IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, METHOD FOR PERFORMING PRINTING, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM

An image forming apparatus includes a printing unit configured to print an image on a sheet, a communication interface configured to communicate with a terminal, and a processor configured to, upon receipt of a request for printing and print data from the terminal via the communication interface, determine whether to perform printing based on whether a specific failure in which printing stops before completion thereof is likely to occur and whether the print data includes confidential information.

FIELD

Embodiments described herein relate generally to an image forming apparatus, a method for performing printing by an image forming apparatus, and a non-transitory computer readable medium.

BACKGROUND

Conventionally, there have been proposed techniques for predicting a failure which may occur in an image forming apparatus, such as a multifunction peripheral (MFP), in advance. With these techniques, it has become possible to predict the failure with a certain degree of accuracy. However, it is still difficult to predict a failure with high accuracy in advance. If a failure occurs in the image forming apparatus during the formation of an image on the sheet, the image forming apparatus may stop processing while the sheet on which the image has been formed is still located within the apparatus. In such a case, there is a possibility that the sheet on which the image is formed may be taken by another person. When the image formed on the sheet is confidential information, there is a possibility that confidential information may be obtained by a third party.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In one embodiment, an image forming apparatus includes a printing unit configured to print an image on a sheet, a communication interface configured to communicate with a terminal, and a processor configured to, upon receipt of a request for printing and print data from the terminal via the communication interface, determine whether to perform printing based on whether a specific failure in which printing stops before completion thereof is likely to occur and whether the print data includes confidential information.

Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus, a method for performing printing by an image forming apparatus, and a non-transitory computer readable medium according to embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.FIG. 1is a diagram showing a configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment. The image forming system500includes one or more image forming apparatuses100, one or more terminals200, and a server300. The image forming apparatus100is an apparatus for forming an image on a sheet. The image forming apparatus100is, for example, a multifunction peripheral. The terminal200is an information processing apparatus that transmits a request for image formation to one of the image forming apparatuses100. The server300is configured to communicate with the image forming apparatus100and the terminal200via a network400. Hereinafter, the respective apparatuses will be described in detail.

FIG. 2is a hardware block diagram of the image forming apparatus100according to an embodiment. First, the image forming apparatus100will be described in detail with reference toFIGS. 1 and 2. The image forming apparatus100includes an image reader10, a display110, a control panel120, an image forming unit130, a sheet accommodating unit140, a data storage150, a communication device160, a sensor170, and a controller180.

The image forming apparatus100forms an image on a sheet by using a developer such as toner or ink. When the developer is toner, the developer is heated to be fixed on the sheet. When the developer is ink, the developer is dropped onto the sheet to form an image on the sheet. The sheet may be, for example, paper or label paper. The sheet may be any material having a surface on which an image can be formed by the image forming apparatus100.

The image reader10optically reads image information from a sheet as light and dark signals. The image reader10records the read image information. The recorded image information may be transmitted to another information processing apparatus via the network400. The recorded image information may be printed on a sheet by the image forming unit130.

The display110is an image display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display, or the like. The display110displays various information regarding the image forming apparatus100.

The image forming unit130forms an image on a sheet based on image information generated by the image reader10or image information received via the network400. The image forming unit130includes, for example, a photoconductor drum, an exposure device, a development device, a transfer device, and a fixing device. A sheet conveyance path for the sheet is formed inside the image forming unit130. The sheet to be processed is conveyed by a roller provided along the conveyance path. An image is formed on the sheet during conveyance.

The image forming unit130forms an image by, for example, the following processing. The exposure device of image forming unit130forms an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor drum based on the image information. The development device of image forming unit130forms a visible image on the photoconductor drum by attaching a developer to the electrostatic latent image.

The transfer unit of image forming unit130transfers a visible image onto a sheet. The fixing device of the image forming unit130fixes the visible image onto the sheet by applying heat and pressure to the sheet. The sheet on which the image is formed may be a sheet stored in the sheet accommodating unit140or a manually inserted sheet.

The sheet accommodating unit140accommodates a sheet used for image formation in the image forming unit130, and conveys the sheet to the image forming unit130by means of a conveying roller.

The data storage150is a storage device such as a magnetic hard disk device or a semiconductor memory device. The data storage150stores data necessary for the image forming apparatus100to operate. The data storage150may temporarily store data of the image to be formed on a sheet.

The data storage150stores data relating to a failure condition for determining whether the possibility of a failure is higher than or equal to a predetermined value in the image forming apparatus100. For example, the data relating to the failure condition is a learned model obtained by performing machine learning using a plurality of teacher data in advance. In this case, a failure condition is that the possibility of a failure is determined to be higher than or equal to a predetermined value on the basis of the learned model. Alternatively, the data related to the failure condition can be contained in a failure condition table or the like stored in data storage150. The data storage150may also store conditions for determining whether or not confidential information is contained in data to be printed by the image forming apparatus100. Another example of the failure condition is whether a specific failure occurs a predetermined number of times within a predetermined period of time. Another failure condition may be a condition related to the remaining service life of equipment included in the image forming unit130being short. Hereinafter, the failure condition table and a confidential information indicating condition will be described.

FIG. 3is a diagram illustrating an example of the failure condition table. The failure condition table is a table indicating a condition for predicting a possible failure occurring in the image forming unit130of the image forming apparatus100, for example. The failure condition table includes a plurality of failure condition records. The failure condition record has, for example, a failure type, a determination condition, and a risk flag.

The failure type is a value that indicates the type of failure that may occur in the image forming apparatus100. The failure type may be, for example, identification information indicative of the sensor170of the image forming apparatus100. That is, the type of failure may be indicated based on which sensor170has detected a failure. The determination condition indicates the condition for the set of values detected by the sensors170of the image forming apparatus100. When the condition indicated by the determination condition is satisfied, the possibility of a failure indicated in the failure type of the same failure condition record is higher than or equal to a predetermined value. The determination condition may indicate, for example, a threshold value of a value indicated by the sensor170immediately before a failure.

The risk flag is a value indicating whether or not the sheet on which part or all of the image has been formed remains within the range of image forming apparatus100. Such a failure will be referred to as “specific failure” hereinafter. For example, when the value of the risk flag is “1”, the possibility that specific failure occurs is higher than or equal to a predetermined value. For example, when the value of the risk flag is “0”, the possibility that specific failure occurs is lower than the predetermined value. For example, the failure condition record in the uppermost stage inFIG. 3indicates that when the sensor170of “×1011” indicates a value satisfying the condition of “condition 11”, the possibility that “specific failure” occurs is higher than or equal to the predetermined value.

The confidential condition is a condition used for determining whether or not information included in data transmitted from the terminal200to the image forming apparatus100to be printed is confidential information. When the condition indicated by the confidential condition is satisfied, it is determined that confidential information is contained in the data. For example, it may be a confidential condition that a predetermined watermark is included. For example, it may be a confidential condition that a specific image (e.g., an image reading “CONFIDENTIAL”) indicating that the data is confidential is included. For example, it may be a confidential condition that the file name of the data includes a specific string (for example, “CONFIDENTIAL”) indicating that the file is confidential. In general, the confidential condition may be any condition as long as it can be utilized to determine whether or not the data is likely to include confidential information.

The communication device160is a communication interface for the image forming apparatus100to communicate with other devices (e.g., the terminal200, the server300) via the network400.

The sensor170is provided for each of the image reader10, the image forming unit130, and the sheet accommodating unit140. One or more sensors170may be provided in the image forming unit130. However, in order to detect potential failures with higher accuracy, it is desirable to provide two or more sensors170in the image forming apparatus100. The sensor170detects a value indicating a state or environment of the image forming unit130. Any type of sensor may be used for detecting such a value. For example, the sensor170may be a sensor for detecting ambient temperature or humidity in the image forming apparatus100. The sensor170may be, for example, a sensor that detects a value relating to the rotation of a motor or a roller (e.g., rotational frequency, rotational speed, torque). For example, the sensor170may be a sensor for detecting the conveyance speed of the sheet. The sensor170may be a sensor that detects a current value or a voltage value flowing through or applied to a circuit of one of the charger, the development device, the transfer device, and the fixing device.

The controller180includes a processor such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) and a memory. The controller180reads out and executes a program stored in the data storage150in advance. The controller180controls the operation of each device included in the image forming apparatus100. The controller180obtains a value detected by each sensor170, for example, and performs a failure prediction. The controller180may transmit information on a failure prediction based on a value detected by each sensor170or a detection result to the terminal200or the server300via the communication device160. When the controller180receives an image forming request from the terminal200, it may control its own apparatus to form an image corresponding to the received image forming request on the sheet.

FIG. 4is a hardware block diagram of the terminal200. Next, the terminal200will be described in detail. The terminal200includes a data storage210, a communication device220, an input device230, an output device240, and a controller250.

The data storage210is a storage device such as a magnetic hard disk device or a semiconductor memory device. The data storage210stores data that is needed when the terminal200operates. The data storage210stores, for example, a failure condition. The data storage210stores conditions for determining whether or not confidential information is included in data to be printed by the image forming apparatus100.

The communication device220is a communication interface for the terminal200to communicate with other devices (e.g., the image forming apparatus100and the server300) via the network400.

The input device230is an input device, such as a keyboard, a pointing device (e.g., a mouse, a tablet, or the like), a button, and a touch panel. The input device230is operated by the user for inputting the user's instruction to the terminal200. The input device230may be an interface for connecting an input device to terminal200. In this case, the input device230inputs an input signal, which is generated according to the input of the user at the input device, to the terminal200. The input device230may be a microphone and a voice recognition device. In this case, the input device230recognizes speech spoken by the user, and inputs character string information of the recognition result to the terminal200. The input device230may be configured in any manner as long as the user can input the user's instruction to the terminal200.

The output device240is an output device for outputting an image or a character on a screen, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display, and an organic EL (electro-luminescence) display. The output device may be a device for converting characters to sound and outputting the sound. In this case, the output device may be a speech synthesizer and a speech output device (e.g., speaker). The output device240may be an interface for connecting the output device to the terminal200.

The controller250includes a processor such as a CPU and a memory. The controller250reads out and executes a program stored in the data storage210in advance. The controller250controls the operation of each device included in the terminal200. When the data storage210stores the learned model, the controller250performs the inference process based on the learned model based on the machine learning algorithm.

FIG. 5is a hardware block diagram of the server300. Next, details of the server300will be described. The server300includes a data storage310, a communication device320, and a controller330.

The data storage310is a storage device such as a magnetic hard disk device or a semiconductor memory device. The data storage310stores data that is required when the server300operates. The data storage310stores, for example, a failure condition. The data storage310stores conditions for determining whether or not confidential information is included in data to be printed by the image forming apparatus100.

The communication device320is a communication interface for the server300to communicate with other devices (e.g., the image forming apparatus100or the terminal200) via the network400.

The controller330includes a processor such as a CPU and a memory. The controller330reads out and executes a program stored in the data storage310in advance. The controller330controls the operations of the respective devices included in the server300. When the data storage310stores the learned model, the controller330performs the inference process based on the learned model based on the machine learning algorithm.

FIGS. 6 and 7are diagrams illustrating a first example of the flow of the image forming process performed by the image forming system500. In the first example, a specific failure determination is performed in the image forming apparatus100. First, the user operates the input device230of the terminal200to perform an operation for image formation for the image forming apparatus100. In response to this operation, the controller250activates a printer driver installed in the terminal200in advance (ACT101). In accordance with the operation of the printer driver, the controller250transmits a request signal for specific failure information to the image forming apparatus100(ACT102). The specific failure information is information indicating the result of determining the possibility of specific failure based on the detection information of the sensor170. When the controller180of the image forming apparatus100receives the request signal, it determines the possibility of a specific failure based on the value output from each of the sensors170(ACT103). A specific example of the specific failure determination will be described below. The controller180determines whether the acquired sensor information satisfies the determination condition of the failure condition table or not, for each failure type. If there is a failure type in which the determination condition is satisfied, the controller180obtains the risk flag of the failure type. When the value of “1” is included in the acquired risk flag, the controller180determines that the specific failure may be higher than or equal to a predetermined value.

After the specific failure determination process, the controller180transmits the specific failure information to the terminal200(ACT104).

When the controller250of the terminal200receives the specific failure information, it executes the confidential determination (ACT105). A specific example of the confidential determination will be described below. The controller250determines whether or not the data which is prepared for image formation by the user (i.e., image formation target data) satisfies the confidential condition. When the confidential condition is satisfied, the controller250determines that the possibility that the data to be printed includes confidential information is higher than or equal to some predetermined value. If the confidential condition is not satisfied, the controller250determines that the possibility is lower than the predetermined value.

Now referring toFIG. 7, when the possibility of specific failure is higher than or equal to the predetermined value and the possibility that the data to be printed contains confidential information is higher than or equal to the predetermined value (ACT106—YES; ACT107—YES), the controller250interrupts the process of transmitting image information to the image forming apparatus100(ACT108). When the transmission processing of the image information is interrupted, the controller250outputs information that the transmission process is interrupted via the output device240. At this time, the controller250may further output a reason for the interruption of the transmission process.

Thereafter, the controller250monitors whether or not the interrupt cancel operation has been performed (ACT109). The interrupt cancel operation is an operation for canceling the interruption and continuing with the transmission processing of the image information. The interrupt cancel operation may be, for example, an operation in which a button for releasing the interruption displayed on the screen is pressed by via the input device230. When the interrupt cancel operation is performed (ACT109—YES), the process of ACT110(i.e., transmission of the image forming request) is performed.

When the possibility of specific failure is lower than the predetermined value, or when the possibility that the data to be printed includes confidential information is lower than the predetermined value (ACT106—NO; ACT107—NO), the controller250transmits an image forming request to the image forming apparatus100(ACT110). The image formation request includes a command for instructing image formation and data to be printed.

FIG. 8is a diagram illustrating a second example of the flow of the image forming process performed by the image forming system500. In the second example, a specific failure determination is performed by the server300. First, the user operates input device230of the terminal200to perform an operation for image formation for the image forming apparatus100. In response to this operation, the controller250activates the printer driver installed in the terminal200in advance (ACT201). In accordance with the operation of the printer driver, the controller250transmits the request signal of the specific failure information to the image forming apparatus100(ACT202). When the controller180of the image forming apparatus100receives the request signal of the specific failure information, it transmits a value output from each of the sensors170to the server300(ACT203).

When the controller330of the server300receives the value of each sensor170from the image forming apparatus100, it determines the possibility of a specific failure based on each received value (ACT204). After the specific failure determination process, the controller330transmits the specific failure information to the image forming apparatus100(ACT205). The controller180of the image forming apparatus100transmits the received specific failure information to the terminal200(ACT206). When the controller250of the terminal200receives the specific failure information, it executes the confidential determination (ACT207). After the process of ACT207, the process shown inFIG. 7is executed.

FIG. 9is a diagram illustrating a third example of the flow of the image forming process performed by the image forming system500. In the third example, a specific failure determination is performed by the server300. First, the user operates input device230of terminal200to perform an operation for image formation for the image forming apparatus100. In response to this operation, the controller250activates the printer driver installed in the terminal200in advance (ACT301). The controller250transmits the request signal of the specific failure information to the server300in accordance with the operation of the printer driver (ACT302). Upon receiving the request signal of the specific failure information, the controller330of the server300transmits the request signal of the output value of the sensor170to the image forming apparatus100(ACT303). When the controller180of the image forming apparatus100receives the request signal of the sensor output value, it transmits the value output from each sensor170to the server300(ACT304).

When the controller330of the server300receives the value of each sensor170from the image forming apparatus100, it determines the possibility of a specific failure based on each received value (ACT305). After the specific failure determination process, the controller330transmits the specific failure information to the information terminal200(ACT306). When the controller250of the terminal200receives the specific failure information, it executes the confidential determination (ACT307). After the process of ACT307, the process shown inFIG. 7is executed.

FIG. 10is a diagram illustrating a fourth example of the flow of the image forming process performed by the image forming system500. In the fourth example, a specific failure determination is performed by the terminal200. First, the user operates input device230of the terminal200to perform an operation for image formation for the image forming apparatus100. In response to this operation, the controller250activates the printer driver installed in the terminal200in advance (ACT401). In accordance with the operation of the printer driver, the controller250transmits a request signal of the output value of the sensor170to the image forming apparatus100(ACT402). When the controller180of the image forming apparatus100receives the request signal of the sensor output value, it transmits the value output from each of the sensors170to the terminal200(ACT403). When the controller250of the terminal200receives the values of the respective sensors170from the image forming apparatus100, it determines the possibility of specific failure based on the received values (ACT404). After the specific failure determination process, the controller250executes a confidential determination (ACT405). After the process of ACT405, the process shown inFIG. 7is executed.

FIGS. 11 and 12are diagrams illustrating a fifth example of the flow of the image forming process performed by the image forming system500. In the fifth example, a specific failure determination and a confidential determination are performed by the image forming apparatus100. First, the user operates input device230of the terminal200to perform an operation for image formation for the image forming apparatus100. In response to this operation, the controller250activates the printer driver installed in the terminal200in advance (ACT501). The controller250transmits an image forming request to the image forming apparatus100in response to the user's operation (ACT502). The image formation request includes a command for instructing image formation and data to be printed.

When the image forming apparatus100receives the image forming request, the controller180determines the possibility of specific failure based on the value output from each of the sensors170(ACT503). After the specific failure determination process, the controller180executes confidential determination based on the information received in the image formation request and the file to be printed (ACT504).

Referring toFIG. 12, when the possibility of specific failure is higher than or equal to the predetermined value and the possibility that the data to be printed includes confidential information is higher than or equal to a predetermined value (ACT505—YES, ACT506—YES), the controller180interrupts the image forming process (ACT507). When the image forming process is interrupted, the controller180transmits an instruction to interrupt an image formation process to the terminal200(ACT508). When the controller250of the terminal200receives the instruction for the interruption of the image forming process, it outputs information about the interruption of the image forming process for the user via the output device240(ACT509). At this time, the controller250may further output the reason why the image forming process is interrupted.

Thereafter, the controller180of the image forming apparatus100monitors whether or not the interrupt cancel operation has been performed (ACT510). The interrupt cancel operation is an operation for releasing the interruption and continuing the image forming process. The interrupt cancel operation may be, for example, a predetermined operation on the control panel120of the image forming apparatus100. The interrupt cancel operation may be an operation in which a button for releasing the interruption displayed on the screen of the terminal200is pressed by the input device230. When the interrupt cancel operation is performed at the terminal200(ACT511—YES), the controller250transmits an interrupt cancel signal to the image forming apparatus100(ACT512). When such an interrupt cancel operation is performed (ACT510—YES), the process of ACT513(i.e., image forming process) to be described later is performed.

When the possibility of specific failure is lower than the predetermined value, or when the possibility that the data to be printed includes confidential information is lower than the predetermined value (ACT505—NO, ACT506—NO), the controller180executes the image forming process (ACT513).

FIGS. 13 and 14are diagrams illustrating a sixth example of the flow of the image forming process performed by the image forming system500. In the sixth example, a specific failure determination and a confidential determination are performed by the server300. First, the user operates the input device230of the terminal200to perform an operation for image formation for the image forming apparatus100. In response to this operation, the controller250activates the printer driver installed in the terminal200in advance (ACT601). The controller250transmits an image formation request to the server300in response to the user's operation (ACT602). The image formation request includes a command for instructing image formation and data to be printed.

Upon receiving the image forming request, the controller330of the server300transmits the request signal of the output value of the sensor170to the image forming apparatus100(ACT603). When the controller180of the image forming apparatus100receives the request signal of the sensor output value, it transmits the value output from each sensor170to the server300(ACT604).

The controller330of the server300determines the possibility of the specific failure based on the values output from the sensors170(ACT605). After the specific failure determination process, the controller330executes confidential determination based on the information received in the image formation request and the file to be printed (ACT606).

Referring toFIG. 14, when the possibility of specific failure is higher than or equal to the predetermined value and the possibility that the data to be printed includes confidential information is higher than or equal to the predetermined value (ACT607—YES, ACT608—YES), the controller330interrupts the image forming process (ACT609). When the image forming process is interrupted, the controller330transmits information about the interruption of the image formation process to the terminal200(ACT610).

When the controller250of the terminal200receives the information about the interruption of the image forming process, it outputs information indicating that the image forming process is interrupted for the user via the output device240(ACT611). At this time, the controller250may further output the reason why the image forming process is interrupted.

Thereafter, the controller330of the server300monitors whether or not the interrupt cancel operation has been performed (ACT612). The interrupt cancel operation is an operation for releasing the interruption and continuing the image forming process. The interrupt cancel operation may be an operation in which a button for releasing the interruption displayed on the screen of the terminal200is pressed by the input device230. When the interrupt cancel operation is performed at the terminal200(ACT613—YES), the controller250transmits an interrupt cancel signal to the server300(ACT614). When the interrupt cancel operation is performed (ACT612—YES), a process of ACT615(i.e., image formation processing request) to be described later is performed.

When the possibility of specific failure is lower than the predetermined value or when the possibility that the data to be printed includes confidential information is lower than the predetermined value (ACT607—NO, ACT608—NO), the controller330transmits an image forming processing request to the image forming apparatus100(ACT615). When the image forming apparatus100receives the image forming processing request, the controller180performs image forming processing in response to the received image forming request (ACT616).

Note that all or part of the operations of the controller180, the controller250, and the controller330may be performed by hardware such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a PLD (Programmable Logic Device), or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). The program may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium is, for example, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a portable medium such as a ROM, a CD-ROM, or a storage device such as a hard disk incorporated in a computer system. The program may be transmitted over a telecommunications line.

According to at least one embodiment described above, when there is a high possibility of specific failure and there is a high possibility that the data to be printed includes confidential information, the image forming process is not executed. Specifically, the transmission process of image information from the terminal200or the server300to the image forming apparatus100is interrupted. In addition, in the image forming apparatus100, the image forming process for the received image information is interrupted. As described above, a specific failure is a failure in which a sheet on which a part or all of an image is formed remains within the image forming apparatus100without being discharged. By performing such processing, it is possible to prevent a part or all of the confidential information from remaining in the image forming apparatus100due to a failure. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the possibility that confidential information may be obtained by a third party.

In the image forming system500, even if the image forming process is interrupted, the image forming process is continued when the user performs the interrupt cancel operation. Therefore, the user can resume the image forming process after recognizing the occurrence of the risk. Therefore, even when there is a risk, image formation can be performed more smoothly.

(Modified Example) The data storage210may further store a user information table.FIG. 15is a diagram showing such a user information table. The user information table includes a plurality of user information. The user information has a user ID and an administrator flag value. The user ID is the identification information of the user who may use the image forming apparatus100. The administrator flag indicates whether or not the user is an administrator, that is, a person who has a predetermined authority to the image forming apparatus. For example, when the value of the administrator flag is “1”, it indicates that the user is an administrator. For example, when the value of the administrator flag is “0”, it indicates that the user is not an administrator. The administrator is a person who can perform repair work such as taking out sheets remaining inside the image forming unit130by operating the image forming unit100when a failure occurs in the image forming apparatus100.

The controller250in the modification determines whether or not the user of the own apparatus is an administrator. The controller250determines whether or not the user of the own apparatus is an administrator based on the user ID input in logging in to the own apparatus and the user information table.

FIG. 16is a diagram illustrating the flow of the image forming processing performed by the image forming system500according to the modification. Since the processing before the execution ofFIG. 16is the same as that ofFIG. 6, the illustration and description thereof are omitted. After ACT105, when the possibility of specific failure is higher than or equal to the predetermined value (ACT701—YES), the possibility that data to be printed includes confidential information is higher than or equal to the predetermined value (ACT702—YES), and the user of terminal200is not an administrator (ACT703—NO), the controller250interrupts the transmission processing of image information (ACT704). When the transmission processing is interrupted, the controller250outputs information that the transmission process is interrupted via the output device240. At this time, the controller250may further output the reason for the interruption of the transmission process.

When the possibility of specific failure is lower than the predetermined value (ACT701—NO), the possibility that the data to be printed includes confidential information is lower than the predetermined value (ACT702—NO), or the user of terminal200is an administrator (ACT703—YES), the controller250transmits an image forming request to the image forming apparatus100(ACT706). The image formation request includes a command for instructing image formation and data to be printed. The processing according to the modification shown inFIG. 16may be applied in the other examples (i.e., the second example to the sixth example).

In the modification of the image forming system500configured as described above, even when the possibility of specific failure is high and the data to be printed is highly likely to contain confidential information, the transmission processing of image information is not interrupted when the user of the terminal200is an administrator. This is because the administrator may be expected to remove the sheet from within the image forming apparatus100, even if a specific failure has occurred in the image forming apparatus100. That is, even if the sheet on which the confidential information has been formed remains within the image forming apparatus100due to a specific failure, a user who is an administrator can remove the sheet by himself/herself. Therefore, even if confidential information is being formed on the sheet, there is a very low possibility that confidential information will be obtained by a third party. In such a case, image formation can be performed more smoothly by performing image formation without performing interruption processing.