Patent ID: 8360428

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a first determining unit configured to determine whether a plurality of discharging destinations is to be used for discharging a group of sheets printed by a printing unit based on an input print job; a second determining unit configured to determine, in response to the first determining unit determining that the plurality of discharging destinations is to be used, an order of use of the plurality of discharging destinations depending on whether a discharging operation is started from a former page of the group of sheets or a latter page of the group of sheets, wherein the second determining unit determines the order of use of the plurality of discharging destinations such that, in response to the discharging operation being started from the latter page of the group of sheets, an upper-level discharging destination of the discharging destinations is used in advance and that, in response to the discharging operation being started from the former page of the group of sheets, a lower-level discharging destination of the discharging destinations is used in advance; and at least one processor configured to perform functionality of at least one of the first determining unit and the second determining unit.