JP2014081728A - Image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming system that eliminates, when minor corrections and change are made to a document already printed in substitution, time and effort to permit re-printing without causing unexpected disadvantage to an authorized user.SOLUTION: When a PC 101 transmits a substitution print job to a server 100 to cause an MFP 102 to execute the substitution print job, and subsequently the PC 101 transmits a reprint job requiring print of image data similar to image data according to the substitution print job to the server 100, the server 100 permits the MFP 102 to execute the reprint job, only within a predetermined time Ts since the reception of the request of substitution print and only when the similarity of the image data between the substitution print job and reprint job is equal to or larger than a predetermined value.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming system, and more particularly, to a technique for reducing the trouble of reprinting by a user who has been granted temporary use authority with limitations.

  Conventionally, in order to charge for the use of an image forming apparatus, the use of the image forming apparatus is restricted only to users who have use authority. For example, when a personal computer (PC) is connected to the image forming apparatus via a network and a print request is made, for example, an ID (identifier) and a password are displayed on the operation screen of the printer driver on the PC side when the print request is made. There is a method for obtaining a use permission by receiving and sending the print data with the ID and password attached to the image forming apparatus.

  According to such a system, it is possible to prevent unauthorized use by a person who does not have the use authority and to perform a reasonable charge according to the use record of the image forming apparatus.

JP 2010-212859 A JP 2001-024885 A JP 2005-149323 A JP 2003-046768 A JP 2010-198545 A JP 2008-271508 A

  However, there are cases where it is more convenient for a person other than the authorized user to authorize the use of the image forming apparatus. For example, when a meeting or the like is performed by visiting another department in the same company, there is a possibility that the meeting material may be wasted if a meeting material that is not necessarily determined is prepared in advance. In such a case, it is convenient if meeting materials can be printed appropriately according to the progress of the meeting, and waste of resources can be prevented.

  In order to achieve such convenience, for example, a method of temporarily granting use authority from the use authority person can be considered. As a method of recognizing the use authority, for example, it is conceivable that a print job is freely executed during a limited period. In this method, an unlimited number of print jobs can be executed during the permission period, which is very convenient for authorized users, but for authorized users, consumables such as recording sheets and toner are consumed indefinitely. There is a risk of unforeseen disadvantages. For this reason, it is anticipated that the use authority will be reluctant to give permission, and this will impair the convenience of the user who receives the permission.

  On the other hand, it is conceivable to allow only one print job to be executed at a time. In this method, since the authorized user can confirm the number of prints before each execution of the print job, the user can be permitted, so there is little possibility of suffering the above-mentioned unexpected disadvantage. On the other hand, it is a little annoying for users who get permission. For example, it is troublesome for the user and troublesome for the use authority to request permission even when a minor error such as a typographical error is found after correction of printing and correction is made and the user wants to reprint.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and once a printed document has been subjected to minor corrections and changes, it is possible to re-execute without giving the user authority an unexpected disadvantage. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming system that saves the trouble of permitting printing.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image forming system according to the present invention includes a proxy print accepting unit that accepts a proxy print instruction that is a print instruction including temporary authentication information, a print job, and proxy print designation together with registered authentication information, and the registration If the authentication by the completed authentication information is successful, the temporary authentication information is stored, and the proxy printing means for executing the print job related to the proxy printing, and the printing instruction including the temporary authentication information, the print job, and the reprint designation A reprint accepting unit that accepts a print instruction, a similarity determination unit that determines the similarity of print contents between print jobs, and the temporary authentication information between the substitute print instruction and the reprint instruction, In addition, only when it is determined that the similarity of the content of the image data to be printed is higher than a predetermined threshold, Characterized in that it comprises a printing means.

In this way, since reprinting is executed only when the degree of similarity of print contents is high, reprinting can be executed while preventing the disadvantage of the use authority due to unlimited reprinting.
In this case, the similarity determination unit may determine the level of the ratio of the number of pixels having the same density with respect to the total number of pixels as the similarity, or the total number of pixels having the same density after binarization. You may determine the level of the ratio with respect to the number of pixels. Further, as the degree of similarity, the level of the ratio of the number of densities with the same frequency in the density histogram representing the number of pixels for each density to the total number of densities may be determined.

  The image forming system according to the present invention further includes a number recording unit that records the number of times of execution of the print job related to the proxy printing instruction for each combination of the registered authentication information and the temporary authentication information. The determination means lowers the threshold as the number of executions increases. In this way, if it is estimated that there is a trust relationship between the authorized user and the temporary user, the temporary user can be prevented while lowering the threshold while preventing the disadvantage of the authorized user. Can improve convenience.

  A timing unit for measuring an elapsed time after receiving the proxy printing instruction; and a prohibiting unit for prohibiting the reprint receiving unit from accepting the reprinting instruction when the elapsed time exceeds a predetermined time. In addition, it is possible to further increase the protection of the authorized person.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating a main configuration of a server 100. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a main configuration of a multifunction peripheral 102. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a main hardware configuration of a control unit 300. FIG. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing an operation of the image forming system 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a printer driver screen. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a printer driver program installed in the PC 101. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the server 100. 4 is a flowchart illustrating job storage processing executed by a server 100. It is a flowchart which shows the similarity calculation process which the server 100 performs. It is a figure which illustrates the image data concerning proxy printing and reprinting. 4 is a flowchart illustrating pull print processing executed by a server 100. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the MFP. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the server 100 which concerns on the modification of this invention. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the MFP according to a modification of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement sequence in the serverless system which concerns on the modification of this invention. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the multifunction machine according to a modification of the present invention. 10 is a flowchart illustrating print processing executed by the multifunction peripheral according to a modification of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a printer driver according to a modified example of the present invention.

Embodiments of an image forming system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[1] Configuration of Image Forming System First, the configuration of the image forming system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, an image forming system 1 includes a pull print server (hereinafter simply referred to as “server”) 100, a client PC (Personal Computer; hereinafter simply referred to as “PC”) 101, and a multifunction peripheral (MFP). : Multi-Function Peripheral) 102 is connected by a LAN (Local Area Network) 103.

The image forming system 1 is a so-called pull print system. The server 100 temporarily stores a print job received from the PC 101 and then returns a print job in response to a request from the multifunction peripheral 102. The multi-function peripheral 102 executes print processing according to the print job acquired from the server 100.
[2] Configuration of Server 100 Next, the configuration of the server 100 will be described.

  The server 100 includes a main body, a keyboard, a mouse, and a display device. As shown in FIG. 2, the server 100 itself includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 202, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 203, an image processor 204, a video controller 205, an HDD (Hard Disk). Drive) controller 206, I / O (Input and Output) controller 207, and NIC (Network Interface Card) 208 are interconnected by an internal bus 209. In addition, the server 100 has a built-in HDD 210.

  The CPU 201 reads and starts a boot program from the ROM 202 after turning on the power, reads a necessary program such as an operating system from the HDD 210, and executes these programs using the RAM 203 as a working storage area. The image processing processor 204 is used when various kinds of image processing are performed on the image data relating to the print job. In particular, in the present embodiment, it is used when comparing image data.

  Under the control of the CPU 201, the video controller 205 outputs a video signal to a display device (for example, a liquid crystal display device) connected to the server 100 main body to display text or an image. The HDD controller 206 is used to write data to the HDD 210 and read data from the HDD 210. The I / O controller 207 is a USB (Universal Serial Bus) controller, for example, and accepts input from a keyboard 212 and a mouse 213 connected to the server 100 main body.

The NIC 208 executes protocol processing for communication via the LAN 103 under the control of the CPU 201.
When a print job such as a substitute print job or a reprint job is received from the PC 101, the server 100 determines whether or not it can be saved, and then saves the print job. When a print job transmission request is received from the multifunction device 102, the print job is transmitted to the multifunction device 102.

[3] Configuration of the PC 101 Since the PC 101 has a configuration substantially similar to that of the server 100, the description of the server 100 is replaced with the description of the PC 101. However, the image processing processor 204 is not essential for the PC 101. Further, the PC 101 may be a so-called notebook personal computer. In this case, the display 211 and the keyboard 212 are integrated with the main body. Further, instead of the mouse 213, a pointing device such as a touch pad or a pointing stick may be used.

  The PC 101 is installed with a document creation program for a user to create a print document, such as a word processor program or a spreadsheet program. A printer driver program (hereinafter simply referred to as “printer driver”) for requesting printing from the document creation program to the server 100 is also installed. When the user of the PC 101 instructs printing from the document creation program, the printer driver is called, and processing necessary for submitting a print job is performed as described later.

The PC 101 is, for example, a PC brought by a user in another department who visited the department where the image forming system 1 is installed.
[4] Configuration of MFP 102 Next, the configuration of the MFP 102 will be described.
The multifunction machine 102 is an image forming apparatus having a printer function, a scanner function, and a facsimile function. As shown in FIG. 3, the multifunction machine 102 includes a scanner unit 310, a printer unit 311, and a paper feed unit 312. . The scanner unit 310 includes an automatic paper feeder (ADF: Automatic Document Feeder), and reads image data while conveying a plurality of documents one by one to generate image data.

  The printer unit 311 includes a control unit 300, an operation panel 301, and a printer engine 302. The control unit 300 receives image data from the scanner unit 310 and transmits / receives image data to / from other devices such as a PC (Personal Computer) or a facsimile device via the LAN 101 or a facsimile line. Based on the image data acquired in this way, the printer engine 302 forms a toner image on the recording sheet supplied from the paper feed unit 312 under the control of the control unit 300.

The control unit 300 receives an instruction from the user via the operation panel 301 or displays information for the user. In particular, the control unit 300 executes a browser program to display web data acquired from a URL specified by a user or to execute an application program.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a main hardware configuration of the control unit 300. As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 300 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 400, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 401, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 402, a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 403, a NIC (Network Interface Card). ) 404 and facsimile modem 405, which are interconnected by an internal bus 406.

  When the power is turned on, the CPU 400 reads and boots a boot program from the ROM 401, reads a program such as an operating system (OS) from the HDD 403, and operates using the RAM 402 as a working storage area. Under the control of the CPU 400, the NIC 404 communicates with other devices via the LAN 103 under the control of the CPU 400. The facsimile modem 405 performs facsimile communication with other devices via a facsimile line, and received facsimile data is printed by the printer engine 302.

  The operation panel 301 includes a liquid crystal display panel (LCD) 410, a touch panel 411, and hard keys 412, which are connected to an internal bus 406 of the control unit 300 via a local bus 413. The operation panel 301 displays information to the user on the liquid crystal display panel 410 under the control of the control unit 300. Further, a touch panel 411 is provided on the surface of the liquid crystal display panel 410, and accepts user instruction input in conjunction with the liquid crystal display. The operation panel 301 also accepts a user instruction input by the hard key 412 and outputs an input signal corresponding to the instruction content to the control unit 300.

A scanner unit 310, a printer engine 302, and a paper feed unit 312 are also connected to the internal bus 406 of the control unit 300, and operate under the control of the control unit 300.
[5] Operation of Image Forming System 1 Next, the operation of the image forming system 1 will be described.
(5-1) Operation Sequence A cooperative operation between apparatuses constituting the image forming system 1 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 5, during proxy printing, a user who temporarily uses the MFP 102 without using the MFP 102 (hereinafter referred to as “temporary user”) operates the PC 101 to use the MFP 102. The proxy print job data attached with authentication information (both ID and password in the present embodiment) of the user having the password (hereinafter referred to as “authorized user”) and the temporary user is transmitted to the server 100. If the authentication information of the authorized user attached to the proxy print job data is correct, the server 100 stores the temporary user authentication information together with the proxy print job data and returns a successful storage to the PC 101.

  Thereafter, when the temporary user operates the multifunction peripheral 102 to transmit proxy print job data with the temporary user's authentication information attached thereto, the server 100 confirms the authentication information. If the authentication information is correct, the server 100 returns the requested proxy print job data to the MFP 102. The multi-function peripheral 102 executes print processing using the received proxy print job data.

  At the time of reprinting, the temporary user operates the PC 101 to transmit reprint job data attached with only the temporary user authentication information to the server 100. In the server 100, the temporary user authentication information attached to the reprint job data matches the temporary user authentication information attached to the proxy print job data, and an image image developed from the reprint job data is displayed. If the images developed from the proxy print job are similar, the reprint data is saved and a successful save is returned to the PC 101.

Note that the similarity of the image image is determined only by permitting reprinting of a document with minor modifications, and by allowing other users not to print, the temporary user can make the MFP 102 unlimited. This is to prevent use.
Thereafter, when the temporary user operates the multi-function peripheral 102 to transmit reprint job data with the temporary user authentication information attached thereto, the server 100 receives the temporary user with the authentication information attached to the proxy print job data. Confirm whether it matches the authentication information. If the authentication information matches, the server 100 returns the requested reprint job data to the MFP 102. The multi-function peripheral 102 executes print processing using the received reprint job data.

(5-2) Operation of PC 101 A printer driver is installed in the PC 101, and the following processing is executed.
The printer driver is a program that transmits print job data to the server 100 that is called when printing is instructed by an application program installed in the PC 101. When called from an application program, the printer driver displays a printer driver screen.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the printer driver screen 600 accepts designation of whether the printing is normal printing 601, substitute printing 602, or reprinting 603. If the printing is normal printing 601, input of the authorized user authentication information 610 is accepted, but entry of the temporary user authentication information 611 is prohibited. In the case of proxy printing 602, the authentication information 610 and 611 of both the authorized user and the temporary user are also received. In the case of reprinting 603, only input of temporary user authentication information 611 is accepted, and input of authorized user authentication information 610 is prohibited. Thereafter, when the print button 620 is clicked, the printer driver transmits print job data to the server 100.

  As shown in FIG. 7, when the printer driver accepts the print settings (S701: YES), the printer driver confirms the contents of the print settings, and if it is normal printing (S702: normal printing), the authorized user is authenticated in the print job data. Only information is attached (S703). If it is proxy printing (S702: proxy printing), the authentication information of both the authorized user and the temporary user is attached to the print job data (S704). If reprinting is performed (S706: reprinting), only the temporary user authentication information is attached to the print job data (S707). After the processes of steps S703 to S705, the printer driver transmits print job data with authentication information attached to the server 100 (S706), and when the server 100 returns a successful save (S707: YES), the process ends. . Further, when a storage failure is received from the server 100 (S707: NO), the user is notified of this by displaying it on the screen (S708), and the process is terminated. In this case, when the cause of the storage failure is received from the server 100 such as the authentication information fraud, the cause may be notified together.

(5-3) Operation of Server 100 Next, the operation of the server 100 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 8, when the server 100 receives print job data from the PC 101 via the LAN 103 (S801: YES), the server 100 executes a job storage process described later (S802). Otherwise (S801: NO), a pull print process described later is executed (S703).

(5-3-1) Job Saving Process (S802)
In the job storage process, as shown in FIG. 9, if the authentication type of the received print job data is normal printing (S901: normal printing), the server 100 confirms that the authentication information of the attached authorized user is correct. Check. If the authentication information is correct (S902: YES), the print job data is saved as normal print job data (S910), and a successful save is returned to the PC 101 (S911). On the other hand, if the authentication information of the authorized user is not correct (S902: NO), the print job data is not saved, and a save failure is returned (S913).

  Also in the case of proxy printing (S901: proxy printing), it is confirmed whether the attached authorization user authentication information is correct. If the authentication information is correct (S903: YES), the attached temporary user authentication information is saved (S904), and the current time (hereinafter referred to as “proxy printing time”) is recorded (S905). Further, the print job data is stored as temporary print job data (S910), and a successful storage is returned to the PC 101 (S911). On the other hand, if the authentication information is not correct (S903: NO), a storage failure is returned (S913).

  In the case of reprinting (S901: reprinting), first, the elapsed time from the proxy printing time to the present is calculated, and if the elapsed time is less than the threshold T (S906: YES), the attached temporary user's Check whether the authentication information is correct. If the authentication information is correct (S907: YES), a similarity S between the image data related to reprinting and the image data related to the proxy printing is calculated (S908).

As shown in FIG. 10, in the similarity calculation process, first, image data related to substitute printing is binarized (S1001), and image data related to reprinting is binarized (S1002). Then, both the values of the variables n and c are initialized to 0 (S1003), and the following loop processing is executed.
That is, first, the pixel value of the nth pixel of the image data related to proxy printing is compared with the pixel value of the nth pixel of the image data related to reprinting, and if the pixel values match (S1004). : YES), the value of the variable c is increased by 1 (S1005). When the pixel values do not match (S1004: NO), after the process of step S1005, the value of the variable n is increased by 1 (S1006). The above processing is repeated until the value of the variable n reaches the total number of pixels N.

When the value of the variable n reaches the total number N of pixels (S1007: NO), the formula S = 100 × c / N
Thus, the similarity S is calculated (S1008), and the process returns to the upper routine. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating binary image data related to proxy printing and reprinting. Each binary image data is composed of 15,000 pixels, and 11 pixels are different in the last character in the third row. Therefore,
N = 15,000
c = 15,000-11 = 14,989
Therefore, the similarity is
S = 99.93 [%]
It becomes. When the threshold value Ts is 90%, it is determined that the similarity S = 99.93 [%] is high.

Returning to FIG. 9, if the similarity S calculated by the similarity calculation process is larger than the threshold Ts (S909: YES), the print job data is stored as temporary print job data (S906), and the PC 101 is successfully stored. A reply is made (S907).
If the elapsed time is greater than or equal to the threshold T (S906: NO), or if the authentication information is incorrect (S905: NO), a storage failure is returned (S908). After the processing of steps S907 and S909, the process returns to the upper routine. If reprinting is allowed indefinitely, there may be an unexpected disadvantage for the authorized user. However, if reprinting is allowed for a limited time, such disadvantage can be prevented.

As described above, the normal print job data is print job data by an authorized user, and the temporary print job data is print job data by a temporary user.
(5-3-2) Pull print processing (S803)
In the pull print process, as shown in FIG. 12, when the server 100 receives a temporary user authentication request attached with user authentication information from the MFP 102 (S1201: YES), first, the temporary print job data is stored. Make sure that If the data is stored (S1202: YES), it is confirmed whether the authentication information is correct. If the temporary user authentication information is correct (S1203: YES), all the print job data of the temporary user is transmitted to the MFP 102 (S1204). If the temporary print job data is not stored at all (S1202: NO), or if the authentication information is not correct (S1203: NO), the MFP 102 is returned with no print job data (S1205).

In addition to the temporary user authentication request, the server 100 may accept pull print operations such as a print job data list display request, a search request, and a print setting change request from the MFP 102 in the same manner as a normal pull print server. .
(5-4) Operation of MFP 102 Next, the operation of the MFP 102 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 13, when the MFP 102 receives an input of authentication information from the operation panel 301 (S1301: YES), the MFP 102 transmits a temporary user authentication request attached with the authentication information to the server 100 (S1302). Thereafter, when the temporary print job data of the temporary user is received from the server 100 (S1303: YES), the temporary print job is executed (S1304).

When a notification that there is no temporary print job data is received from the server 100 instead of the temporary print job data (S1303: NO), normal authentication processing is executed using the authentication information (S1305). The normal authentication process is a process for confirming whether or not the authentication information is correct as the authentication information of the authorized user.
[6] Modifications As described above, the present invention has been described based on the embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the following modifications can be implemented. .

  (1) In the above embodiment, a touch and print pull print system that executes all the temporary print jobs submitted by the temporary user when the temporary user logs in to the MFP 102 has been described as an example. Of course, the temporary print job stored in the server 100 is displayed when the temporary user logs in to the MFP 102 instead, and the temporary print job selected by the temporary user is executed. A list print method may be adopted.

  In this case, as shown in FIG. 14, when the server 100 receives the temporary user authentication request from the MFP 102 (S1401: YES), is the temporary print job data of the temporary user related to the temporary user authentication request stored? Check. If the temporary print job data is stored (S1402: YES), the authentication information attached to the temporary user authentication request is compared with the authentication information attached to the temporary print job data.

If there is temporary print job data that matches the authentication information as a result of the collation (S1403: YES), a list that lists the file names of the print documents related to the temporary print job data that matches the authentication information is created. (S1404).
If the temporary print job data is not stored at all (S1402: NO), or if the temporary print job data is stored but does not match the authentication information related to the temporary user authentication request (S1403: NO), the MFP 102 (S1405).

Upon receiving a print job data request from the MFP 102 (S1406: YES), the server 100 returns the requested print job data to the MFP 102 (S1407). After the processing in steps S1404, S1405, and S1047, the process returns to the upper routine.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 15, when the MFP 102 receives an input of authentication information through the operation panel 301 (S1501: YES), the MFP 102 transmits a temporary user authentication request attached with the authentication information to the server 100 (see FIG. 15). S1502). Thereafter, when a list of temporary print job data is received from the server 100 (S1503: YES), the list is displayed on the operation panel 301 (S1504). Also, if a notification of no data is received (S1503: NO), there is a possibility that it is not temporary user authentication information, so normal authentication processing is performed (S1505).

  After that, when a temporary print job to be executed is designated from the list displayed on the operation panel 301 (S1506: YES), the designated temporary print job is requested to the server 100 (S1507). Thereafter, when the temporary print job data is received from the server 100 (S1508: YES), the temporary print job is executed (S1509). After the processes in steps S1504, S1505, and S1509, and if NO in step S1506, the process proceeds to step S1501 and the above process is repeated.

As described above, the effects of the present invention can be obtained even in the case of the list print method.
In step S1501, when an authentication input is accepted, first, normal authentication processing may be executed, and authentication information may be transmitted to the server 100 only when authentication fails. In this way, when the frequency of authentication input by the temporary user is low, the normal authentication process can be started earlier, and the convenience of the authorized user can be improved.

Further, whether the print job data stored in the server 100 is automatically deleted or manually deleted after the print job is executed in the MFP 102 may be set in the server 100 or the MFP 102. .
(2) In the above embodiment, the image data related to the proxy print job and the image data related to the reprint job are both binarized, and then the similarity S is evaluated for each pixel. Although described, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this, and the similarity S may be evaluated by other methods.

For example, the similarity S may be evaluated by comparing each pixel value of RGB without pixelizing the image data for each pixel, or the brightness value calculated from the RGB pixel value is compared for each pixel. The similarity S may be evaluated. The brightness is calculated from the RGB pixel values according to the following equation.
Lightness = 0.299 x R + 0.587 x G + 0.114 x B
Further, histograms of density values of RGB may be compared, or brightness histograms may be compared. As a method of comparing histograms, a difference in frequency may be obtained for each pixel value or a range of pixel values, and the magnitude of the absolute value or the sum of squared values may be obtained. In this case, the similarity S increases as the cumulative value decreases.

  Further, the threshold value Ts used when determining the magnitude of the similarity S may be set by the administrator of the server 100 or may be set by an authorized user who approves proxy printing. This is because reprinting is difficult when the threshold value Ts is high, and reprinting is easy when the threshold value Ts is low. However, since it may be difficult to assume specific numerical values, the threshold value Ts may be selected by giving options such as high, medium, and low.

  Further, the threshold value Ts may be changed depending on the proxy printing history in the combination of the authorized user and the temporary user. For example, if the frequency of proxy printing is high, it is determined that these users have a higher trust relationship. Therefore, the threshold Ts may be lowered so that reprinting can be performed even if the degree of correction is high. Further, if the number of proxy printing is large, it is determined that there is a high reliability relationship, so the threshold value Ts may be lowered.

  (3) In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which the printer driver accepts designation of proxy printing or reprinting and notifies the server 100 to that effect, but the present invention is not limited to this. Needless to say, the file name attached to the proxy print job data is compared with the file name attached to the reprint job data, and if the file names match, the reprint job data is replaced. It may be determined that

(4) In the above-described embodiment, the case where an ID and a password are used as authentication information has been described. Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to this, and other than ID and password such as ID card authentication and biometric authentication. Even if the authentication method is used, the effect of the present invention is the same.
(5) Although the case where the server 100 is used has been described in the above embodiment, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this, and that the present invention can be applied to a serverless system to obtain the effect. it can.

As shown in FIG. 16, in this modification, print job data to be stored is transmitted and received between the PC 101 and the multifunction peripheral 102, while the multifunction peripheral 102 issues a print instruction to the multifunction peripheral 102 alone. Process with.
FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the operation of the multifunction peripheral 102 according to this modification. When the MFP 102 receives print job data from the PC 101 (S1701: YES), the MFP 102 executes a job storage process similar to that of the server 100 according to the above embodiment (S1702). Similarly to the MFP 102 according to the above embodiment, the authentication input is accepted (S1701: NO), and the printing process is executed (S1703).

  FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating print processing executed by the multifunction peripheral 102 according to this modification. When the MFP 102 receives an authentication input from the operation panel 301 (S1801: YES), it confirms whether the temporary print job data is stored. If the temporary print job data has been saved (S1802: YES), the authentication information attached to the temporary print job data is compared with the authentication information input by authentication. If the authentication information matches, the authentication is successful (S1803: YES), and the temporary print job is executed (S1804). If the temporary print job data is not stored (S1802: NO), or if the authentication information does not match (S1803: NO), normal authentication processing is executed (S1805).

As described above, the effect of the present invention can be obtained even in a serverless system.
(6) Although the case where the server 100 is used has been described in the above embodiment, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this, and that the present invention can be applied to a serverless system to obtain the effect. it can. That is, reprinting may be managed by a printer driver.

As shown in FIG. 19, when the print button 620 is clicked (S1901: YES), the printer driver according to the present modification example refers to the setting of the authentication type and is normal printing (S1902: normal printing). Then, the authentication information of the authorized user is attached to the print job data (S1905), and the print job data is transmitted to the MFP 102 (S1906).
If the authentication type is proxy printing (S1902: proxy printing), the proxy print job data is saved (S1903), and the current time (proxy print time) is recorded (S1904). The authentication information is attached (S1905), and the print job data is transmitted to the MFP 102 (S1906).

  Furthermore, if the authentication type is reprinting (S1902: reprinting), it is first checked whether or not the elapsed time from the proxy printing time to the current time is less than the threshold T. If the elapsed time is less than the threshold T (S1907: YES), the similarity S between the image data related to proxy printing and the image data related to reprinting is calculated, and if the similarity S is greater than the threshold Ts (S1908: YES). Then, the authentication information of the authorized user is attached to the print job data (S1905), and the print job data is transmitted to the MFP 102 (S1906).

When the elapsed time is equal to or greater than the threshold T (S1907: NO), or when the similarity S is equal to or less than the threshold Ts (S1908: NO), the reprinting is not notified on the display screen of the PC 101 (S1909).
Even if it does in this way, the effect of the present invention can be acquired.
(7) In the above embodiment, the case of determining whether or not reprinting is possible according to the amount of time elapsed from the proxy printing time has been described, but it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this. You may do as follows. That is, when the threshold time Ts elapses from the proxy printing time, the stored proxy print job data is deleted, and whether or not reprinting is possible may be determined based on the presence or absence of the corresponding proxy print job data. Even if it does in this way, the effect of the present invention is the same.

  (8) In the above embodiment, in the case of reprinting, it has been described that reprinting is prohibited if the elapsed time from the proxy printing time is equal to or greater than the threshold T. This threshold T is managed by the server 100. You may let the person set. As a setting value, for example, the threshold T may be set to about 3 hours in the sense that the frequency of proxy printing is reduced to reduce the burden of the authorized user inputting authentication information. Alternatively, the proxy printing result may be checked, and the threshold value T may be determined in consideration of the time required for the temporary user to make minor corrections.

  Needless to say, if the elapsed time is less than the threshold value T and the similarity S is greater than Ts, the temporary user can execute the temporary print job as many times as necessary.

  The image forming system, the print server, and the image forming apparatus according to the present invention are useful as a technique for reducing the trouble of reprinting by a user who has been granted temporary use authority with limitations.

1 ... Image forming system 100 ... Pull print server 101 ... Client PC
102: MFP
103 ... LAN

Claims (6)

Proxy print accepting means for accepting a proxy print instruction, which is a print instruction including temporary authentication information, a print job, and proxy print designation, together with registered authentication information;
When authentication by the registered authentication information is successful, the temporary authentication information is stored, and a proxy printing unit that executes a print job related to the proxy printing;
Reprint accepting means for accepting a reprint instruction which is a print instruction including temporary authentication information, a print job, and a reprint designation;
Similarity determination means for determining the similarity of print contents between print jobs;
Only when it is determined between the proxy printing instruction and the reprinting instruction that the temporary authentication information is matched and the similarity of the contents of the image data to be printed is higher than a predetermined threshold, the reprinting is performed. An image forming system comprising: a reprint unit that executes a print job according to a print instruction. The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the similarity determination unit determines the level of the ratio of the number of pixels having the same density with respect to the total number of pixels as the similarity. The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the similarity determination unit determines, as the similarity, a level of a ratio of the number of pixels having the same density after binarization to the total number of pixels. The said similarity determination means determines the level of the ratio with respect to the total density number of the density number in which the frequency | correspondence matches in the density histogram showing the pixel number for every density | concentration as said similarity degree. Image forming system. A number of times recording means for recording the number of executions of the print job related to the proxy printing instruction for each combination of the registered authentication information and the temporary authentication information;
The image forming system according to claim 2, wherein the similarity determination unit lowers the threshold as the number of executions increases. A time measuring means for measuring an elapsed time since receiving the proxy printing instruction;
The image forming system according to claim 1, further comprising: a prohibiting unit that prohibits the reprint accepting unit from accepting a reprint instruction when the elapsed time exceeds a predetermined time.

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