Patent ID: 8885194

Claim:
An image forming system comprising: at least one transmission apparatus; and a plurality of image forming apparatuses, wherein the transmission apparatus includes a transmission section that transmits printing data to a first image forming apparatus of the plurality of image forming apparatuses, wherein the first image forming apparatus includes a receiving section that receives printing data from the transmission apparatus or other image forming apparatuses; a printing data transmission section that distributes the printing data or substantially identical printing data generated on the basis of the printing data, to the image forming apparatuses other than an own apparatus among the plurality of image forming apparatuses, when printing data which is substantially identical to the printing data received by the receiving section cannot be acquired from the image forming apparatuses corresponding to a predefined reference number among the plurality of image forming apparatuses so that the predetermined reference number of the image forming apparatuses among the plurality of image forming apparatuses have the printing data or substantially identical printing data; and an apparatus information transmission section that transmits apparatus information regarding the image forming apparatus which receives the printing data to the plurality of image forming apparatuses, and wherein each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses includes an apparatus information receiving section that receives the apparatus information transmitted by the apparatus information transmission section; an acquisition section that acquires the printing data on the basis of the received apparatus information in case that the printing data is used by a user; and an image forming section that performs image formation according to the printing data acquired by the acquisition section.