Patent Publication Number: US-2012033241-A1

Title: Image forming apparatus and method of producing e-book thereof

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2010-0076644, filed Aug. 9, 2010, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present general inventive concept generally relates to an image forming apparatus and a method of producing an electronic book (e-book) thereof, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus which produces an e-book using a plurality of document data stored therein and a method of producing an e-book thereof. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     An image forming apparatus refers to an apparatus that prints printing data generated by a terminal apparatus such as a computer on a recording medium. Examples of such an image forming apparatus are copiers, printers, facsimile machines, or multifunction peripherals (MFP) complexly realizing the functions of the aforementioned devices in a single device. 
     Recently, as personal mobile devices have been developed and diverse information is easily available to users, an electronic book (e-book) is proliferating as a personal device. 
     With the proliferation of the e-book, the e-book content market is proliferating. However, the production of the contents used in the e-book is limited to primary publishing companies and the e-books provided by the publishing companies are also limited. In some situations, the user pays more money to enjoy the e-book. 
     SUMMARY 
     Therefore, there is a need for a method of producing an e-book easily using contents owned by a user. The present general inventive concept provides an image forming apparatus which is capable of producing an e-book using a plurality of document data stored therein and a method of producing an e-book thereof. 
     Additional embodiments of the present general inventive concept will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the general inventive concept. 
     Exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept may provide a method of producing an electronic book (e-book) of an image forming apparatus, the method including displaying a selection screen on a display of the image forming apparatus including pre-stored document data, when a selection of a plurality of document data is received through the selection screen, displaying at least one menu applicable to the selected document data, when a selection of a menu to produce an e-book from among the at least one displayed menu is received, producing the e-book and displaying an edit screen on the display to edit the produced e-book, and when the produced e-book is edited with the edit screen, producing the e-book including the plurality of document data according to the editing. 
     The edit screen may be a user interface (UI) window through which an order of each of the plurality of selected document data is set, and the producing the e-book may include producing the e-book including the plurality of selected document data based on the set order. 
     The edit screen may be a UI window through which a page applicable to each of the plurality of selected document data is set, and the producing the e-book may include producing the e-book with the page which has been set for each of the document data. 
     The edit screen may be a UI window that receives a selection of a template applicable to the plurality of selected document data, and the producing the e-book may include producing the e-book using the selected template. 
     The producing the e-book may include producing the e-book by applying a different template to each of the plurality of selected document data. 
     The producing the e-book may include producing a book cover corresponding to the e-book and adding the produced book cover to the plurality of document data to produce the e-book. 
     The book cover may include information of at least one of a title of the e-book and an index value of the plurality of selected document data. 
     The producing the e-book may include producing the e-book by adding a slip sheet between the plurality of selected document data. 
     The slip sheet may include at least one of a title, a creation time, a number of pages, and a writer of a document datum placed after the added slip sheet. 
     The method may further include storing the produced e-book in a storage apparatus of the image forming apparatus. 
     The method may further include transmitting the produced e-book to an external apparatus. 
     The external apparatus may include an e-book terminal apparatus, and the producing the e-book may include producing the e-book in a format supported by the e-book terminal apparatus. 
     Exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept may also provide a method of producing an e-book of an image forming apparatus, the method including receiving a command with the image forming apparatus to produce an e-book, displaying an edit screen on a display of the image forming apparatus to edit a plurality of document data, and when the plurality of document data is edited with input received by the edit screen, producing the e-book including the plurality of document data according to the editing. 
     Exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept may also provide an image forming apparatus, including a storage unit to store document data, a display to display a user interface when a selection of a plurality of document data from the document data stored in the storage unit is received, to edit the plurality of selected document data, and an e-book producer which, when an editing is performed on the edit screen, produces the e-book including the plurality of document data according to the editing. 
     The user interface displayed on the display may be a UI window to receive a selection to set an order for each of the plurality of selected document data, and the e-book producer may produce the e-book with the plurality of selected document data based on the set order. 
     The user interface displayed on the display may be a UI window that receives a selection to set a page applicable to each of the selected document data, and the e-book producer may produce the e-book with the page which has been set for each of the selected document data. 
     The user interface displayed on the display may be a UI window to receive a selection of a template applicable to the selected document data is selected, and the e-book producer may produce the e-book using the selected template. 
     The e-book producer may produce the e-book by applying a different template to each of the selected document data. 
     The e-book producer may produce a book cover corresponding to the e-book and add the produced book cover to the plurality of selected document data to produce the e-book. 
     The book cover may include information of at least one of a title of the e-book and an index value of the plurality of selected document data. 
     The e-book producer may produce the e-book by adding a slip sheet between the plurality of selected document data. 
     The slip sheet may include at least one of a title, a creation time, a number of pages, and a writer of a document datum placed after the added slip sheet. 
     The image forming apparatus may include a communication interface connected to an external apparatus, a print processor to perform a printing job, and a controller to perform at least one of an operation to control the communication interface to transmit the produced e-book to the external apparatus, an operation to control the print processor to print the produced e-book, and an operation to control the storage unit to store the produced e-book. 
     The external apparatus may be an e-book terminal apparatus, and the e-book producer may produce the e-book in a format supported by the e-book terminal apparatus. 
     Exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept may also provide a method of producing an electronic book (e-book) with an image forming apparatus, the method including receiving a selection from a user interface apparatus of the image forming apparatus of one or more documents, receiving a selection of one or more templates to arrange and format the selected one or more documents, and generating an e-book from the arranged and formatted one or more documents. 
     The method may include displaying a preview image of the generated e-book on the user interface. 
     The method may include transmitting the generated e-book to an e-book terminal apparatus communicatively coupled to the image forming apparatus. 
     The method may include generating print data from the generated e-book, and printing the generated print data onto an image forming medium with the image forming apparatus. 
     The method may include receiving a selection from the user interface apparatus to select an order of the selected one or more documents, and generating the e-book according to the selected order of the one or more selected documents. 
     The generating the e-book of the method may include inserting a slip sheet between the selected documents. 
     The method may include where the slip sheet includes at least one of a title, a creation time, a number of pages, and a writer name. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and/or other embodiments of the present general inventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept; 
         FIGS. 2 to 8  are views illustrates examples of user interface (UI) windows according to exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept; 
         FIG. 9  is a view illustrating an example of a book cover added to an e-book according to exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept; 
         FIG. 10  is a view illustrating an example of a slip sheet added to an e-book according to exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept; and 
         FIG. 11  is a flowchart illustrating a method of producing an e-book according to exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present general inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present general inventive concept by referring to the figures. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus  100  according to exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the image forming apparatus  100  includes a communication interface  110 , a storage unit  120 , a user interface  130 , an e-book producer  140 , a function unit  150 , a print engine  155 , and a controller  160 . 
     The communication interface  110  can communicatively connect via wired communication the image forming apparatus  100  to a printing control terminal apparatus  10  or an e-book terminal apparatus  30 , and can be connected to the printing control terminal apparatus  10  or the e-book terminal apparatus  30  via a local area network (LAN), the Internet, a universal serial but (USB) port, and/or any other suitable wired and/or wireless communication network or interface to carry out the exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept as disclosed herein. The communication interface  110  may receive document data (and/or job data) from the printing control terminal apparatus  10  or may receive fax data from an external fax server (not illustrated). 
     The communication interface  110  may transmit job data, such as scan data or fax data, which may be generated by the function unit  150 , which will be described later, to the printing control terminal apparatus  10  or the fax server (not illustrated). 
     The communication interface  110  may transmit a produced e-book to an external apparatus. More specifically, the communication interface  110  may transmit the e-book which is produced by the e-book producer  140  to the printing control terminal apparatus  10  and/or the e-book terminal apparatus  30 . The communication interface  110  may automatically transmit the e-book which has been produced and stored in the storage unit  120  to the e-book terminal apparatus  30 , when the e-book terminal apparatus  30  is communicatively connected to the image forming apparatus  100 . 
     The communication interface  110  may receive information regarding the e-book terminal apparatus  30  from the e-book terminal apparatus  30 . The information of the e-book terminal apparatus  30  may include one or more e-book formats supported by the e-book terminal apparatus  30  and a storage capacity (e.g., the amount of available memory and/or storage space in a solid state memory device, hard disk drive, and/or solid state drive). The information of the e-book terminal apparatus  30  may be transmitted to the e-book producer  140  to determine a format of the e-book. 
     The e-book recited herein refers to a content that is usable in the e-book terminal apparatus  30  and may be a content that may be a dedicated e-book format such as PDF (Portable Document Format), EPUB (Electronic Publication), DJVU but also a format such as TXT (a general text format), PPT (a Microsoft® PowerPoint® format), DOC (a Microsoft® Word® format), and XPS (XML (Extensible Markup Language) Paper Specification). 
     The storage unit  120  may store document data. More specifically, the storage unit  120  may store document data which may be used when the function unit  150  performs a function, such as input data and/or output data of the function unit  150 . For example, the storage unit  120  may store printing data (PCL (printer command language), PostScript (PS), a page description language (PDL)), scan data, copy data, fax transmit data, and fax receive data. 
     The storage unit  120  may classify the document data (e.g., classified document data may be sorted into several folders, with each folder having a different data classification) according to characteristics of the document data or a received selection (e.g., a received selection from a user). For example, the storage unit  120  may store general document data in a ‘Document Box’, may store security document data to be protected in a ‘Secure Box’ with a password, and may store public document data to be open to the public (e.g., data that has general access without restrictions) in a commonly used ‘Public Box’. 
     If the image forming apparatus  100  can perform a direct printing operation, the storage unit  120  may store a file such as JPG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) or DOC and use it as printing data. The ‘direct printing’ recited herein refers to an operation that can print by transmitting a file to an image forming apparatus without executing an application at a terminal apparatus such as a PC, a lap top computer, a personal digital assistance (PDA), and a digital camera. 
     The storage unit  120  may store the produced e-book. Specifically, the storage unit  120  may store the e-book which is produced by the e-book producer  140 . The storage unit  120  may store the information of the e-book terminal apparatus  30  received from the e-book terminal apparatus  30 . The storage unit  120  may be an internal storage medium or an external storage medium of the image forming apparatus  100 , such as a removable disk including a USB memory or a web server over a network. The storage unit  120  may be one or more solid state memory devices, hard disk drives, and/or solid state drives. 
     The user interface  130  may have a plurality of function keys through which various functions and/or operations supported by the image forming apparatus  100  can be set and/or selected by the user. The user interface  130  can display information provided by the image forming apparatus  100 . The user interface  130  may include a display unit  131  such as a monitor and an input unit  133  such as a mouse, keyboard, and/or keypad. The user interface  130  may be a device to receive input and output information to a display simultaneously, such as a touch pad and/or touch screen. 
     The user interface  130  can display a selection screen that may include pre-stored and/or received document data. Specifically, the user interface  130  may display the selection screen to display a plurality of documents pre-stored in the storage unit  130 . The selection screen recited herein may be a user interface (UI) window that displays a plurality of documents (e.g., where the documents may be in a list) and will be explained below with reference to  FIG. 3 . Using the selection screen, the user can select document data for producing the e-book. That is, the selection screen of the user interface  130  may receive selections of document data, where the selected document data may be used to produce the e-book. 
     If a plurality of document data are selected on the selection screen (i.e., a plurality of selections of document data are received as input with the selection screen), the user interface  130  can display one or more menus applicable to the selected document data. That is, the user interface  130  may display one or more menus according to the received selections of document data. More specifically, the user interface  130  may display menus including one or more processing items regarding the plurality of selected document data. The menus are UI (user interface) windows which display one or more functions, operations, and/or selections of the image forming apparatus  100  applicable to the selected document data and will be explained in detail with reference to  FIG. 4 . 
     When a menu to produce the e-book is selected from among the menus displayed by the user interface  130 , an application to produce the e-book can be executed (e.g., by the image forming apparatus  100 ) such that the user interface  130  displays an edit screen for the selected document data. The edit screen is a UI window which may receive one or more edit selections to edit the selected document data, and may include a UI window to set an order. A UI window may receive input to set a page to be applied to each of the selected document data, and a UI window may receive a template selection to be applied to the selected document data. The edit screen will be explained in detail with reference to  FIGS. 5 to 8 . 
     The template recited herein may be a layout image that is generated by the user or has been previously generated at the image forming apparatus  100  to be combined with image data received by the image forming apparatus  100 . 
     The application can be a program executable by the image forming apparatus  100  to produce an e-book and may be installed in the image forming apparatus  100  by a manufacturer or by a firmware update (e.g., an update of the application that may be stored in storage unit  120  and/or controller  160 ). 
     The user interface  130  may provide a preview image of the e-book, where the preview image is displayed on the display unit  131 . More specifically, the user interface  130  may display (e.g., on the display unit  131 ) a form of the e-book which is to be produced by the e-book producer  140 . Accordingly, the user can view the form of the e-book to be displayed on the e-book terminal apparatus  30  in advance. If there is an issue to be addressed with the preview image of the e-book, an edit setting may be modified so as to adjust the preview image. For example, the user may edit a form of an index of the e-book or information to be added to the index using the UI window, and also may edit information to be added to the slip sheet of the e-book. 
     The e-book producer  140  can produce the e-book with the plurality of document data according to an input edit condition. That is, the e-book producer  140  may produce the e-book according to the received document data and one or more received edit inputs. Specifically, if an order of the plurality of document data is set, the e-book producer  140  can change the order of the plurality of document data according to the set order, and can produce the e-book with the changed order. If pages are set regarding the document data having a plurality of pages, the e-book producer  140  produces the e-book with only the set pages. 
     The e-book producer  140  can produce a book cover (i.e., an e-book cover image) corresponding to the e-book and can add the produced book cover to the plurality of document data to produce the e-book. Specifically, the e-book producer  140  can produce the book cover including information of the e-book such as a title and an index of the e-book, which is received as input through the user interface  130 , and can add the produced book cover to the plurality of selected document data, thereby producing the e-book. The information added to the book cover may be automatically added by the information pre-stored in the storage unit  120  or may be received as input or modified through the UI window. The form of the book cover produced according to exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept will be explained in detail with reference to  FIG. 9 . 
     The e-book producer  140  may add the slip sheet between the plurality of selected document data when producing the e-book. The slip sheet may be a page that is added to discriminate the plurality of document data. The slip sheet may be a blank page or a page including information regarding a title of document data placed after the slip sheet, a creation time of document data, the number of pages of document data, and a writer of document data. The information included in the slip sheet may also be automatically added by the information pre-stored in the storage unit  120 , or may be input or modified by the user through the UI window. An example of the slip sheet produced according to exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept will be explained later with reference to  FIG. 10 . 
     The e-book producer  140  can produce the e-book using a selected template. More specifically, the e-book producer  140  may change the layout of the document data using the template selected through the user interface  130  in producing the e-book. If a plurality of templates are selected, the e-book producer  140  can apply different templates of the plurality of selected templates to the plurality of document data in producing the e-book. That is, one or more of the selected plurality of templates may be applied to one or more sections of the e-book, and one or more other templates of the plurality of templates may be applied to different sections of the e-book. If one template is selected, the e-book producer  140  applies the one template to all of the plurality of document data in producing the e-book. 
     The e-book producer  140  may produce the e-book in a format that is supported by the e-book terminal apparatus  30  to which the produced e-book is to be transmitted. Specifically, the e-book producer  140  may produce the e-book in the format that is usable by the corresponding e-book terminal apparatus  30 , using the information of the e-book terminal apparatus  30  pre-stored in the storage unit  120 . 
     The function unit  150  can perform the one or more functions and/or operations supported by the image forming apparatus  100  such as copying, printing, scanning, fax transmitting, and fax receiving. Specifically, the function unit  150  may include a copy processor  151 , a print processor  152 , a scanning processor  153 , and a fax processor  154 . The a copy processor  151 , a print processor  152 , a scanning processor  153 , and a fax processor  154  may be microprocessors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, programmable logic devices, integrated circuits, controllers, and/or any suitable processor to carry out the exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept as disclosed herein. 
     The copy processor  151  can perform a copying function and can perform an operation to output data scanned by a scan unit of the image forming apparatus  100  through the print engine  155  to form an image onto an image forming medium. The scanned data may be stored in the storage unit  120  as copy data. 
     The print processor  152  can perform a printing function and can perform an operation of outputting printing data received through the communication interface  110  through the print engine  155  to form an image onto an image forming medium. Specifically, the print processor  152  may store a page description language (PDL) such as PCL or PS received through the communication interface  110  in the storage unit  120  as printing data, and also may store data rendered in a binary format in the storage unit  120  as printing data. 
     The scanning processor  153  can perform a scanning function and processes data scanned by the scan unit in the image forming apparatus  100 . The scanned data may be stored in the storage unit  120  in a predetermined data format (e.g., a RAW data format) before an image is processed, or image-processed data may be stored in the storage unit  120  after having been converted into an XPS format such as JPG, TIFF, and PDF. Also, the scanned data may be converted into a data format such as ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) or Unicode data format by performing text recognition using an OCR (optical character recognition). 
     The fax processor  154  can perform a fax transmitting or fax receiving function and can perform an operation of outputting fax data received from a fax unit through the print engine  155  or an operation of transmitting data scanned by the scan unit to the fax unit. 
     The print engine  155  may be an apparatus to receive a print operation from the copy processor  151  and/or the print processor  152  to print an image and/or text onto an image forming medium. The print engine  155  may include one or more colors of toner to form the image on the image forming medium, which may be paper. 
     The controller  160  can control the image forming apparatus  100 . That is, the controller  160  can control the communication interface  110 , the storage unit  120 , the user interface  130 , the e-book producer  140 , and the function unit  150 . More specifically, upon receiving a command to produce the e-book from the user, the controller  160  can display the user interface  130  to display the plurality of document data stored in the storage unit  120 . When a plurality of document data and an edit setting are selected through the user interface  130 , the controller  160  can control the e-book producer  140  to apply the selected edit setting and produce the e-book with the plurality of document data. 
     If the e-book has been produced through the above-described process, the controller  160  may store the produced e-book in the storage unit  120 . The controller  160  may transmit the e-book to the printing control terminal apparatus  10  and/or the e-book terminal apparatus  30 . The controller  160  may print the e-book onto an image forming medium using the print processor  152  and the print engine  155 . 
     As described above, the image forming apparatus  100  can produce the e-book using the plurality of document data stored therein (e.g., in storage unit  120 ) so that the user can obtain the e-book easily. The user can edit the e-book, including adding a book cover or a slip sheet through the UI window, so as to increase a user&#39;s convenience. 
       FIGS. 2 to 8  are views illustrating examples of UI windows according to exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept. 
     Specifically,  FIG. 2  illustrates an example of a UI window  200  which can be displayed by display unit  131  of the user interface  130  to receive a selection of a function of the image forming apparatus  100 . Referring to  FIG. 2 , the UI window  200  can include a ‘Copy’ area  210 , a ‘Fax’ area  220 , a ‘Scan’ area  230 , and a ‘Document Box’ area  240 . Selections of one or more of the ‘Copy’ area  210 , a ‘Fax’ area  220 , a ‘Scan’ area  230 , and a ‘Document Box’ area  240  displayed in the UI window  200  may be received by the user interface  131 . 
     The ‘Copy’ area  210  can receive a command to perform a copying function of the image forming apparatus  100 , the ‘Fax’ area  220  can receive a command to perform a fax transmitting function of the image forming apparatus  100 , and the ‘Scan’ area  230  can receive a command to perform a scanning function of the image forming apparatus  100 . 
     The ‘Document Box’ area  240  can receive a command to identify document data stored in the storage unit  120  of the image forming apparatus  100 . When the user selects the ‘Document Box’ area  240 , a UI window  300  of  FIG. 3  may be displayed. When a plurality of storing folders exist in the image forming apparatus  100  (e.g., where the storing folders are stored in the storage unit  120 ), other storing folders such as ‘Secure Box’ and ‘Public Box’ are displayed along with the ‘Document Box’. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates an example of the UI window  300  which is displayed on the display unit  131  of the user interface  130  to receive a selection of a plurality of document data. Specifically, the UI window  300  of  FIG. 3  is an example of a UI window displayed when the ‘Document Box’ area  240  of  FIG. 2  is selected. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the UI window  300  (or the ‘selection screen’ described above) includes a ‘document data display’ area  310 , a ‘processing way input’ area  320 , a ‘Task’ area  330 , and a ‘Back’ area  340 . As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the ‘document data display’ area  310  can include a document selection box  311 , a document name area  313 , a document owner area  315 , a date area  317 , and a page area  319 . 
     The ‘document data display’ area  310  displays the plurality of document data stored in the storage unit  120  of the image forming apparatus  100 . The user may select one or more document data to be processed from the displayed document data. That is, a user may select one or more of the documents listed in document name area  313  by selecting a document selection box  311  that corresponds to the document listed in document name area  313 . A checkmark or other indicator may appear in the document selection box  311  of a selected document. Each of the documents listed in the document name area  313  may have a corresponding owner listed in document owner area  315 . Each of the documents listed in the document name area  313  may have a creation date, modification date, and/or access date listed in date area  317 . Each of the documents listed in document area  313  may have a corresponding number of pages that are displayed in pare area  319 . 
     The ‘processing way input’ area  320  may include an area  321  to receive a scan command to add document data, an area  323  to receive a command to remove the selected document data from the list, an area  325  to receive a command to edit the selected document data, an area  327  to receive a command to display additional information regarding the selected document, and an area  329  to receive a command to retrieve document data stored in the image forming apparatus  100 . 
     The ‘Task’ area  330  can receive a command to display the functions of the image forming apparatus  100  applicable to the selected document data. If the user selects the ‘Task’ area  330 , a UI window  400  illustrated in  FIG. 4  is displayed. 
     The ‘Back’ area  340  is to receive a command to display the previous UI window  200  of the current UI window  300 . If the user selects the ‘Back’ area  340 , the UI window  200  illustrated in  FIG. 2  is displayed. 
     The user can select a plurality of document data to be used to produce the e-book from among the stored document data using the UI window  300 . That is, the user may select one or more of the documents listed in the document area  313  by selecting a corresponding document selection box  311 . 
       FIG. 4  is a view illustrating an example of the UI window  400  to display one or more menus applicable to the selected document data. More specifically, when the user selects the ‘Task’ area  330  in  FIG. 3 , the UI window  400  can be displayed on the UI window  300  of the display unit  131  in a pop-up form. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , the UI window  400  (or the menus described above) can display one or more functions and/or operations applicable to the selected document data. Specifically, the UI window  400  can include a ‘Print’ area  410 , a ‘Send to Email’ area  420 , a ‘Copy to a Box’ area  430 , a ‘Send to Fax’ area  440 , a ‘Move to Box’ area  450 , a ‘Send to FTP/SMB’ area  460 , and a ‘Create an e-book’ area  470 . 
     The ‘Print’ area  410  can receive a command to print the selected document data, and the ‘Send to Email’ area  420  can receive a command to send an email for the selected document data. 
     The ‘Copy to a Box’ area  430  can receive a command to copy the selected document data to another storage folder (e.g., a storage folder of storage unit  120 ), and the ‘Send to Fax’ area  440  can receive a command to send a fax including the selected document data. 
     The ‘Move to a Box’ area  450  can receive a command to move the selected document data to another storage folder, and the ‘Send to FTP/SMB’ area  460  can receive a command to send the selected document data to an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) or an SMB (Server Message Block). 
     The ‘Create an e-book’ area  470  can receive a command to produce the e-book with the selected document data. When the user selects the ‘Create an e-book’  470 , a UI window  500  can be displayed by the display unit  131  as illustrated in  FIG. 5 . 
     Using the UI window  400 , the user can perform one or more processes with respect to the selected document data, and can start producing the e-book by selecting the ‘Create an e-book’ area  470  among the displayed menus. 
       FIGS. 5 to 8  are views illustrating examples of UI windows which display the edit screen for the plurality of document data selected by the user according to exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept. More specifically,  FIG. 5  illustrates an example of the edit screen that is displayed when the ‘Create an e-book’ area  470  is selected by the user in  FIG. 4 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , a UI window  500  (or the edit screen) includes a ‘selected document data display’ area  510 , an ‘order setting’ area  520 , a ‘Back’ area  530 , and a ‘Next’ area  540 . 
     The ‘selected document data display’ area  510  displays the plurality of document data selected by the user in order to produce the e-book. Specifically, the ‘selected document data display’ area  510  displays the plurality of document data selected by the user with the document selection box  311  through the UI window  300 . 
     The ‘order setting’ area  520  can receive a command to edit an order of pages of the plurality of document data, and includes an ‘up’ menu  521  to arrange the selected document data in an ascending order and a ‘down’ menu  523  to arrange the selected document data in a descending order. 
     The ‘Back’ area  530  can receive a command to display the previous UI window  400  of the current UI window  500 . If the user selects the ‘Back’ area  530 , the UI window  400  may be displayed as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
     The ‘Next’ area  540  can receive a command to progress to a next setting when the order setting of the plurality of document data is completed. When the user selects the ‘Next’ area  540 , a UI window  600  can be displayed by the display unit  131  as illustrated in  FIG. 6 . 
     Using the edit screen  500 , the user can edit the order of the plurality of selected document data. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates an example of the UI window  600  which is displayed when the ‘Next’ area  540  of  FIG. 5  is selected. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , the UI window  600  can include a ‘selected document data display’ area  610 , an ‘order setting’ area  620 , a ‘Back’ area  630 , a ‘Next’ area  640 , and a ‘Name’ area  650 . 
     The ‘selected document data display’ area  610  displays the plurality of document data selected by the user in order to produce the e-book. The user may change a name, a writer, and a creation time of a corresponding document datum by selecting a ‘Document Name’ area  611 , an ‘Owner’ area  613 , and a ‘Date’ area  615  of the displayed document data, and may set the number of pages for a corresponding document datum by selecting a ‘page’ area  617 . 
     The ‘order setting’ area  620  can receive a command to edit an order of pages for the plurality of document data. The ‘order setting’ area  620  can include an ‘up’ menu  621  to arrange the selected document data in an ascending order and a ‘down’ menu  623  to arrange the selected document data in a descending order. 
     The ‘Back’ area  630  can receive a user command to display the previous UI window  500  of the current UI window  600 . When the user selects the ‘Back’ area  630 , the UI window  500  can be displayed as illustrated in  FIG. 5 . 
     When the order setting for the plurality of document data and the name setting of the e-book are completed, the ‘Next’ area  640  can receive a user command to progress a next setting. If the user selects the ‘Next’ area  640 , a UI window  700  is displayed as illustrated in  FIG. 7 . 
     The ‘Name’ area  650  can receive the name of the e-book to be included to the book cover of the e-book from the user. 
     Using the edit screen  600 , the user can edit the title of the e-book which is to be added to the book cover. 
       FIG. 7  is a view illustrating an example of the UI window  700  which is displayed when the Next&#39; area  640  of  FIG. 6  is selected according to exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , the UI window  700  can include an ‘applicable template display’ area  710 , a ‘selected template explaining’ area  720 , a ‘preview’ area  730 , a ‘Back’ area  740 , and a Next&#39; area  750 . 
     The ‘applicable template display’ area  710  can display a plurality of templates stored in the storage unit  120  and can receive a selection of one of the templates from UI window  700  displayed by the user interface  130 . 
     The ‘selected template explaining’ area  720  can display information regarding the template selected by the user. That is, the ‘selected template explaining’ area  720  describes how the template may edit, change, alter, and/or format the document to which the selected template is applied. 
     The ‘preview’ area  730  can display a preview image of document data to which the template selected by the user is applied. 
     The ‘Back’ area  740  can receive a user command to display the previous UI window  600  of the current UI window  700 . If the user selects the ‘Back’ area  740 , the UI window  600  is displayed as illustrated in  FIG. 6 . 
     When the setting of the template is completed, the ‘Next’ area  750  receives a user command to progress a next setting. When the user selects the ‘Next’ area  750 , a UI window  800  illustrated in  FIG. 8  is displayed. 
     Using the edit screen  700 , the user can edit the layout of the document data to be added to the e-book. The user may set a different template for each of the plurality of document data. The user may also set the same template for one or more selections of document data, and different templates for one or more selections of the document data. Editing using the edit screen  700  may be performed as much as the number of document data selected by the user. 
       FIG. 8  is a view illustrating an example of a UI window to set a sending method of the e-book according to exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept. Specifically, the user may select one or more methods of sending the e-book. When the user selects an email to send the e-book or when a pre-set sending option is an e-mail, a UI window  800  can be displayed to receive email address information of a receiver, as illustrated in  FIG. 8 . 
       FIG. 8  illustrates the UI window  800  can receive diverse information (e.g., information for the “From,” “To,” “Cc,” “Bcc,” Subject” and “Message” of the email) to send the e-book via email. The information may be received and/or entered into email fields  810 , that may include, for example, “From,” “To,” “Cc,” “Bcc,” Subject” and “Message” as illustrated in  FIG. 8 . However, the email information may be pre-set. A UI window for receiving address information of an FTP server may be displayed by the user interface  130 . Selection of the start button  820  may transmit the e-book via email to the recipient identified in the email fields  810 . Selection of the back button  830  may display the UI window  700  illustrated in  FIG. 7  and described above. 
       FIG. 9  is a view illustrating an example of a book cover  900  to be added to the e-book according to exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept. 
     Referring to  FIG. 9 , the book cover  900  can include an ‘e-book title display’ area  910  and an ‘e-book index display’ area  920 . 
     The ‘e-book title display’ area  910  can display the title of the e-book input from the user. 
     The ‘e-book index display’ area  920  can display names  921  of the document data included in the e-book and starting pages  923  of the document data. The ‘e-book index display’ area  920  may be generated automatically based on the information stored in the storage unit  120  of the image forming apparatus  100 , and the index may be modified according to user&#39;s purpose and/or according to one or more selections received from a user via the user interface  130 . Although only the starting page is illustrated in the index of  FIG. 9  in the exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept, a page range of each data, that is, a starting page and an ending page of the data may be displayed. A total number of pages, and a number of pages for each section of data may also be displayed. 
       FIG. 10  is a view illustrating an example of a slip sheet  1000  to be added to the e-book according to exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept. 
     Referring to  FIG. 10 , the slip sheet  1000  can include information such as a title  1001 , a writer  1002 , and a creation time  1003  of the document data placed, for example, after the added slip sheet  1000  or may be included on the slip sheet  1000  as illustrated in  FIG. 10 . The information added to the slip sheet  1000  may be automatically generated based on the information stored in the storage unit  120  of the image forming apparatus, without requiring the user to input separately, may be modified according to user&#39;s purpose, or may be modified according to one or more selections received from a user via the user interface  130 . In the above, the slip sheet including the information has been described, but a slip sheet without extra information may be provided. 
       FIG. 11  is a flowchart illustrating a method of producing an e-book according to exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept. 
     Referring to  FIG. 11 , the selection screen of the pre-stored document can be displayed at operation S 1110 . Specifically, the selection screen can be displayed to receive a selection of a plurality of document data to be used in producing the e-book. Using the selection screen, the user can select the plurality of document data at operation S 1120 . 
     The menus applicable to the selected document data can be displayed at operation S 1130 . More specifically, the menus including the functions of the image forming apparatus  100  applicable to the selected document data can be displayed. When the user selects a menu to produce the e-book from the menus, the edit screen for the selected document data can be displayed at operation S 1140 . 
     The user can set an order of the selected document data at operation S 1150 . Specifically, the selected document data can be displayed and an order of each document data can be edited. 
     Information of the e-book to be produced can be set at operation S 1160 . Specifically, if a book cover is to be added to the e-book, information of a title and an index of the e-book, which can be included in the book cover, may be set. 
     A slip sheet and a style of the e-book can be set at operation S 1170 . Specifically, when a slip sheet is to be added to the e-book, information to be included in the slip sheet can be set and a template applicable to the selected document data can be selected. 
     One template may be selected to be applied to all of the selected document data or a different template may be selected for each of the document data. Alternatively, one template may be applied to selected document data, and different templates may be applied to other selected document data. 
     The e-book can be produced with the plurality of document data based on the input edit setting at operation S 1180 . More specifically, the operation of producing the e-book has been described in relation to the e-book producer  140  and thus a detailed explanation is omitted. 
     The produced e-book can be transmitted from the image forming apparatus  100  at operation S 1190 . More specifically, the produced e-book may be transmitted to the e-book terminal apparatus  30  and/or the printing control terminal apparatus  10 . The e-book may be displayed in advance (e.g., in ‘preview’ area  730  illustrated in  FIG. 7 ) prior to being transmitted to the outside. When there is an issue to be addressed with the format and/or content of the displayed e-book, the e-book may be modified. The produced e-book may be stored in the image forming apparatus  100 . 
     According to the above-described method of producing the e-book, the e-book can be produced using the document data stored in the image forming apparatus  100  and thus the user can produce the e-book with ease. Also, it is possible to edit the plurality of document data in various ways in producing the e-book, so as to increase a user&#39;s convenience. The method of producing the e-book illustrated in  FIG. 11  may be executed on the image forming apparatus having the configuration of  FIG. 1  or may be executed on other type of image forming apparatus. 
     The present general inventive concept can also be embodied as computer-readable codes on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium can include a computer-readable recording medium and a computer-readable transmission medium. The computer-readable recording medium is any data storage device that can store data as a program which can be thereafter read by a computer system. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, and optical data storage devices. The computer-readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer-readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. The computer-readable transmission medium can be transmitted through carrier waves or signals (e.g., wired or wireless data transmission through the Internet). Also, functional programs, codes, and code segments to accomplish the present general inventive concept can be easily construed by programmers skilled in the art to which the present general inventive concept pertains. 
     Although various example embodiments of the present general inventive concept have been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these example embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the general inventive concept, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.