JP2020073962A - Image forming apparatus and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To perform print processing desired by an operator without a complicated operation during printing.SOLUTION: There is provided an image forming apparatus comprising: a first storage part that stores information on an image to be printed; a printing part that includes an erasable recording material and an unerasable recording material, and when an image based on the image information stored in the first storage part satisfies a predetermined condition, prints the image with the erasable recording material; a second storage part that stores emphasis information that emphasizes a specific image; and a control part that, when an image indicated in the emphasis information stored in the second storage part satisfies a predetermined condition included in the image information stored in the first storage part, controls the printing part to print the image with the erasable recording material.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  Embodiments of the present invention relate to a program for operating an image forming apparatus and a computer.

  As one form of the image forming apparatus, an image is printed on a sheet by printing an image on a sheet using a recording material, for example, a decolorizable toner, and further applying a decoloring treatment to the toner that forms the image by heating. There is known one provided with a so-called image erasing device for erasing data. In this image erasing device, a reading unit for reading an image to leave an image before erasing, a erasing unit for erasing toner forming an image, and a erasing process of toner after erasing an image are normally performed. It is known that the above-mentioned reading unit reads an image again in order to determine whether the image has been read. As a result, when the image formed on the paper is erased, a series of operations are performed in which the content of the paper is read and stored by the reading unit and the image is erased. However, the content printed on paper is diverse. For this reason, there are cases in which one sheet of paper is desired to be printed with erasable toner and the other is where normal toner is desired to be printed, and a more flexible printing process is required.

JP 2012-140005 A

  An object to be solved by the embodiment of the present invention is to perform a print process desired by an operator without troublesome work at the time of printing.

An object to be solved by the embodiment of the present invention is to perform a print process desired by an operator without troublesome work at the time of printing.

Therefore, in order to achieve the above object, the following measures are taken in the embodiment of the present invention. A first storage unit that stores image information to be printed, an erasable recording material and a non-erasable recording material, and an image based on the image information stored in the first storage unit satisfies a predetermined condition. When satisfied, the printing unit prints this image with a erasable recording material, the second storage unit that stores the emphasis information that emphasizes a specific image, and the emphasis information that is stored in the second storage unit. When the indicated image satisfies the predetermined condition existing in the image information stored in the first storage unit, the control unit that controls the printing unit to print the image with an erasable recording material. And an image forming apparatus including:

FIG. 3 is a sectional view schematically showing the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment and the second embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment and the second embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing an image erasing device according to the first embodiment and the second embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an image erasing device according to the first and second embodiments. The figure which shows the bitmap image in 1st Embodiment roughly. The figure which shows the bitmap image in 1st Embodiment roughly. The figure which shows roughly the emphasis information candidate file memorize | stored in HDD of MFP in 1st Embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing an emphasis information storage area stored in the HDD of the MFP according to the first embodiment. 6 is a flowchart showing the steps of a print job according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram of a document C to be copied according to the first embodiment and the second embodiment. The figure which shows the example of a display of the screen displayed on the operation panel in 1st Embodiment. 6 is a flowchart showing the steps of an erase job according to the first embodiment. Diagram of the sheet after erasing in the first embodiment and the second embodiment The figure which shows roughly the connection of MFP and PC in 2nd Embodiment. The block diagram of PC in 2nd Embodiment. The figure which shows roughly the emphasis information candidate file memorize | stored in HDD of PC in 2nd Embodiment. The figure which shows roughly the emphasis information storage area memorize | stored in HDD of PC in 2nd Embodiment. The figure which shows the example of a display of the screen displayed on the display part in 2nd Embodiment. 9 is a flowchart showing the steps of a print request job according to the second embodiment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, an MFP (Multi-Function Peripherals) 100 will be described as an example of an image forming apparatus.
In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, the document C to be copied has “A” in which characters are not emphasized and “B” in which characters are emphasized by bold characters. ], "C" in which characters are emphasized by underline is described. In the first embodiment, it is assumed that the original C has the image formed on paper. Further, in the second embodiment, the original C is a document file. In addition, as an example of the recording material, a decolorable toner and a non-decolorable toner will be described as an example, but the recording material is not limited to this. The recording material may be a decolorable ink or a non-decolorable ink.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 13. FIG. 1 is a sectional view schematically showing a configuration example of the MFP 100 according to the first embodiment. The MFP 100 according to the first embodiment functions as an image forming apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, the MFP 100 has a scanner unit 1, a printer unit 2, an operation panel 4, and a system control unit 5.

The scanner unit 1 is a device that reads an image of a document and converts it into image data. The scanner unit 1 has a well-known configuration and is configured by, for example, a CCD line sensor that converts an image of a document on a reading surface into image data. The scanner unit 1 may scan a document placed on a platen glass (not shown), or may read an image of a document conveyed by an automatic document feeder (ADF: Auto Document Feeder). May be The scanner unit 1 is installed, for example, above the main body of the MFP 100. The scanner unit 1 is controlled by the system control unit 5.

The printer unit 2 forms an image on a sheet as a recording medium. In the present embodiment, the printer unit 2 is an electrophotographic image forming unit. The printer unit 2 forms an image by using five kinds of toners of plural kinds (for example, yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), black (K), and decoloring (D)). Yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (K) toners are non-erasable toners that cannot be erased even when heat of a predetermined fixing temperature or higher is applied. The decolorizable toner (D) is a toner that can be decolored by heating at a predetermined temperature or higher that exceeds the fixing temperature. The color of the decoloring toner (D) is, for example, dark blue. Details of the well-known configuration for generating an image by the printer unit 2 will be described later.

The decolorizable toner used in this embodiment is made of, for example, a binder resin containing a coloring material. The decolorizable color material includes a color developable compound, a color developing agent, and an erasing agent. Examples of the color developable compound include leuco dyes. Examples of the color developer include phenols. Examples of the erasing agent include substances that are compatible with the color developing compound when heated and have no affinity with the color developing agent. An erasable color material develops color due to the interaction between the color-developing compound and the color-developing agent, and the interaction between the color-developing compound and the color-developing agent is cut off by heating above the decolorization temperature. To be done.

In the configuration example shown in FIG. 1, the printer unit 2 has a paper feed cassette 20 (20A, 20B, 20C) as a paper feed unit. For example, each of the paper feed cassettes 20A, 20B, and 20C is provided in the lower portion of the main body of the MFP 100 in a removable state. Each of the paper feed cassettes 20A, 20B, and 20C accommodates paper of a type (for example, size and paper quality) set for each of them. Further, it is also possible to set sheets of different sizes in the sheet cassettes 20A, 20B, and 20C, and then set the respective sizes to the corresponding sheet cassettes. Each of the paper feed cassettes 20A, 20B, and 20C is provided with a paper feed unit sensor (not shown). The paper feed unit sensor detects the amount of paper stored in the paper feed tray. The paper feed unit sensor is, for example, an infrared sensor. Alternatively, a mechanical sensor such as a well-known micro switch may be used. The paper feed unit sensor sends the detection result to the system control unit 5 described later. Further, the printer unit 2 may have a manual feed tray (not shown) as another paper feeding unit.

Setting information and the like regarding the sheets stored in the respective sheet feeding cassettes 20A, 20B, and 20C are stored in the nonvolatile memory. The printer unit 2 selects a paper feed cassette accommodating the paper to be used for the printing process according to the setting information. The printer unit 2 prints an image on the paper fed from the selected paper feed cassette. When the printer unit 2 has a manual feed tray, the size of the paper set in the manual feed tray input from the operation panel 4 may be stored in the above-mentioned nonvolatile memory.

In the following description, since the paper is conveyed from the paper feed unit 20 to the paper ejection unit 30, the paper feed unit 20 side is the upstream side in the paper conveyance direction, and the paper ejection unit 30 side is the paper conveyance unit. Downstream with respect to the direction.

The transport unit 22 illustrated in FIG. 1 transports a sheet within the printer unit 2. The transport unit 22 transports the paper supplied from the corresponding paper feed cassette 20A, 20B, or 20C by the pickup roller 21A, 21B, or 21C to the registration roller 24. The registration roller 24 conveys the sheet to the transfer position at the timing of transferring the image from the intermediate transfer belt 27, which will be described later, to the transfer position. The details of the image formation will be described below. The image forming unit 25, the exposure unit 26, the intermediate transfer belt 27, and the transfer unit 28 illustrated in FIG. 1 function as a known image forming unit that forms an image. The image forming unit 25 forms an image to be transferred onto a sheet. In the configuration example for generating the color image shown in FIG. 1, as will be described in detail later, the image forming unit 25Y forms an image corresponding to yellow by color separation of the original image with yellow toner. The image forming unit 25M similarly forms an image with magenta toner. The image forming unit 25C forms an image with cyan toner. The image forming unit 25K forms an image with black toner. Then, the image forming units 25Y, 25M, 25C and 25K transfer the toner images of the respective colors on the intermediate transfer belt 27 in an overlapping manner. On the other hand, the image forming unit 25D is a decolorizable toner and is used when the paper is reused and forms an erasable original image. As described above, the color of the decolorizable toner is dark blue. Therefore, the image formed by the image forming unit 25D is a monochrome (monochromatic) image. Each of the image forming units 25Y, 25M, 25C, 25K, and 25D has a known configuration, for example, a photosensitive drum, a charging charger, a developing unit including toner, a charge eliminating unit, and the like (only shown in FIG. 1).

Each of the image forming units 25Y, 25M, 25C, 25K, 25D has well-known sensors such as a potential sensor and a density sensor, which are not shown. The potential sensor is a sensor that detects the surface potential of a well-known photosensitive drum included in each image forming unit. In each of the image forming units 25Y, 25M, 25C, 25K and 25D, a well-known charging charger charges the surface of the photoconductor drum before the photoconductor drum is exposed by the exposure unit 26 described later. The system control unit 5 can change the charging condition by the charging charger. The potential sensor detects the surface potential of the photosensitive drum whose surface is charged by the charging charger. The density sensor detects the density of the toner image transferred on the intermediate transfer belt 27 described later. Further, the density sensor may detect the density of the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum.

The exposure unit 26 forms the electrostatic latent image of the original image acquired by the scanner unit 1 by the laser light on the charged photoconductor drums of the image forming units 25Y, 25M, 25C, 25K, and 25D as described above. .. The electrostatic latent image formed on each photoconductor drum is an image developed with toner of each color. That is, the exposure unit 26 irradiates each photoconductor drum with a laser beam corresponding to each image forming unit that is controlled according to image data, via an optical system such as a polygon mirror. The exposure unit 26 controls the power of the laser light according to the control signal from the system control unit 5. The exposure unit 26 also controls the modulation amount of the pulse width for controlling the emission of the laser light and the like according to the control signal from the system control unit 5.

As described above, each of the image forming units 25Y, 25M, 25C, 25K, 25D develops the electrostatic latent image formed on each photoconductor drum with the toner of each color by the developing unit. Each of the image forming units 25Y, 25M, 25C, 25K, 25D forms a toner image as a visible image on the photosensitive drum. The intermediate transfer belt 27 is an intermediate transfer body. When forming a color image with the above-described non-erasable toner, each image forming unit 25Y, 25M, 25C, 25K transfers the toner image formed on the photoconductor drum onto the intermediate transfer belt 27 (1 Next transfer). Specifically, each of the image forming units 25Y, 25M, 25C, 25K applies a transfer bias to the toner image at the primary transfer position. Each of the image forming units 25Y, 25M, 25C and 25K controls the transfer bias with the transfer current. The toner image on each photoconductor drum is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 27 by a transfer bias at each primary transfer position (for example, a portion where the photoconductor drum and the transfer belt are in contact with each other). The system control unit 5 controls the transfer current used by each image forming unit in the primary transfer process. On the other hand, when the paper is reused, that is, when a monochrome image is formed with the decolorizable toner, the image forming unit 25D forms a toner image as a visible image on the photosensitive drum. This toner image is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 27 as described above.

The transfer unit 28 transfers the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 27 onto the sheet at the secondary transfer position. The transfer unit 28 has a support roller 28a and a secondary transfer roller 28b provided along the sheet conveyance path. At the secondary transfer position, the support roller 28a and the secondary transfer roller 28b are the intermediate transfer belt. It is a position facing each other with 27 in between. The transfer unit 28 applies a transfer bias controlled by the transfer current to the belt 27 at the secondary transfer position. The transfer unit 28 transfers the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 27 onto a sheet by a transfer bias. The system controller 5 controls the transfer current used in the secondary transfer process.

The fixing device 29 arranged on the downstream side of the transfer unit 28 has a function of fixing the toner to the sheet. For example, in the embodiment, the fixing device 29 fixes the toner image on the sheet by heat and pressure applied to the sheet.

In the configuration example of FIG. 1, the fixing device 29 includes a heat roller (heating unit) 29b having a built-in heating source 29a and a pressure roller (pressure unit) 29c that is in contact with a pressure mechanism (not shown) in a pressurized state. It consists of. The heating source 29a may be a heater whose temperature can be controlled. For example, the heating source 29a may be composed of a heater lamp such as a halogen lamp, or may be an induction heating (IH) type heater. The heating source 29a may be composed of a plurality of heaters. Further, the fixing device 29 further has a temperature sensor (not shown) for measuring the temperature of the heat roller 29b. The temperature sensor transmits the temperature of the heat roller 29b to the system controller 5 described later. The pressure mechanism presses the pressure roller 29c against the heat roller 29b. The pressing mechanism is composed of an elastic member or the like. When the pressure roller 29c is not pressed against the heat roller 29b by the pressure mechanism, the pressure roller 29c and the heat roller 29b are separated from each other, and a gap is formed between them.

When performing the fixing process for fixing the toner image on the sheet, the system control unit 5 controls the temperature of the fixing device 29 to be a predetermined fixing temperature. The fixing device 29 pressurizes the paper on which the toner image is transferred by the transfer unit 28 and heats it at the fixing temperature. As a result, the fixing device 29 fixes the toner image on the sheet. A well-known branching mechanism (not shown) disposed downstream of the fixing device 29 conveys the sheet subjected to the fixing process to either the sheet discharge unit 30 or the ADU (Automatic Duplex Unit) 31 according to the processing request of the user.
When ejecting the paper that has undergone the fixing process by the fixing device 29, the paper is carried out to the paper ejection unit 30. When an image is to be formed on the back surface of the paper sheet that has been subjected to the fixing process by the fixing device 29, the paper sheet is once conveyed to the paper discharge section 30 side, then switched back and conveyed to the ADU 31. In this case, the ADU 31 supplies the sheet reversed by the switchback to the upstream side of the registration roller 24 again.

The operation panel 4 is a user interface. The operation panel 4 includes various known input buttons and a display unit 4a including a touch panel 4b. The system control unit 5 controls the content displayed on the display unit 4 a of the operation panel 4. Further, the operation panel 4 outputs the information input by the touch panel 4b of the display unit 4a or the input button to the system control unit 5. Further, at the time of printing, input of information necessary for printing such as the number of printed sheets and density is accepted. The operator operates the operation panel 4 to operate in the normal print mode in which the non-erasable toner is used for printing, or the partially-erased toner is used for printing with the erasable toner and the non-erasable toner Select one of the modes. The operation panel 4 further has a normal print mode key (not shown) and a partial erase key (not shown). When the normal print mode is selected, the normal print mode key is pressed to set the partial erase toner mode. To select, press the partial erase key.

Next, the configuration of the control system of the MFP 100 will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the MFP 100 of this embodiment. Via a system bus 52, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 51, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 53, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 54, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 55, an external I / F (Interface) 56, and a scanner unit. 1, the printer unit 2, and the operation panel 4 are connected. The CPU 51, the ROM 53, and the RAM 54 form the system control unit 5.

A program executed by the CPU 51 and a threshold value are stored in the ROM 53 in advance. For example, a fixing temperature that enables fixing of the decolorizable toner and the non-decolorable toner is also stored.

In the RAM 54, various memory areas such as an area for developing a program executed by the CPU 51 and a work area as a work area for data processing by the program are dynamically formed. Further, it has a temporary storage area for temporarily storing the image information of the document read by the scanner unit 1 (this temporary storage area corresponds to the first storage unit). This image information has a bitmap image for each color of each toner and is used for printing. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the bitmap image has information for dividing the image information into a plurality of areas for each toner, and for each area, information on whether to use the toner. The present embodiment has bitmap images of five types (five colors) of toners of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), black (K), and decolorized (D). "1" means that the target toner is used for the area, and "0" means that the toner is not used for the area. Primary transfer is performed based on the bit map image of each toner.

The HDD 55 is a large-capacity storage device. An OS (Operating System) for operating the MFP 100 is installed. The HDD 55 stores the emphasis information candidate file 55a shown in FIG. 7 and the emphasis information storage file 55b shown in FIG. The emphasis information candidate file 55a stores emphasis information indicating an object to be printed with the decolorizable toner when the partial decoloring toner mode is selected. The emphasis information is, for example, information indicating bold letters, underlines, red letters, numbers, italics, color painting, hatching, and the like. The object indicated by this emphasis information is printed using a decolorizable toner. For example, in a document C as shown in FIG. 10, the characters “B” represented by bold characters and the characters “C” represented by underlines are printed with decolorizable toner.

The emphasis information candidate file 55a is composed of an emphasis information column and an identifier column. The emphasis information column and the identifier column have a one-to-one relationship. Emphasis information is stored in the emphasis information field, and an identifier corresponding to the emphasis information is stored in the identifier field. The system control unit 5 manages the emphasis information using this identifier.

When the partial erasing toner mode is selected, the system control unit 5 refers to the emphasis information candidate file 55a, and associates the emphasis information stored in the emphasis information column of the emphasis information candidate file 55a as shown in FIG. It is displayed on the operation panel 4 together with the check box 4a. Further, a completion key 4b is displayed below the operation panel 4. When the operator checks the check box 4a and presses the completion key 4b, the system control unit 5 reads the emphasis information and the identifier corresponding to the checked check box 4a from the emphasis information candidate file 55a and emphasizes them. The information is stored in the information storage file 55b. The emphasis information storage file 55b has the same structure as the emphasis information candidate file 55a described above, and has an emphasis information column and an identifier column. This emphasis information storage file 55b stores the emphasis information checked by the check box 4a. Based on the emphasis information stored in the emphasis information storage file 55b, it is determined whether the emphasis information exists in the image information temporarily stored in the RAM 54 (the emphasis information storage file 55b corresponds to the second storage unit). ).

The external I / F 56 is an interface for the system control unit 5 to communicate with an external device. For example, the external I / F 56 receives print data according to a print request from an external device, for example, a client terminal (PC). The external I / F 56 may be an interface that performs data communication with an external device, and may be, for example, a device (USB memory or the like) that is locally connected to the external device, or a network for communicating via a network. It may be an interface. This external I / F corresponds to the communication unit.

The scanner unit 1, the printer unit 2, and the operation panel 4 have been described above, and will be omitted.

Subsequently, the image erasing apparatus 200 will be described. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the image erasing device 200 according to this embodiment. The image erasing apparatus 200 erases the image of the paper P as a recording medium on which an image has already been formed, and enables reuse of the paper P. In the present embodiment, as an example of the erasing process, the erasing process of erasing the recording material by heating and erasing the image will be described as an example.

The image erasing apparatus 200 shown in FIG. 3 includes a paper feed unit 220 for accommodating a paper P on which an image to be erased is printed, a first conveyance path 290 and a second conveyance path 295 for conveying the paper P, and an image of the paper P. The first reading unit 232a and the second reading unit 232b for reading the image, the erasing unit 250 for erasing the recording material forming the image on the paper P, the transport roller 286 provided in each transport path, and the transport path of the paper P are provided. A first path changing unit 210 for switching, a paper discharging unit 280 including a first paper discharging unit 260 for accommodating processed paper P and a second paper discharging unit 270, a first paper discharging unit 260 and a first paper discharging unit 260. It has a second path changing unit 215 provided in the first transport path 290 for switching the path to the second paper discharge unit 270. The first transport path 290, the second transport path 295, and the transport roller 286 correspond to a transport unit.

The paper feeding unit 220 accommodates the paper P to be reused, on which an image has already been formed. Then, in order to erase the image on the sheet P, the sheet P is fed into the image erasing apparatus 200. The paper P to be reused is a paper P on which an image is formed as a recording material with a toner that can be erased by heating. The paper P may have various sizes such as A3, A4, and B5. The paper feed unit 220 includes a paper feed tray 222 and a pickup roller 221 (hereinafter, a paper feed tray pickup roller) that takes out the paper P in the paper feed tray 222. The paper feed tray 222 is loaded with paper P for erasing images. The paper feed tray pickup roller 221 picks up the papers P one by one from the paper feed tray 222 and sequentially sends them to the first conveyance path 290. Further, the paper feeding unit 220 is provided with a paper feeding unit sensor (not shown), and detects whether or not the paper P is present in the paper feeding tray 222. The paper feed unit sensor is, for example, an infrared sensor. Besides, a sensor using a well-known micro switch can also be used. The paper feed unit sensor transmits the detection result to the control unit 250 described later.

The first transport path 290 and the second transport path 295 have a plurality of transport rollers 286. The transport roller 286 is composed of a pair of a driving roller and a driven roller.

A first reading unit 232a and a second reading unit 232b are arranged on the first transport path 290 along the transport path. The first transport path 290 transports the paper P from the paper feed unit 220 to the paper discharge unit 280 by the transport rollers 286 via the first reading unit 232a and the second reading unit 232.

In the present embodiment, since the paper P is conveyed from the paper feed unit 220 to the paper discharge unit 280, the paper feed unit 220 side is the upstream side in the paper conveyance direction, and the paper discharge unit 280 side is the same. It is on the downstream side with respect to the paper transport direction.

The first reading unit 232a and the second reading unit 232b have, for example, a two-dimensional CCD scanner (the first reading unit 232a and the second reading unit 232b together correspond to the reading unit). The two reading units 232a and 232b are provided at different positions, for example, with the first transport path 290 interposed therebetween. With such a configuration, the first reading unit 232a reads one surface of the conveyed paper P, and the second reading unit 232b reads the surface opposite to the reading surface of the first reading unit 232a. The images read by the first reading unit 232a and the second reading unit 232b are appropriately stored in, for example, the HDD 212 described below.

The first conveyance path 290 is connected to the paper ejection unit 280 via a branch point B1 located on the downstream side of the first reading unit 232a and the second reading unit 232b in the conveyance direction of the paper P. As shown in FIG. 1, a second conveyance path 295 is connected to the branch point B1, and a first path changing unit 210 that switches the path between the first conveyance path 290 and the second conveyance path 295 is arranged. It By default, the first path changing unit 210 allows, for example, a path for conveying the paper P from the paper feeding unit 220 to the paper discharging unit 280 via the first reading unit 232a and the second reading unit 232b. I shall.

In addition, the first conveyance path 290 is connected to the first paper ejection unit 260 or the second paper ejection unit 270 via the branch point B2 located on the downstream side of the branch point B1. A second path changing unit 215 is connected to the branch point B2 as shown in FIG. By default, the second path changing unit 215 allows the path for conveying the paper P from the first path changing unit 210 to the first paper discharge unit 260.

In this embodiment, reusable paper is conveyed to the first paper discharge unit 260, and paper that is not suitable for reuse due to dirt or the like is conveyed to the second paper discharge unit 270.

The second conveyance path 295 branches off from the first conveyance path 290 at a branch point B1, and is located upstream of the first reading section 232a and the second reading section 232b of the first conveyance path 290 and at the sheet feeding section 220. The first conveyance path 290 merges at a merge point G located on the downstream side of.

The erasing unit 250 is arranged in the second transport path between the junction B1 and the branch point B1 of the first transport path 290 and the second transport path 295. The erasing unit 250 has a roller pair 251, and a heater 205 as a heating source. The heater 205 is provided, for example, in at least one of the rollers forming the roller pair 251. Then, the roller pair 251 is heated by the heater 205. As a result, in the erasing section 250, the image of the sheet P formed using the toner that can be erased by the heater 205 is heated to the erasing temperature (target temperature) via the roller pair 251 to form the image. To be colorless. Although not shown, a temperature sensor is provided near the roller pair 251. The temperature sensor measures the temperature of the roller pair 251, and transmits the measurement result to the control unit 250 described later.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the image erasing apparatus 200. A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 202, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 203, a CCD sensor 204 constituting a first reading unit 232a and a second reading unit 232b via a system bus 201. , A heater 205 of the erasing unit 250, an interface (I / F) 206 for inputting / outputting data to / from an external device such as a client terminal, and a first route changing drive for controlling the first route changing unit 210. A second route change drive unit 208 for controlling the unit 207 and the second route change unit 215;
A sheet conveyance motor 213 that drives various rollers, a sheet conveyance motor control drive unit 209 that controls the rollers, an operation display unit 211 that inputs and displays various settings, and an HDD 212 are connected. Further, the CPU 201, the ROM 202, and the RAM 203 form a control unit 250.

The ROM 202 stores a program executed by the CPU 201 of the control unit 250. In addition, a threshold value of the print rate of the image on the sheet and a threshold value of the density of the image on the sheet are stored. The control unit 250 determines, based on these two threshold values, whether the erasing is normally performed. In other words, it is determined whether the paper can be reused.

In the RAM 203, various memory areas such as a work area which is a work area for data processing by a program are dynamically formed.

The CCD sensors 204 forming the reading units 232a and 232b are arranged as a line sensor (two-dimensional scanner) for reading the image on the paper P, and detect the density of the surface of the paper P as the paper P is conveyed. .. An image is read or detected by detecting the lightness and darkness of the surface of the paper P. The reading unit 232 is not limited to the CCD sensor and may be a CMOS sensor.

As the heater 205 of the erasing unit 250, for example, an induction heating (IH) heater is used. As described above, while the sheet P passes through the erasing section 250, heat from the heater 205 is indirectly applied to the sheet P via the roller pair 251, so that the toner forming the image is made colorless. The heater 205 should just be temperature controllable. In addition to the induction heating type heater, a lamp heater such as a halogen lamp may be used.

The operation display unit 211 is, for example, a touch panel, and displays and inputs information regarding the operation of the image erasing apparatus 200. In addition, the operation display unit 211 has various setting / instruction keys and is an input unit for inputting various operations. When deleting an image, the operator operates the touch panel of the operation display unit 211. For example, by pressing a setting / instruction key (not shown) provided on the touch panel, the erasing setting is performed in advance. In the present embodiment, in the image erasing process, the paper P is conveyed to the erasing unit 250 after the images on all the paper P are read by the first reading unit 232a and the second reading unit 232b. Then, after the erasing unit 250 erases the paper P, the paper P is ejected to the paper ejection unit 280. Further, the operation display unit 211 has a start key (not shown) for starting the image erasing process.

The control unit 250 controls the first route change drive unit 207 to drive the first route change unit 210 to switch the default position, and the first conveyance path 290 to the second conveyance path 295. The sheet P is sorted so as to be conveyed.

In addition, the control unit 250 controls the second path change driving unit 208 to drive the second path change unit 215, so that the paper P is discharged to the first paper discharge unit 260 or the second paper discharge unit. Sort to 270.

The HDD 212 has at least a read image storage area for storing the image read by the CCD sensor 204 for the first time and a re-determination storage area for storing the image of the sheet erased by the erasing unit 250.

In the MFP 100 and the image erasing apparatus 200 having the above configurations, the MFP 100 executes the print job shown in FIG. 9 and the image erasing apparatus executes the erasing job shown in FIG. 12 based on a preset program. ..

First, a print job of the MFP 100 will be described. At this time, it is assumed that the document C shown in FIG. 10 is placed on the platen glass of the scanner unit 1. The MFP 100 reads the original C and makes a copy. As described above, the document C includes the bold character “B” and the underlined character “C”. It is assumed that the operator operates the operation panel 4 and presses the partial erasing key to perform copying in the partial erasing toner mode. Further, the operator selects to print the characters in bold and underlined with decolorizable toner.

The system controller 5 receives an input of a key signal of the partial color erasing toner mode key through the operation panel 4 (ACT 101).

When the key signal of the partial decoloring toner mode key is input, the system control unit 5 displays the emphasis information stored in the emphasis information candidate file 55a of the HDD 55 on the operation panel 4, as shown in FIG. Then, an arbitrary check is input in the check box 4a of the emphasis information displayed through the operation panel 4. In the present embodiment, the operator checks the underline and bold check boxes. Then, when the key signal of the completion key 4b is input to the system control unit 5, the system control unit 5 reads the selected emphasis information and the identifier from the emphasis information candidate file 55a and stores them in the emphasis information storage file 55b. .. In this embodiment, underlining and bold letters are stored in the emphasis information column, and underline and bold identifiers 0001 and 0002 are stored in the corresponding identifier column (ACT 102).

Subsequently, the system control unit 5 receives input of print information such as the number of printed sheets and print magnification through the operation panel 4. The input print information is stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 54 (ACT 103).

The system control unit 5 receives a key signal input from the start key through the operation panel 4. Upon receiving the input of the key signal, the system control unit 5 operates the scanner unit 1 to scan the document C placed on the platen glass. The system control unit 5 stores the read image information of the document C in the temporary storage area of the RAM 54 (ACT 104).

Then, the system control unit 5 determines whether the emphasis information stored in the emphasis information storage file 55b of the HDD 55 is stored in the image information stored in the temporary storage area of the RAM 54. This determination is performed by the system control unit 5 using the OCR (Optical Character Reader) software or performing various processes such as macro recognition or micro recognition on the image information stored in the temporary storage area of the RAM 54. This is done by analyzing the image information stored in the temporary storage area. Then, this analysis result is compared with the contents of the emphasis information storage file 55b of the HDD 55 to determine whether the emphasis information is recorded in the image information stored in the temporary storage area of the RAM 54. In the present embodiment, the underlined and bold characters are searched for from the image information stored in the temporary storage area of the RAM 54.

(ACT 105).
Then, when the system control unit 5 determines that the emphasis information is not described (No in ACT 105), the image information stored in the temporary storage area of the RAM 54 is stored according to the print information (the number of prints, the print magnification, etc.) stored in the RAM 54. Printing is performed (ACT 107), and the processing ends.

On the other hand, when the system control unit 5 determines that the emphasis information stored in the emphasis information storage file 55b of the HDD 55 is described (Yes in ACT 105), the target indicated by the emphasis information is printed with the decolorizable toner. To do so, the bitmap image stored in the temporary storage area of the RAM 54 is rewritten. Specifically, the target (image information) to be printed with the decolorizable toner as used in S105 is specified by OCR software, macro recognition, or micro recognition. Then, the target areas of the bitmap image, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 are rewritten from “1” to “0”, and the target areas of the decolorizable toner are “ Rewrite from "0" to "1". In the present embodiment, the bitmap image is changed so that the character “B” formed in bold and the character “C” having an underline are printed with the decolorizable toner (ACT 106).

Then, according to the print information stored in the RAM 54, the image information stored in the temporary storage area of the RAM 54 is printed by using the printer unit 2 (ACT 107), and the process ends. By these processes, the paper P, which is a copy of the document C in FIG. 10, is printed with toner capable of erasing the characters B and C.

When the partial color erasing toner mode is selected as described above, it becomes possible to print a portion described in bold letters, underlines, red letters, etc., using the toner capable of automatically erasing.

Next, the erase job shown in FIG. 12 will be described. As a condition, the paper P to be erased is set in the paper feed tray 222 of the paper feed unit 220. Then, the paper P is printed in the partial decoloring toner mode of the MFP 100 described above. Further, the print content of the paper P set in the paper feed tray 222 of the paper feed unit 220 is the same as that in FIG. 10, and the characters “B” and “C” written on the paper P can be erased. It is supposed to be printed with different toner. In the following process, the process of erasing after reading and saving the paper P will be described as an example. In addition, the first path changing unit 210 is assumed to connect the first transport path 290 and the paper discharge unit 280 by default.
First, in ACT 201, the control unit 250 controls the paper feeding unit 220 to feed the paper P set in the paper feeding tray 222 and convey it to the first conveyance path 290. Specifically, the control unit 250 takes out one sheet of paper P set in the paper feed tray 222 by using the paper feed tray pickup roller 221. Then, the control unit 250 controls the paper transport motor control drive unit 209 to activate the paper transport motor 213, drive the transport rollers 286, and transport the paper P through the first transport path 290.

Subsequently, both sides of the paper P are read by the first reading unit 232a and the second reading unit 232b that are provided with the first transport path 290 interposed therebetween, and are stored in the read image storage area of the HDD 212 (ACT202).

The first path changing unit 210 allows the path where the default position conveys the paper P from the paper feeding unit 220 to the paper discharging unit 280. Therefore, prior to the reading process, the control unit 250 controls the first route changing driving unit 207 to drive the first route changing unit 210 to switch the route, and the second conveyance is performed via the branch point B1. The sheet P can be conveyed to the path 295. This connects the conveyance path from the second reading unit 232b to the erasing unit 250.

An erasing section 250 is provided on the second transport path 295. The control unit 250 conveys the paper P to the erasing unit 250 via the branch point B1 of the first conveyance path 290 and the second conveyance path 295 (ACT 203). The sheet P conveyed to the erasing section 250 is nipped and conveyed by the roller pair 21 heated by the heater 205. The image (toner) formed on the conveyed paper P is heated by the erasing unit 250. Then, the toner formed on the paper P is heated to the temperature set in ACT2 and erased. As described above, in the present embodiment, the characters “B” and “C” on the paper P are formed by the decoloring toner. Therefore, when the sheet P is heated by the heater 205 in the erasing section 250, the characters "B" and "C" are erased (ACT 204).

The control unit 250 further passes through the confluence point G of the first conveyance path 290 and the second conveyance path 295 upstream of the first reading section 232a and the second reading section 232b, and then the first conveyance path 290. The sheet P is conveyed again to (ACT 205).

The control unit 250 controls the first reading unit 232a and the second reading unit 232b provided in the first conveyance path 290 to read the surface of the paper P on which the image is erased. The read image is saved in the re-determination storage area of the HDD 214 (ACT 206).

For the image stored in the re-determination storage area of the HDD 212, the control unit 250 refers to the print coverage threshold and density threshold stored in the ROM 202 to determine whether the paper is reusable (ACT 207). ..

When erasing the paper P as shown in FIG. 10, since there are many areas printed with toner that cannot be erased, the control unit 250 determines that it cannot be reused (No in ACT 207).

When the control unit 250 determines that the paper P cannot be reused (No in ACT 207), the control unit 250 controls the first route change driving unit 207 and the second route change driving unit 208 to make the first The route changing unit 210 and the second route changing unit 215 are driven to switch the route. By this control, the paper P can be conveyed to the second paper discharge unit 270 via the branch points B1 and B2. As a result, the transport path from the second reading unit 232b to the second paper discharge unit 270 is connected. When the conveyance path from the second reading unit 232b to the second paper ejection unit 270 is connected, the paper P is conveyed to the second paper ejection unit 270. As a result, the non-reusable paper P is accommodated in the second paper discharge unit 270 (ACT209).

On the other hand, a case will be described in which all the sheets are printed with toner that can be erased, and the erased sheets are in good condition. In this case, the control unit 250 determines that it can be reused (Yes in ACT 207). When the control unit 250 determines that it is reusable, the control unit 250 drives the first route change drive unit 207 to switch the route. By this control, the sheet can be conveyed to the first sheet discharge unit 260 via the branch point B1. As a result, the transport path from the second reading unit 232b to the first paper discharge unit 260 is connected. When the conveyance path from the second reading unit 232b to the first paper ejection unit 260 is connected, the paper is conveyed to the first paper ejection unit 260. As a result, reusable paper is stored in the first paper output unit 260 (ACT 208).

With the above configuration, with respect to text files created in various forms, it becomes possible to print the emphasizing information written on the paper to be copied automatically with the decolorizable toner. For example, since materials used in meetings and the like appeal results and selling points to customers and superiors, important points of the materials are underlined or bolded and tend to be coordinated. Therefore, the information to be collaborated is often important information. Therefore, the operator can erase the important information (in other words, emphasized information) in the material by a simple operation. In addition, when the image is erased by the image erasing device, the highlighted portion printed with the erasable toner is erased, and the image printed with the non-erasable toner as shown in FIG. 13 is erased. It remains on the paper without. After the erasing, the sheet is read again by the first reading unit 232a and the second reading unit 232b. At this time, since the printing with the non-erasable toner remains on the paper, the paper is automatically conveyed to the second paper discharging unit 270 for disposal. As a result, a document from which important information (in other words, emphasized information) is erased is rarely recycled and used.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the emphasis information has been described as an example of the portion where the image is formed with the decoloring toner, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, blue, which is the color of the decoloring toner, can be registered in a file corresponding to the emphasis information candidate file 55a. Then, in the partial erasing mode, when the color of the erasing toner is selected on the screen shown in FIG. 11 and copying is performed, an original having a mixture of the images formed by the erasing toner and the non-erasing toner is mixed. When making a copy, the operator can obtain a sheet having the same structure as the original document to be copied. That is, the operator does not use the color-erasable toner on the original to form an image with the color-erasing toner, and the image formed with the non-color-erasing toner has the color-non-decoloring toner formed on the paper. Can be obtained.

As a template, for example, ruled lines can be registered in a file corresponding to the emphasis information candidate file 55a. In this case, when a document is copied, the registered ruled line portion forms an image with non-decoloring toner, and the other images are formed with decoloring toner. As a result, the operator can repeatedly use only the predetermined template portion by performing the erasing process. In the above-mentioned example, by changing the setting, for example, only a predetermined template portion may be formed with the decoloring toner.

(Second embodiment)
Next, the second embodiment will be described. With respect to the MFP 100 and the image erasing apparatus 200, the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment will be omitted. The external I / F 56 of the MFP 100 is a network interface for communicating via the network. In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, a PC (Personal Computer) 300 and an MFP 100 are connected to a network via a LAN (Local Area Network) 305.
Further, in the second embodiment, in the HDD 358 of the PC 300, the emphasis information candidate file 353a as shown in FIG. 16 and the emphasis information storage area 353b (the storage area of the emphasis information storage area 353b is as shown in FIG. (Corresponding to the second storage unit). These correspond to the emphasis information candidate file 55a and the emphasis information storage file 55b stored in the HDD 55 of the MFP 100. The emphasis information candidate file 353a and the emphasis information candidate file 55a have a correspondence relationship with the emphasis information storage area 353b and the emphasis information storage file 55b.

FIG. 15 shows a block diagram of the PC 300. A CPU 351, a ROM 353, a RAM 354, a display unit 355, an operation unit 356, an external I / F 357 (corresponding to a communication unit), and an HDD 358 are connected via a system bus 352. In addition, the CPU 351, the ROM 353, and the RAM 354 configure a control unit 350.

The ROM 353 stores in advance programs and thresholds for operating the control unit 350.

In the RAM 354, various memory areas such as a work area which is a work area for data processing by a program are dynamically formed. The RMA 354 also stores a mode management flag. When the partial decoloring toner mode is selected, this management flag is set to "1", and when the partial decoloring toner mode is not selected, this management flag is set to "0".

The display portion 355 is a display. It is a device that displays information to the operator.

The operation unit 356 is a device such as a keyboard or a mouse for inputting necessary information to the PC 300.

The external I / F 357 is an interface for communicating with an external device. For example, a network interface for communicating via a network. The external I / F 56 transmits / receives data to / from the MFP 100.

The HDD 358 is a large-capacity storage device. An OS (Operating System) for operating the PC 300 is installed in the HDD 358. A printer driver, which is software for printing a text file on the MFP 100, is also installed in the HDD 358. The emphasis information candidate file 353a and the emphasis information storage area 353b described above are stored in the HDD 358 as a part of the printer driver. The HDD 358 also stores a text file that the operator wants to print (the area for saving the file to be printed corresponds to the first storage unit).

When printing a text file stored in the HDD 358, a print command described in a page description language such as Postscript data is used. The printer driver creates a print command described in the page description language based on the content of the text file. The page description language is a program language instructing the MFP 100 when printing a document or an image created on a computer by the MFP 100. In this page description language, position information of characters and figures, format information (font color, underline, bold type) and the like are described. When printing a document file or the like, the MFP 100 creates a bitmap image based on the description of the page description language of the received print command. Then, in the second embodiment, the control unit 350 determines the emphasis information based on the content described in the page description language, and prints with the decolorizable toner.

Further, when printing is performed with this printer driver, the partial print mode can be selected. When selecting the partial print mode, for example, by checking a radio button or the like from a GUI (Graphical User Interface) screen (not shown) generated by the printer driver displayed on the display unit 355, the partial print mode is selected. Selectable. When this partial print mode is selected, processing is performed so that the object indicated by the emphasis information is printed with decolorizable toner. The print key is displayed on the GUI of the printer driver. When the partial print mode is selected, pressing the displayed print key causes a shift to a screen for selecting highlight information. If the print key is pressed when the partial print mode is not selected, the process without rewriting the print command is performed.

When the key signal of the print key is input, the GUI screen opens a screen as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 18, the check box 355a corresponding to the emphasis information stored in the emphasis information column of the emphasis information candidate file 353a is displayed on the display unit 355. Further, the completion key 355b is displayed below the display unit 355. When the operator checks the check box 355a and presses the completion key 355b, the control unit reads the emphasis information and the identifier corresponding to the checked check box 355a from the emphasis information candidate file 353a and stores the emphasis information. Store in area 353b.

In the PC 300 having the above configuration, the control unit 350 executes the print request job shown in FIG. 19 based on a preset program. At this time, it is assumed that the MFP 100 and the PC 300 are connected as shown in FIG. It is assumed that a text file as shown in FIG. 10 is created with document software and printed. It is assumed that "1" is stored in the mode management flag of the RAM 354 and the partial print mode is already selected by default setting. It is also assumed that the printer driver is set to use black toner by default. In this print request job, a text file as shown in FIG. 10 is printed. That is, in the text file, a bold character "B" and an underlined character "C" are described. It is assumed that the operator operates the operation panel 4 and presses the partial erasing key to perform copying in the partial erasing toner mode. Further, the operator selects to print the characters in bold and underlined with decolorizable toner.

A GUI screen for printing generated by the printer driver is displayed on the display unit 355. Print keys and the like are displayed on this GUI screen. It is assumed that the partial print mode is already checked on this GUI screen. The control unit 350 receives a key signal of this print key. The control unit 350 refers to the mode management flag in the RMA 354 and confirms that “1” is stored. Upon confirming that the partial print mode is selected, the control unit 350 displays the emphasis information of the emphasis information candidate file 353a on the display unit 355 as shown in FIG. Then, an arbitrary check is input to the check box 355a on the left side of the emphasis information displayed on the display unit 355. In the present embodiment, the underline and bold check boxes are checked (ACT301).

Then, when the completion key 355b is pressed, the selected emphasis information is read from the emphasis information candidate file 353a and stored in the emphasis information storage area 353b. In the present embodiment, underline and bold are stored in the emphasis information field, and underline and bold identifiers 0001 and 0002 are stored in the corresponding identifier field (ACT 302).

Subsequently, the control unit 350 creates a print command according to the page description language based on the target file (ACT 303).

After creating the print command, the control unit 350 determines whether the created print command includes the emphasis information stored in the emphasis information storage area 353b of the HDD 358 (ACT 304).

If the control unit 350 determines that the emphasis information does not exist in the print command (No in ACT 304), the print command created in ACT 303 is transmitted to the MFP 100 through the external I / F 357 (ACT 306).

On the other hand, when the control unit 350 determines that the emphasis information is present in the print command (Yes in ACT 304), the print command created in ACT 303 is rewritten, and the process of creating the print command again is performed. As described above, the print command is written in the page description language. In this page description language, the position information of the characters (fonts) and graphics of the text file to be printed, the format information (font size, presence / absence of bold type, underline) ) Is described. From this print instruction, the emphasis information stored in the emphasis information storage area 353b of the HDD 358 is searched, and the color of the character of the format information at the corresponding portion is rewritten so as to be printed with the erasable toner to create the print instruction ( ACT305). The creation of the print command in ACT 305 includes correction and rewriting of the print command created in ACT 303 described above. In the present embodiment, the presence or absence of an underline and a bold character is searched from the print command, and the print command is rewritten so that the corresponding portion is printed with the decolorizable toner.

Then, control unit 350 transmits this print command to MFP 100 through external I / F 357 (ACT 306) and ends the process. When receiving the print command, the MFP 100 creates image data from the print command and performs print processing.

The sheet printed by the MFP 100 is erased by the image erasing apparatus 200 as described in the first embodiment. The image erasing in the second embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

As described above, regarding the text files created in various forms, the operator can erase the important information (emphasized information) written on the paper to be copied automatically without the operator performing complicated settings. It is possible to print with. When creating a sentence, if you create an underline or bold type in the part you want to erase, you can erase any part with a simple operation. In other words, in the process of creating materials for conferences, materials for presentations, etc., the MFP 100 is configured to automatically print areas that are naturally emphasized (in other words, important information) with decolorizable toner. Can be set to, and the operator's burden of creating a sentence while being aware of the portion to be erased is reduced.

In the first embodiment, the image information is captured from the scanner unit 1, but it may be received by communication from an external I / F, for example.

In the second embodiment, the print command created in the page description language is rewritten after it is created. However, for example, at the stage of creating the print command in the page description language, the character information of the document file is analyzed to display the emphasis information. After determining whether or not is stored in the text file, a print command may be created in the page description language so that the toner can be printed with the decolorizable toner from the beginning.

In the second embodiment, in the partial decoloring toner mode, the print command created in the page description language by the PC 300 is converted and then transmitted to the MFP 100. However, it is naturally conceivable that the print command is not rewritten by the PC 300 but rewritten by the MFP 100. In this case, for example, a flag indicating that the printing is in the partial decoloring toner mode is described in the print command. Then, after the MFP which receives the print command confirms the flag, if the rewriting process is performed so that the emphasized information stored in the print command is printed with the decolorizable toner from the emphasized information storage area 353b stored in the HDD. Good.

The first storage unit and the second storage unit may be integrated or separated.

It should be noted that although the description has been made in the present embodiment to erase the color of the image as an example of the erasing process, the image erasing method is not limited to this. That is, the image erasing device described in the present embodiment is not limited to a device that erases the color of an image by heat. For example, it may be a device that makes the color of the image on the sheet colorless by irradiation with light, or a device that erases the image formed on the sheet by using a drug or the like. The image erasing device may be configured to make the image on the sheet invisible so that the sheet can be reused.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, this embodiment is presented as an example and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The novel embodiment can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. This embodiment and its modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the invention described in the claims and the scope equivalent thereto.

1 Scanner section
2 Printer section
4 Operation panel
55a Emphasized information candidate file
55b Emphasized information storage area
100 MFP
200 Image eraser
300 PC
353a emphasis information candidate file
353b Emphasized information storage area

Therefore, in order to achieve the above object, the following measures are taken in the embodiment of the present invention.
A first storage unit that stores image information to be printed, an input unit that receives a selection input from a plurality of pieces of emphasis information that emphasizes a specific image, and a second storage unit that stores the emphasis information selected by the input unit. a storage unit, has erasable recording material and non-erasable recording material, a printing unit for printing an image based on the first image information stored in the storage unit, before Symbol first storage unit When the image based on the image information stored in the second storage unit includes the emphasis information stored in the second storage unit, a control for controlling the image indicated by the emphasis information to be printed with the erasable recording material in the printing unit And an image forming apparatus.

Claims (6)

A first storage unit that stores image information to be printed;
When the image based on the image information stored in the first storage unit satisfies a predetermined condition, the image has an erasable recording material and a non-erasable recording material, and this image is printed with the erasable recording material. Printing section
A second storage unit for storing emphasis information for emphasizing a specific image;
When the image indicated by the emphasis information stored in the second storage unit satisfies the predetermined condition existing in the image information stored in the first storage unit, the image is displayed in the printing unit. A control unit that controls to print with an erasable recording material,
An image forming apparatus having. When the image based on the image information stored in the first storage unit does not satisfy the predetermined condition, the control unit controls the printing unit to print the image with a non-erasable recording material. Item 1. The image forming apparatus according to Item 1. It has an input section for selectively inputting emphasis information,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second storage unit stores the emphasis information selected and input by the input unit. It has a reading unit that reads the image on the paper,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first storage unit stores the image read by the reading unit as image information. A communication unit that receives information about printing from an external terminal,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein image information regarding printing received by the communication unit is stored in the first storage unit. A first storage unit that stores a file including image information to be printed, a second storage unit that stores emphasis information that emphasizes a specific image, and a communication unit that can communicate with the image forming apparatus A program that causes a computer to execute a process of sending a print command including the file to an image forming apparatus that forms an image according to the command,
A decision function for deciding to print the image information included in the file,
When a determination is made by the determination function, a determination function of determining whether the image information included in the file includes an image indicated by the emphasis information stored in the second storage unit,
When it is determined that the image indicated by the emphasis information is included by the determination function, an instruction function of creating a print instruction to print the image indicated by the emphasis information with an erasable recording material,
A transmission function of transmitting a print command created by the command function by the communication unit,
A program that causes a computer to execute.

Images