JP4700744B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention belongs to the technical field of an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a facsimile machine, a printer, or a so-called multifunction machine having these functions.

  Conventionally, in the image forming apparatus as described above, for example, an apparatus that forms an image on a sheet having a relatively large area (hereinafter, referred to as “large area sheet”) such as A0, A1, and A2 plates is known. ing. According to this, it is possible to suitably perform image formation on, for example, a design drawing. By the way, the above-mentioned large area paper is preferably used in such a way that it is expanded and used when reading the contents but is folded when stored, etc. In this case, how to fold the large area paper is It is preferable to follow a certain method. This is because, in a design drawing or the like, a so-called title portion (information such as what the drawing represents) is provided in the lower right corner of the drawing, for example. In many cases, it is preferable that the title section can be easily seen when organizing, storing and transporting.

In view of this, image forming apparatuses such as those described above are known which have a function of forming a folding position mark on the large-area sheet. That is, the folding position mark is formed on the paper in conjunction with or prior to image formation such as a drawing so that if the large area paper is folded according to the folding position mark, the title portion will naturally appear on the table. It is. As an image forming apparatus having such a folding position mark forming function, for example, an apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known.
JP-A-8-6172

  However, the image forming apparatus as described above has the following problems. In other words, in order to make the title part appear on the front after folding a large area paper, it is not necessary to simply form a folding position mark on the large area paper, but to form a folding position mark. It will be necessary to follow the predetermined rules and standards. However, conventionally, no special consideration has been given to this point, and it has not always been easy to determine at which position on the large-area sheet the folding position mark should be formed. In particular, this problem becomes more serious when the size of the large area paper does not match the standard size. Incidentally, in such a case (that is, when the size of the large area paper does not match the standard size), for example, when the image is formed while cutting the paper fed out from the roll paper, the standard size is used. Even if the cutting is intended to obtain a sheet of paper, the case where the cutting position slightly deviates from the standard size is also included.

  In this regard, in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, a folding position mark is formed at any position on a large-area sheet by selecting a predetermined folding position mark from a folding position mark memory that stores information on a plurality of folding position marks. In this case, first, the formation position of the folding position mark that can be set is determined in advance, and the size of the large-area sheet described above is particularly flexible. Secondly, it is not possible to cope with the case where it does not match the standard size. Second, since the determination of the formation position of the folding position mark is left to the user's selection, the ease of the determination is impaired (that is, the user's decision). It is troublesome for us.).

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can easily and suitably determine where a folding position mark should be formed.

  In order to solve the above problems, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention is an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet based on image data, the selecting unit that selects the size of the sheet, and a post-image forming unit. An input means for inputting a folding size when the paper is folded, a control means for calculating a forming position of the folding position mark on the paper according to the folding size, and the folding position mark based on the forming position of the folding position mark. Image forming means for forming a folding position mark on the paper.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, first, an image can be formed on a sheet based on image data. Here, “image data” is created based on “image information”, and this “image information” is, for example, an image on a document surface read from a scanner unit that can be attached to the image forming apparatus, or Information necessary for configuring an image transmitted from a user terminal such as a personal computer connected to the image forming apparatus, or an image transmitted from the outside by a facsimile function that can be mounted on the image forming apparatus. Say. The image data is obtained by processing such image information into a form suitable for use in image formation in the image forming apparatus. The “image” includes all forms such as documents and drawings.

  In the present invention, in particular, the formation position of the folding position mark is calculated according to the folding size input by the input means. Here, as the “folding size” relating to the input, for example, a size defined by a name such as “A4”, “B5”, or the like (ie, a standard size), or “vertical x [mm] and horizontal y [mm]” The size directly determined by the numerical value is included. That is, input by these methods can be permitted. In the present invention, the formation position of the folding position mark is preferably automatically calculated according to the folding size. In other words, the determination of where the folding position mark should be formed on the paper is suitably and automatically performed by the control means taking into consideration the above-mentioned “folding size” or various circumstances as appropriate. It has become possible. Here, in the above-mentioned “various circumstances”, a design drawing and a title section summarizing the contents of the design drawing (for example, a drawing name, a drawing creator, a drawing creation date, a drawing number, etc.) are described on a sheet. In the case where the folding position mark is formed so that at least a part of the title portion appears on the front when the sheet is folded.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the determination of where the folding position mark should be formed on the paper can be made extremely easily and preferably without bothering the user. Further, if the calculation process of the folding position mark forming position is suitably determined, the folding position mark forming position is determined so that the title part appears on the table, and the size of the large area paper is a standard size. It is possible to easily cope with a case where they do not match.

  Such operations, effects and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the embodiments described below.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus includes a control unit 1, a printer unit 2, a storage device 3, a fax interface (hereinafter referred to as “FAX I / F”) 4, a network I / F 5, a scanner unit 6, and an operation unit 7. It is configured.

  Among these, the printer unit 2 is, for example, image data configured based on image information sent from a personal computer (not shown), read by the scanner unit 6, and further received by the FAX I / F 4, or the like. Processes a print job set based on image data. Note that the print job processing mainly means printing characters / drawings and the like based on the image information on paper or the like previously stored in the printer unit 2. Particularly in the present embodiment, the printer unit 2 forms a folding position mark on a sheet based on folding position mark data set as a part of the image data or in addition to the image data. This point will be described later with reference to FIG. The storage device 3 stores a print job scheduled to be executed or being executed, a print job in which an error has occurred, and the like. The FAX I / F 4 is connected to a device outside the network (not shown) via a telephone line, and transmits and receives image information using a FAX function. The network I / F 5 is connected to the network and transmits and receives data within the network. For example, image information sent from the personal computer is taken into the image forming apparatus via the network I / F 5. The scanner unit 6 includes a platen, a light source unit, a CCD camera, and the like (not shown), and scans a document surface placed on the platen to read image information. The operation unit 7 is a user interface for the user to send various commands to the image forming apparatus. More specifically, for example, a touch panel method can be adopted as the operation unit 7. Particularly in the present embodiment, the operation unit 7 is used for selecting a paper size for image formation and inputting a folding size when the paper after image formation is folded. This point will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The control unit 1 controls the entire image forming apparatus through the above-described elements. The control unit 1 is composed of a CPU that issues a control command, a ROM that stores a control program, a RAM that temporarily stores data, and an NVRAM that stores nonvolatile data. The image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment is particularly characterized in that a position where a folding position mark is to be formed on a sheet is calculated, and the control unit 1 is characterized in that the calculation or control is performed. . This point will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The image forming apparatus of the present embodiment configured as described above is operated as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, for example, and as a result, the following effects can be achieved. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of the folding position mark forming process in the image forming apparatus of this embodiment. The remaining FIG. 3 and subsequent figures will be appropriately described where necessary.

  In FIG. 2, first, in step S <b> 10, the user selects a paper size to be used for image formation through the operation unit 7. For this selection operation, for example, on the LCD screen adopting a touch panel that constitutes the operation unit 7, each paper cassette and a paper size button associated with the cassette are displayed and the button is touched. This can be realized. The paper size associated with each paper feed cassette may be set in advance by initial setting or detected by a sensor of the paper feed cassette. In addition to the standard sizes such as “A4” and “B5”, the paper size can be selected from arbitrary sizes such as “vertical x [mm] and horizontal y [mm]”. Next, the folding size when the sheet after image formation is folded is input. This input operation is also performed through the operation unit 7 in the same manner as the paper size input. Specifically, it can be realized by displaying buttons such as “A4” and “B5” on an LCD screen adopting a touch panel type, and touching the buttons. Alternatively, it may be configured such that numerical input such as “vertical x [mm] and horizontal y [mm]” is also possible.

  Next, the image forming apparatus reads image information (step S11 in FIG. 2). The reading of the image information can be performed via the scanner unit 6. Alternatively, image information transmitted from a personal computer or the like via the network I / F 5 and from a facsimile machine via the FAX I / F 4 can also be read. The image information read in this way is converted into image data that can be processed by the printer unit 2 (for example, conversion to PDL (Printer Description Language)) according to a known process.

  Next, it is confirmed whether or not the size of the sheet on which image formation based on the read image information is to be executed is within a predetermined range based on the folding size input in step S10 (step in FIG. 2). S12). Specifically, the confirmation here means, for example, whether or not the size of the sheet on which image formation is to be performed is within a range of the size obtained by adding 1 [cm] in the vertical and horizontal directions of the folding size. (Preferably, an appropriate numerical value within the range of 1 [cm] to 5 [cm] can be applied). When it is determined that it is within the predetermined range, in other words, when it is determined that the size of the sheet on which image formation is to be performed is substantially the same as the folding size, a folding position mark described later is not formed. Only the image formation based on the image data is performed and the process is terminated (step S12 in FIG. 2; from YES to step S20 and further to step S16). As described above, in this embodiment, when it is determined that the size of the paper and the folding size are substantially the same, the folding position mark is not formed, so that there is a possibility that the user is confused without useless information appearing on the paper. No toner can be saved.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S12 that the predetermined range is exceeded (step S12 in FIG. 2; NO), the process proceeds to the next process. In this case, subsequently, the formation position of the folding position mark is calculated according to the size of the paper on which image formation is to be performed and the folding size (step S13 in FIG. 2). Specifically, this calculation is performed as follows, for example. Hereinafter, a specific example of this calculation method will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram conceptually showing an example of a sheet to be subjected to image formation and an example of setting a folding size, and FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of a method for calculating the formation position of the folding position mark. It is explanatory drawing.

  In the following, a design drawing is formed on the paper 100, and a so-called title portion 101 (here, for example, a drawing name, a drawing creator, a drawing creation date, a drawing) is formed in the lower right corner of the paper 100 as shown in FIG. Information such as a number, etc.) is also formed, and the folding position mark formation position is determined so that the title portion 101 appears on the table when the paper 100 is folded. explain. Further, as a premise of the description, it is assumed that the size of the sheet 100 on which image formation is to be performed is L in the horizontal direction and H in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. 3, and the folding size determined in step S10 is the same. As shown in the figure, a is defined as a in the horizontal direction and b in the vertical direction (for example, if the folding size is input as “A4”, a = 210 [mm], b = 297 [mm 〕It turns out that.). The determination of the formation position of the folding position mark is performed for the purpose that “the folded sheet 100 should be within the range of a × b” must be satisfied at a minimum.

  First, in order to calculate the formation position of the folding position mark in the horizontal direction in FIG. 3, α is calculated by the following equation.

α = (L−a) / (ac) (1)
Here, c corresponds to the length in the horizontal direction in the figure of the portion for binding the folded paper 100 when the paper 100 is folded (see FIG. 3). Incidentally, it is possible to form a punching hole in this portion.

  Next, when the value α calculated by the equation (1) is smaller than 1 (when α <1), as shown in FIG. The formation position of the folding position mark is determined in a portion separated by a distance (see symbol P in the figure). In this case, since α <1, in order for the title portion 101 to appear on the table, there is no other way than to fold the paper 100 at the folding position mark P shown in FIG. However, in such a folding method, the title portion 101 is positioned on the back side, so that in some cases, the title portion 101 is separated from the folding position mark P by a length determined by (L−a) / 2. Another folding position mark forming position may be determined. According to this, by performing valley folding at the folding position mark P and mountain folding at the other folding position mark, a part of the title portion 101 can be exposed. .

  On the other hand, when α is equal to or greater than 1 (when α ≧ 1), the following formula is used depending on whether the value δ obtained by rounding up the decimal point of α is an even number or an odd number. γ is calculated.

When δ is an even number; γ = (L−a) / δ
When δ is an odd number; γ = (L−a) / (δ + 1)
As shown in FIG. 4B, a portion of the paper 100 that is separated from the left end in the drawing by a in the right direction (see symbol P in the drawing) and each portion that is separated by γ from the portion (reference symbol Pγ1 in the drawing). To Pγ3), the formation position of the folding position mark is determined. In this case, first, since α ≧ 1, it is necessary to provide a plurality of folding positions as described above in the horizontal direction in the drawing of the paper 100 in order to fold the paper 100 so that it falls within the range of a × b. There is. Further, in order for the title part 101 to appear in the table, the folding method differs depending on whether δ is an even number or an odd number. That is, when δ is an even number, folding position marks P, Pγ2, Pγ4,..., Generally Pγ (2n) (where n is a positive integer; the same shall apply hereinafter) and valley folding, folding position marks Pγ1, Pγ3, ... In general, it is assumed that Pγ (2n + 1) is a mountain fold. On the other hand, when δ is an odd number, it is necessary to perform the folding method opposite to the above (i.e., mountain fold with Pγ (2n) and valley fold with Pγ (2n + 1)). In order to make the folding method the same as when δ is an even number, γ is obtained by dividing (L−a) by the number obtained by adding 1 to the odd number δ.

  In any case, if the formation position of the folding position mark is determined as described above, the title portion 101 can be displayed on the table even when the paper 100 is folded. Incidentally, if α ≧ 1, if the formation position of the folding position mark is determined as described above, the title portion 101 is displayed in a state in which the paper 100 is folded as shown in FIG. The area of the surface that is shown and the surface that is folded inside (the surface that cannot be seen in the folded state) are the same. In this case, a part of the title part 101 may not be visible, but the remaining part appears in front of the surface, so it is possible to confirm what kind of content the drawing is.

  On the other hand, the formation position of the folding position mark is also calculated in the vertical direction in FIG. In this case, first, β such that β = H−b is calculated, and if (b−β) ≧ (H / 4) holds for this β, as shown in FIG. The formation position of the folding position mark Q may be determined only at a position separated by b from the lower end in the same upward direction. Conversely, if (b−β) <(H / 4) holds, the length obtained by dividing β by (b− (H / 4)) is obtained, and in addition to the folding position mark Q, The formation position of the folding position mark may be determined at each part separated by the length (this point is not shown). In this way, even after folding the paper 100, at least the length of (H / 4) from the lower end of the paper 100 is exposed to the outside (that is, can be visually observed). , A part of the title part 101 can be displayed on the front. In the above description, (H / 4) is used as a criterion, but the present invention is not limited to this (generally, m is a positive integer and (H / m) is used as a criterion). Can do that.)

  As described above, when the formation position of the folding position mark is calculated, the folding position mark is formed at the formation position as a part of the image data or in addition to the image data based on the calculation position. Position mark data is generated (step S15 in FIG. 2).

  When the folding position mark data is generated in this way, image formation is executed based on the image data including or added to the folding position mark data (step S16 in FIG. 2). Here, the actual form of the actual folding position mark formed on the paper 100 can basically be freely determined, but as described above, there is a distinction between mountain folding and valley folding according to the difference in folding position. Therefore, it is preferable to provide a distinction corresponding to the specific form of the folding position mark. For example, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), the folding position mark may be formed differently, such as a black triangle mark at a mountain fold and a white triangle mark at a valley fold. Good. In addition, the form of the folding position mark is not limited to the triangle mark. For example, as shown in FIG. 5B, a number indicating the folding order may be used, or a mountain fold / valley fold is simply expressed. Therefore, a broken line and a dash-dot line may be used as shown in FIG. 5C (however, in the last example, if the broken line and the dash-dot line are drawn on the entire drawing, these do not interfere with the drawing itself). Need to consider.) As described above, if the specific form of the folding position mark is a symbol that suggests how to fold the paper 100, it goes without saying that the user will be more friendly.

After the image including the folding position mark is formed on the paper 100 in this way, the paper 100 may be folded according to the folding position mark. Incidentally, the formation positions of a plurality of folding position marks are determined in the horizontal direction in FIG. 3 as shown in FIG. 4B, and the folding position marks are shown in FIG. 4C in the vertical direction in FIG. If the formation position is determined, the specific folding method of the paper 100 is as shown in FIGS. 6A to 6D (however, in FIG. 6, unlike FIG. There are two horizontal folding position marks.)

  According to the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment that is operated as described above, the determination as to where the folding position mark should be formed on the paper 100 can be made very easily without bothering the user. In the present embodiment, in particular, since the calculation process of the folding position mark formation position is determined as described with reference to FIG. 4, the title portion 101 is always displayed even after the paper 100 is folded. (See also FIG. 6). In addition, according to the calculation method described above, since γ <a is satisfied in most cases, a portion for binding the paper 100 can be ensured properly. Needless to say, these are suitable for suitably storing, storing, and transporting the paper 100. Of course, in the present embodiment, since the formation position of the folding position mark is determined through such a calculation process, it is possible to sufficiently cope with the case where the size of the paper 100 does not match the standard size.

  In the above embodiment, the folding position mark is formed on the paper at the same time as the image formation. However, the present invention is not limited to such a form. For example, the folding position mark may be formed on the paper in advance by the above-described method, and an image may be formed on the paper later. That is, in this method, a ready-made sheet on which a folding position mark is suitably formed is prepared in advance.

  In the above embodiment, an example of the calculation method of the folding position mark has been described. However, this is merely an example, and it goes without saying that various other calculation methods can be employed in the present invention. Here, in particular, the second calculation method example will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the second calculation is based on the assumption that the folding position mark is determined so that the title part 101 appears on the table, and that the size of the paper 100 is determined as L and H, and the folding size is determined as a and b. The same applies to method examples. As a second calculation method example, only the method for determining the folding position mark formation position in the horizontal direction in FIG. 3 will be described.

  First, similarly to the above-described calculation method example, α is obtained by the equation (1).

α = (L−a) / (ac−) (1) Here, when α <1, it may be the same as described above (see FIG. 4A).

  On the other hand, when α ≧ 1, the folding position mark formation position is calculated as follows. First, in this case, subsequently, η is obtained by the following equation.

η = {L−a− (ac)} / (ac)
Next, when η is smaller than 1 (η <1), as shown in FIG. 7A, a portion of the paper 100 that is separated from the left end in the drawing by a in the right direction (see symbol P in the drawing). And the formation position of the folding position mark is determined at a portion separated by (ac) (see reference sign Pθ1 in the figure).

  On the other hand, when η is 1 or more (η ≧ 1), ζ is obtained by the following equation.

ζ = {L−a−2 (ac)} / q
Here, q is an arbitrary even number determined so as to satisfy ζ ≦ (ac). Then, as shown in FIG. 7B, a portion of the paper 100 separated from the left end in the drawing by a in the right direction (see P in the drawing), and a portion separated from the right end by (ac) in the left direction. (See the symbol Pζ3 in the figure), and the position where the folding position mark is formed is determined in each part (see the symbols Pζ1 and Pζ2 in the figure) divided by ζ from the folding position mark P by q. Incidentally, in FIG. 7B, q is defined as “2”. The length between the folding position marks Pζ2 and Pζ3 is (ac). Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 7C instead of FIG. 7B, a portion of the paper 100 that is separated from the left end in the drawing by a in the right direction (see reference symbol P in the drawing), from the right end to the left direction ( The position of the folding position mark is divided into a portion separated by ac) (see the symbol Pζ3 in the drawing) and each portion (see symbols Pζ2 and Pζ1 in the drawing) further divided by ζ in the left direction from the folding position mark Pζ3. The formation position can also be determined. In this case, the length between the folding position marks P and Pζ1 is (ac).

  If the folding position mark formation position is determined in this manner, the title portion 101 can be displayed on the table even when the paper 100 is folded, as in the above embodiment. According to such a calculation method, in particular, the horizontal length in the drawing of the surface on which the title part 101 is represented is always (a) except in exceptional cases as shown in FIG. -C) can be secured (see FIGS. 7B and 7C). In other words, the maximum length that can be secured for the length of the surface that is most positioned on the front side of the folded sheet 100 is (ac) (the part for binding the sheet 100 (the part of length c) is In view of this, according to the present calculation method, it is possible to fold the paper 100 in such a way that the surface on which the title part 101 appears appears to the maximum in the table. It is.

  The q is determined so that ζ ≦ (ac) is satisfied. In this case, ζ is determined to be equal to (ac) or as close as possible to this. preferable. This is because folding becomes easy. Further, the following ζ ′ may be used instead of the above ζ.

ζ ′ = {B−2 (ac) × int (B / 2 (ac))} / 2
Here, B = L−a−2 (ac), and int (x) is a function that gives an integer part of x. Also by this, the formation position of the folding position mark is determined in substantially the same manner as described above.

  If the ζ or ζ ′ is only a few centimeters or less, it is not necessary to provide a folding position mark as shown in FIGS. 7B and 7C. In this case, the width of the portion excluding the length (ac) is extremely small and it is difficult to fold it. Therefore, in this case, the necessity to fold the part having only a few centimeters or less is denied, and the folding size is redefined as a + ζ or a + ζ ′ (an example of “correction” according to the present invention) In addition, the folding position mark calculation process may be performed again. In this way, the size when the paper sheet 100 is folded is slightly larger than the folding size designated by the user, but since ζ or ζ ′ is only a few centimeters or less in the first place, it can be stored. There will be no special problems. Incidentally, such a concept is equivalent to the concept that the folding position mark is not formed when it is determined in step S12 that the paper size and the folding size are substantially the same.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately changed without departing from the gist or concept of the invention that can be read from the claims and the entire specification, and an image forming apparatus with such a change. Is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of a folding position mark forming process in the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a sheet to be an image formation target and a setting example of a folding size. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the example of a calculation method of the formation position of a folding position mark, (a) And (b) is a calculation example of the formation position about the horizontal direction in the figure, (c) is calculation about the vertical direction. An example is shown. It is a figure which shows the specific form of a folding position mark, Comprising: (a) is a black and white triangle mark, (b) is a number, (c) has shown the example which used the broken line and the dashed-dotted line, respectively. . It is explanatory drawing which shows the actual folding method in case the formation position of a folding position mark is defined like FIG.4 (b) and (c). It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the 2nd example of a calculation method of the formation position of a fold position mark, Comprising: (a) thru | or (c) all have shown the example of calculation of the formation position about the horizontal direction in a figure.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Control part 2 ... Printer part 3 ... Memory | storage device 4 ... FAX I / F
5 ... Network I / F
6 ... Scanner unit 7 ... Operation unit 100 ... Paper 101 ... Title part P, P [gamma] 1-P [gamma] 3, P [theta] 1, P [zeta] 1-P [zeta] 3 ... Folding position mark

Claims (7)

An image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet based on image data,
Selecting means for selecting the size of the paper;
Input means for inputting a folding size when the paper after the image formation is folded;
Control means for calculating a formation position of a folding position mark on the paper according to the folding size;
Image forming means for forming the folding position mark on the paper based on the forming position of the folding position mark,
The control means is configured such that the length of one side of the paper is L, the length of the folding size in a direction matching the direction in which the one side extends is a, and the portion for binding the paper when the paper is folded When the length in the direction that coincides with the direction in which one side extends is c,
An image forming apparatus, wherein the calculation procedure is varied depending on whether α obtained by α = (L−a) / (ac) is 1 or more. The control means includes
The calculation is performed so that a length in a direction coinciding with a direction in which the one side of the surface that is most positioned in the folded sheet extends is (ac). The image forming apparatus according to 1. The control means includes
After the determination about α, the calculation procedure is varied depending on whether η obtained by η = {L−a− (ac)} / (ac) is 1 or more. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The control means includes
2. The fold size is corrected based on Z when Z obtained by Z = Lt. (Ac) (t is a positive integer) is within a predetermined range. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the folding position mark includes a symbol that indicates how to fold the paper. The control means includes
The calculation is not performed when the size of the sheet on which the image is to be formed is within a predetermined range based on the folding size. Image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the calculation is automatically performed.