Patent ID: 8004701

Claim:
A processing method in a system that includes an information management apparatus, an image generation apparatus, and an information processing apparatus that communicates with a printer, the method comprising: an obtaining step of, in the information management apparatus, obtaining, in response to a print request received from the information processing apparatus, (a) identification information for identifying the print request, (b) address information of the image generation apparatus for generating print data corresponding to the print request, and (c) image generation data to be used when generating the print data in the image generation apparatus; a management step of, in the information management apparatus, managing the obtained (a) identification information, (b) address information, and (c) image generation data to be used when generating the print data, by correlating the (a) identification information, (b) address information, and (c) image generation data together; a first transmission step of transmitting the address information and the identification information from the information management apparatus to the information processing apparatus; a second transmission step of transmitting a print data request, for requesting the print data that is to be generated in the image generation apparatus and which includes the identification information transmitted in the first transmission step, from the information processing apparatus to the image generation apparatus indicated by the address information transmitted in the first transmission step; a third transmission step of transmitting the identification information, included in the print data request, from the image generation apparatus to the information management apparatus; a fourth transmission step of transmitting the image generation data, managed in the management step and correlated with the identification information transmitted in the third transmission step, from the information management apparatus to the image generation apparatus; and a generation step of, in the image generation apparatus, generating the print data by using the image generation data transmitted in the fourth transmission step.