Patent ID: 8867056

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprises: an accommodating unit configured to accommodate a plurality of recording mediums; an image forming unit configured to form an image on the recording mediums in response to a print job; a reservation unit configured to designate at least one of the plurality of the recording mediums as a reserved amount of an accommodated recording medium to prohibit use of the reserved amount by the image forming unit; a determining unit configured to determine whether the print job is a specific print job or a non-specific print job; and an authorizing unit configured to permit the image forming unit to use a residual amount of the accommodated recording medium for the specific print job irrespective of whether or not the residual amount of the accommodated recording medium is greater than the reserved amount of the accommodated recording medium, and configured to permit the image forming unit to use the residual amount of the accommodated recording medium for the non-specific print job only when the residual amount of the accommodated recording medium is greater than the reserved amount of the accommodated recording medium; wherein the reservation unit is configured, if the residual amount of the accommodated recording medium is less than the reserved amount of the accommodated recording medium, to prohibit use of the residual amount for the non-specific print job.