A tone reproduction curve for a printing apparatus is periodically generated based on printed items produced by the printing apparatus. The tone reproduction curve is adjusted between periodic print-based generations of the tone reproduction curve by: determining the amount of area coverage of marking material applied by the printing apparatus during printing (in subsequent periods following an initial period in which the tone reproduction curve was generated); weighting the amount of area coverage in each of the subsequent periods differently based on how distant each of the subsequent periods is from the initial period to produce a weighted moving average of the area coverages of the marking material; and adjusting the tone reproduction curve based on the weighted moving average of the area coverages of the marking material.

A printing system includes an offline estimation device that provides estimates for ink or toner use for a print job at a target printing device. The offline estimation device retrieves digital front end (DFE) version information, configuration setting information, and color printing resources from the target printing device. Using the DFE version information, the offline estimation device selects a raster image processor (RIP) from a plurality of RIPs of software versions available within the printing system. The offline estimation device configures the RIP with configuration settings of the configuration setting information. The color printing resources also are pushed to the RIP. The offline estimation device provides the ink or toner use estimate using the configured RIP.

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.

An image forming apparatus is configured to receive the message window data from the ordering server apparatus, store the message window data in the nonvolatile storage device, display the message window on the display device, detect a request to minimize the message window input via the input device, and then display a minimized GUI on the display device, and detect a request to maximize the minimized GUI input via the input device when the minimized GUI is displayed on the display device, and then read the message window data from the nonvolatile storage device and display the message window on the display device.

A printing apparatus includes a head capable of discharging CMYK inks including a K ink, and a control unit configured to, based on image data to be printed, generate ink amount data for controlling an ink amount of each of the CMYK inks discharged by the head, and to control the head based on the ink amount data, wherein the control unit generates the ink amount data as ink amount data such that lightness of a composite color at least does not increase in a direction from a freely-selected coordinate point toward a black point, the composite color being formed by the CMY inks excluding the K ink based on ink amount data of each of the CMYK inks corresponding to a coordinate on a straight line from the freely-selected coordinate point toward the black point in a predetermined hue range of a color gamut of a color space of the image data.

A system in an embodiment includes an image forming apparatus, an erasing apparatus, a first apparatus, and a display unit. The image forming apparatus forms an image on a sheet using a decolorable color material. The erasing apparatus decolorizes an image. The first apparatus computes, from a reduction in the number of sheets achieved by a setting for image formation in the image forming apparatus, the amount of a reduction in environmental burdens achieved by use of the image forming apparatus and computes, from the number of sheets erased by the erasing apparatus, the amount of a reduction in environmental burdens achieved by use of the erasing apparatus. The display unit simultaneously displays the amount of the reduction in environmental burdens achieved by the image forming apparatus and the amount of the reduction in environmental burdens achieved by the erasing apparatus.

An image forming apparatus includes a rotatable image bearer, a transfer rotator, a detector, and circuitry. The image bearer bears an image. The transfer rotator transfers the image from the image bearer onto a recording medium sandwiched and conveyed between the image bearer and the transfer rotator. The detector detects length information indicating a length, in a direction of conveyance of the recording medium, of the image on the recording medium. The circuitry corrects a correction value, based on the length information detected by the detector and a target value of the length information, to correct an image magnification, in the direction of conveyance of the recording medium, of the image to be formed on the recording medium. The circuitry controls an image forming operation of forming the image on the recording medium with the correction value.

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.

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 method of identifying a component of a system, the component including an RFID tag, and the system including a reader to read a signal transmitted by the RFID tag, the method including: varying an angular position of the component relative to the reader, taking readings of the strength of the signal transmitted by the RFID tag at a plurality of angular positions of the component, storing signal strength values at the plurality of angular positions of the component, and comparing the stored signal strength values versus angular position of the component relative to the reader with expected signal strength values versus angular position of the component relative to the reader to identify whether the component is an expected component.