Various variable gloss reduction techniques are disclosed. In one embodiment, a gloss reduction technique is disclosed using a textured roller and a wiper impregnated with fuser oil to create a differential gloss pattern that reduces the gloss of an image printed on a substrate. In one embodiment, a gloss reduction technique is disclosed using a combination of heat and pressure to create a differential gloss pattern that reduces the gloss in specific regions of an image printed on a substrate. In one embodiment, a gloss reduction technique is disclosed using a differential gloss pattern to generate a security mark on a printed image to prevent against copying or fraudulent misrepresentation of the image.

An image forming apparatus including a print engine, a gloss treatment device, a medium conveying device, and a processor. The print engine is to form an image on a print medium. The gloss treatment device is to perform a gloss treatment on the print medium on which an image is formed. The medium conveying device to provide the print medium to the print engine and selectively provide the print medium on which an image is formed to the gloss treatment device. The processor is to control the print engine to form an image based on print data and control the medium conveying device to selectively provide the print medium to the gloss treatment device depending on whether a gloss treatment option is set in the print data.

A glossiness detector includes a glossiness sensor, a glossiness corrector, and a reference plate. The glossiness corrector corrects glossiness detected by the glossiness sensor. The reference plate is used for correction processing of the glossiness sensor. Then, the glossiness corrector acquires a glossy reflection profile of the reference plate that has been detected in advance. The glossiness corrector corrects the glossiness according to the reference plate on the basis of the glossy reflection profile and a gloss distribution of the reference plate that has been detected by the glossiness sensor.

An imaging system with a gloss treatment device includes an endless belt, a heating portion and a pressing portion. The endless belt conveys a medium along a conveyance direction. The heating portion heats the endless belt. The pressing portion presses the endless belt against the heating portion. A nip is formed in a region where the endless belt contacts both of the pressing portion and the heating portion. The nip includes an upstream end and a downstream end in the conveyance direction, and a reference line intersects the upstream end and the downstream end of the nip. The endless belt includes a conveyance portion that is inclined toward the heating portion, in relation to the reference line associated with the nip.

In an image heating apparatus, a region of a recording material, on which an image can be formed, is divided into a boundary region and a non-boundary region so as to correspond to a plurality of heating elements. The boundary region includes a boundary between one heating element out of the plurality of heating elements and an adjacent heating element thereof, and overlap with the one heating element and the adjacent heating element overlap in a predetermined range in the orthogonal direction. The non-boundary region overlaps with the one heating element in a range other than the boundary region. A control target temperature of a heating region that is heated by the one heating element is set to a higher temperature of a first temperature based on information corresponding to the boundary region, and a second temperature based on information corresponding to the non-boundary region.

In an image heating apparatus, a region of a recording material, on which an image can be formed, is divided into a boundary region and a non-boundary region so as to correspond to a plurality of heating elements. The boundary region includes a boundary between one heating element out of the plurality of heating elements and an adjacent heating element thereof, and overlap with the one heating element and the adjacent heating element overlap in a predetermined range in the orthogonal direction. The non-boundary region overlaps with the one heating element in a range other than the boundary region. A control target temperature of a heating region that is heated by the one heating element is set to a higher temperature of a first temperature based on information corresponding to the boundary region, and a second temperature based on information corresponding to the non-boundary region.

An image forming apparatus sets, in a case where a mode for executing a heating process a plurality of times is set, a target temperature of a fixing unit during a second heating process depending on image information about a toner image to be formed on a first surface of a recording medium immediately before a first heating process.

A sheet laminator includes a sheet separation device, a sheet insertion device, and circuitry. The sheet separation device is configured to perform a sheet separating operation to separate a non-bonding portion of a two-ply sheet in which two sheets are overlapped and bonded together at a bonding portion of the two-ply sheet, and a sheet inserting operation to insert an inner sheet between the two sheets. The sheet lamination device is configured to perform a sheet laminating operation on the two-ply sheet after the sheet separating operation and the sheet inserting operation. The circuitry is configured to cause the sheet lamination device to perform the sheet laminating operation on the two-ply sheet while causing the sheet separation device to perform the sheet separating operation on another two-ply sheet subsequent to the two-ply sheet or the sheet separating operation and the sheet inserting operation on said another two-ply sheet.

An imaging system includes an endless belt to convey a medium, a heating member to heat the endless belt, a pressure member to press the endless belt against the heating member, and a cooling device. The cooling device is in contact with the endless belt at a non-linear portion of the endless belt and includes an interior space.

Whether a first heating region is actually a passing heating region or a non-passing heating region which a recording material does not pass through, is detected by the temperature detected by a temperature detecting portion, based on a difference between a detected temperature by a temperature detecting portion in a reference heating region, which is specified to a heating region including a conveyance reference position of the recording material, and a detected temperature in a first heating region which does not include the conveyance reference position and is specified to a passing heating region which the recording material passing through. In a case where it is determined that the first heating region is the non-passing heating region, a prevention control, to prevent overheat of the first heating region is performed in the heating processing of the recording material that passes the nip portion after the determination.