Patent ID: 8228546

Claim:
A printing system comprising a server and a plurality of printing devices connected with the server via a network, wherein each of the plurality of printing devices comprises: a setting unit configured to set a maximum number of printable sheets up to which the printing device is permitted to perform a printing operation; a printer unit configured to, in response to acceptance of a print request, perform a printing operation as far as a cumulative number of sheets that have ever been printed is within the maximum number of printable sheets set by the setting unit; a first determining unit configured to, upon receipt of the print request, determine whether a remaining number of printable sheets is less than a total number of sheets to be printed based on the print request, the remaining number of printable sheets being defined by subtracting the cumulative number of sheets that have ever been printed from the maximum number of printable sheets; a transfer requesting unit configured to issue a transfer request to the server when the first determining unit determines that the remaining number of printable sheets is less than the total number of sheets to be printed based on the print request; and an update unit configured to, in response to a transfer instruction received from the server, update the maximum number of printable sheets set by the setting unit, and wherein the server comprises: a transfer source selecting unit configured to, in response to the transfer request issued by the transfer requesting unit of a first printing device, select from the printing devices other than the first printing device, a second printing device that cedes at least part of the maximum number of printable sheets set for the second printing device, based on respective frequencies of printing operations performed by the printing devices other than the first printing device; and a transfer instructing unit configured to issue the transfer instruction to each of the first printing device and the second printing device, the transfer instruction causing the first printing device to increase the maximum number of printable sheets for the first printing device and causing the second printing device to decrease the maximum number of printable sheets for the second printing device.