A method for processing a print job by a printing system and a finishing system resulting in an end product is disclosed. The printing system includes a print controller. The finishing system is an in-line or near-line finishing system and includes a finishing controller for controlling the finishing process by means of a collection of finishing templates stored in memory of the finishing controller. The printing system and the finishing system are connected via a digital connection. The method includes the steps of the print controller receiving the print job including a plurality of print job settings, the print controller establishing an identifier of a finishing template from the collection of finishing templates in accordance with at least one print job setting of the plurality of print job settings, the print controller sending the established identifier of the finishing template to the finishing system, the finishing controller receiving the established identifier of the finishing template, the printing system printing the print job, the finishing system retrieving the finishing template identified by the received identifier from memory of the finishing controller, and the finishing system finishing the print job according to the retrieved finishing template.

An image forming apparatus configured to perform simplex printing and duplex printing includes a recording medium ejection device, a suction duct, a blower, and a pair of rotating members. The recording medium ejection device includes a recording medium outlet through which a recording medium is ejected outside of the image forming apparatus and a recording medium reverse port through which a part of the recording medium is ejected to reverse the recording medium in the duplex printing. The suction duct includes a suction port to suck air. The blower is disposed in the suction duct and sucks air from the recording medium ejection device to the suction port. The pair of rotating members is disposed between the suction port and at least one of the recording medium outlet and the recording medium reverse port and reverses both sides of the recording medium in the duplex printing.

A sheet discharging apparatus includes a sheet supporting portion supporting a sheet discharged out of a nip portion nipping the sheet and a guide portion provided opposed to an upper surface of the sheet fed out of the nip portion. The guide portion includes a fixed restricting portion restricting a rear end of the sheet with respect to a sheet discharging direction to moving upward away from an extension line in a sheet discharging direction of the nip portion after passing through the nip portion.

An information processing apparatus includes a processor configured to: receive a print instruction to print an image rasterized by another information processing apparatus; associate the print instruction with any one of plural ejection destinations to which a recording medium printed in response to the print instruction is ejected; and, in a case where the ejection destination associated with the print instruction waits for ejection of a recording medium subsequent to the already ejected recording medium, execute a print instruction for the subsequent recording medium, and not execute a print instruction for ejecting a recording medium other than the subsequent recording medium to the ejection destination.

An image forming apparatus includes a replenishment empty history recording portion, a post-empty attachment detecting portion, and an image creation restricting portion. The replenishment empty history recording portion records replenishment empty history information to a storage device in correspondence with one of the plurality of developer containers in which a replenishment empty state was detected in a first attachment portion. The post-empty attachment detecting portion detects whether or not a second attachment portion is in a post-empty container attached state where the developer container corresponding to the replenishment empty history information recorded in the storage device is attached to the second attachment portion. The image creation restricting portion, upon detection of the replenishment empty state, restricts an operation of an image creating device, and upon detection that the second attachment portion is in the post-empty container attached state, releases a restriction on the operation of the image creating device.

An image forming apparatus includes a first ejection destination, a second ejection destination, and a controller. The first ejection destination is a destination to which sheets having an image formed thereon by using rendered data are to be ejected. The second ejection destination is a destination to which a sheet serving as a sample print among the sheets is to be ejected. The controller sets the sheet serving as the sample print by using at least one of pixel density, number of colored pixels, number of extra colors, number of objects, object size, and object color information that are included in the rendered data.

An apparatus that operates with a detachable unit mounted therein, includes: a storage unit configured to store a public key; and a verification unit configured to verify data held by the mounted unit, based on the public key. The data includes attribute information indicating an attribute of the unit, and authentication information generated from target information including the attribute information with a secret key paired with the public key and from which the target information is restorable, and the verification unit is further configured to detect an anomaly in the attribute information or the authentication information included in the data, by determining whether the attribute information included in the target information restored from the authentication information using the public key matches the attribute information included in the data.

A printing apparatus includes a reading unit to read a document image to generate image data, and a printing unit to print an image of the image data on a sheet supplied from any of multiple sheet storage portions. The printing apparatus determines whether an automatic selection function is enabled or disabled. The automatic selection function automatically selects, from among the sheet storage portions, a source for supplying a sheet that is used for printing. If the automatic selection function is enabled and a user specifies a predetermined sheet storage portion that has no sheet stored therein, the job execution instruction is not allowed. If the automatic selection function is disabled and a sheet storage portion that supplies a sheet for printing from among the plurality of sheet storage portions has no sheet stored therein, the job execution instruction is allowed.

An object is to use a post processing apparatus effectively and to shorten execution waiting time of a print job of a user due to moving of a self-traveling post processing apparatus. In an image forming system including a self-traveling post processing apparatus which separably connects with each of a plurality of image forming apparatuses, in a case of having received a print job which is executed by any of the plurality of image forming apparatuses and performs the post processing by the post processing apparatus, the post processing apparatus is made to self-travel by a traveling section such that the post processing apparatus moves toward an image forming apparatus which has received a print job which performs post processing.

An image forming system identifies a user's operation for changing a set value related to a processing of the image forming apparatus or the post-processing apparatus. When the set value is changed during a continuous output operation of the image forming system, the image forming system causes the image forming apparatus and the post-processing apparatus to continue the continuous output operation while reflecting the changed set value. The image forming system Detects a predetermined change related to the processing by referring back to a time when the user's operation is identified, and causes the image forming apparatus and the post-processing apparatus to re-output papers that have been output from a time when the predetermined change occurred to a time when the changed set value was reflected.