An object is to enable highly accurate density unevenness correction while suppressing a reduction in productivity of printing accompanying correction value calculation for density unevenness correction. In the image processing apparatus, density correction information that specifies an output tone value for implementing a target density for an input tone value for each nozzle and which does not include the influence by a non-ejectable nozzle that cannot eject ink normally is acquired. In a case where a non-ejectable nozzle is detected during printing processing, output tone values corresponding to the detected non-ejectable nozzle and peripheral nozzles thereof among output tone values specified in the density correction information are changed.

A system includes a drive gear and a sensor mounted in an image forming device and a replaceable unit removably installable in the image forming device. The replaceable unit includes a gear for receiving rotational force from the drive gear. The system includes an encoded member encoded with identifying information of the replaceable unit and operatively connected to the gear such that rotation of the gear causes movement of the encoded member for communicating the identifying information of the replaceable unit to the sensor. The encoded member is configured to move toward the sensor upon rotation of the gear of the replaceable unit in a first rotational direction for communicating the identifying information of the replaceable unit to the sensor. The encoded member is configured to move away from the sensor upon rotation of the gear of the replaceable unit in a second rotational direction opposite the first rotational direction.

A replaceable unit includes a rotatable gear positioned on a housing of the replaceable unit and an encoded member encoded with identifying information of the replaceable unit. The encoded member is positioned on an axially outboard face of the gear such that the encoded member is rotatable with the gear for communicating the identifying information of the replaceable unit to a sensor of an image forming device when the replaceable unit is installed in the image forming device. The encoded member is configured to move axially outward relative to a rotational axis of the gear upon rotation of the gear in a first rotational direction for communicating the identifying information of the replaceable unit to the sensor. The encoded member is configured to move axially inward relative to the rotational axis of the gear upon rotation of the gear in a second rotational direction opposite the first rotational direction.

An image forming apparatus for forming an image on paper includes a body surface temperature measuring sensor, a user interface, a communication interface, and a controller. The body surface temperature measuring sensor measures the body surface temperature of the operator in a non-contact manner. The user interface presents a message to the operator. The communication interface transmits a message to the administrator who manages the image forming apparatus. When access to the surface or the inside of the image forming apparatus is required and the body surface temperature of the operator is equal to or higher than a threshold temperature, the controller transmits a message requesting to touch the surface or the inside of the image forming apparatus to the administrator by the communication interface and presents a message requesting not to touch the image forming apparatus to the operator by the user interface.

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method for estimating ink use by a printer is provided. The method involves receiving, by a computer, a request for a comingled print job comprising a plurality of print jobs to be carried out by the printer. The method also involves traversing, by the computer, pages of the comingled print job and identifying, for each page of the comingled print job, a print job of the plurality of print jobs to which the page belongs. The method also involves for each of the plurality of print jobs, calculating, by the computer, an estimated total amount of ink required for printing the print job. The method also involves communicating, by the computer, to a client terminal, the estimated total amounts of ink required for printing the plurality of print jobs.

A method for reducing artifacts in an electrophotographic printing system includes receiving a print job including image data for a set of pages. The electrophotographic printing system is used to print a block of pages from the print job to provide corresponding printed pages. The image data for the block of pages is analyzed to determine an average toner usage rate. If the determined average toner usage rate for the block of pages falls outside an acceptable toner usage rate range, image data for a compensation image and a number of compensation images are determined such that the average toner usage rate will be brought back into the acceptable toner usage rate range.

A system is disclosed. The system at least one physical memory device to store ink estimation logic and one or more processors coupled with the at least one physical memory device, to execute the ink estimation logic to receive a histogram for each of a plurality of color planes, receive uncalibrated ink deposition data for a printing system, perform a direct conversion of the uncalibrated ink deposition data to generate first calibrated ink deposition data and generate estimated ink usage data for each of the plurality of color planes based on the histograms and the first calibrated ink deposition data.

A computer-implemented method is provided for dosing ink in a digital printing device with multiple ink channels, when printing on a reflective substrate. A digital printing system configured with the method is also provided. Target color data of a target color to be printed on the reflective substrate is captured, including both color data and spectral reflectance data. The captured color data is processed with a printer model to output a preliminary dosing ratio for each ink channel. A digital opacity value for the target color is computed from the dosing ratio of each ink channel. A natural opacity value for the for the target color is computed from the captured spectral reflectance data, and a difference between the digital and natural opacity values is calculated. A predicted dosing ratio for each ink channel is obtained by interpolating the difference against an ink step of a diffuse ink component of the target color.

A hybrid ink limit is applied during the creation of an ICC profile. The hybrid ink limit takes into account a percentage total area coverage (TAC) ink limit and a volume-based ink limit. The percentage TAC ink limit is specified using an input from an operator. The volume-based ink limit is retrieved based upon the media for the ICC profile. Both ink limits are applied to primary color combinations for color patches to be printed in a test chart used to capture measurement data to create the ICC profile. A combination of primary colors at exceeds either ink limit is adjusted to meet the ink limit. The adjusted combination is used in the test chart to generate the measurement data for the ICC profile. After creation of the ICC profile, the volume-based ink limit is applied to the ICC profile color combinations to identify those combinations still over the ink limit.

To enable highly accurate density unevenness correction while suppressing a reduction in productivity in printing accompanying correction value calculation for density unevenness correction. Based on an image obtained by scanning a chart including patches having uniform density for each tone value, a density characteristic of each nozzle is acquired. A non-ejectable nozzle that cannot eject ink normally is detected by analyzing a pattern for detecting the non-ejectable nozzle in the image obtained by scanning the chart. At the time of acquiring the density characteristic, the density characteristic is acquired based on a density measured value of an area of the image, which corresponds to a nozzle that is not detected as the non-ejectable nozzle.