Patent ID: 7831156

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising; a plurality of consumable supplies including a first consumable supply and a second consumable supply, wherein the second consumable supply is a different type from the first consumable supply; a setting unit configured to independently set a print-stop setting or a print-continue setting for each of the consumable supplies; a sensor configured to detect a supply condition of at least one of the consumable supplies; a notification unit configured to convey a message based on the supply condition detected by the sensor; and a controller configured, when the sensor detects the supply condition, to suspend a printing operation based on the print-stop setting or to continue the suspended printing operation based on the print-continue setting, wherein, when the printing operation is suspended due to an occurrence of the supply condition of a particular one of the consumable supplies during the printing operation, the notification unit conveys a message that the printing is suspended due to the supply condition of the particular one of the consumable supplies, wherein the setting unit sets at least one of the print-stop setting and the print-continue setting for each of the consumable supplies separately, and wherein the print-stop setting and the print-continue setting set for each of the consumable supplies are selectively used for the printing operation, which is suspended due to the occurrence of the supply condition, wherein the controller is configured to refer to an agreement-based setting for the image forming apparatus to determine whether the print-stop setting or the print-continue setting set by the setting unit for at least one of the consumable supplies is valid or invalid, and the agreement-based setting is defined by a maintenance agreement for the image forming apparatus, and wherein, based on the agreement-based setting, the controller is configured to instruct the notification unit to convey the print-stop setting or the print-continue setting with a lower light intensity for at least one of the consumable supplies.