover the printer; wherein subsequent to being discovered by the client, the printer may wirelessly transmit at least part of an output device profile to the client that has discovered the printer, the output device profile includes information related to the printer. After the printer is selected or identified for service, the printer may receive from the client print data that is conformed based, at least partly, to the transmitted output device profile. A device specific driver may or may not be necessary for printing. The device discovery may be based on a close proximity wireless device communication, a direct wireless communication, or a local area network communication.

A method for establishing a network connection between a mobile electronic device and a target network device includes establishing a short-range communications link between the mobile electronic device and the target network device. The method may also include, by a processor, executing an application that causes the processor to receive network device information from the target network device, via the short-range communications link, use the identifier associated with the target network device to identify a network to which the target network device is connected, use a transmitter component of the mobile electronic device to establish the network connection between the mobile electronic device and the target network device, via the identified network, and cause the transmitter component to send a communication to the target network device, via the identified network. The network device information comprises an identifier associated with the target network device.

An information processing system includes a processor configured to: set, in a case where instruction information for providing an instruction to set an output destination of received data to any one of printing using a printing apparatus or upload to an external device is registered in the external device, the output destination of the data received from an outside according to the instruction provided by the instruction information.