Patent ID: 8064784

Claim:
An image forming apparatus in which a first consumable item and a second consumable item, having a different type from that of the first consumable item, are loadable to the image forming apparatus, comprising: a consumption status detecting unit configured to detect an end status and a near-end status as consumption statuses for each of the first and second consumable items, wherein the end status is a consumption status in which the consumable item must be exchanged immediately and the near-end status is a consumption status in which the consumable item must be exchanged in the near future; a consumption information output setting unit configured to set parameters indicating whether to output information for each of the end status and the near-end status of the first and second consumable items detected by the consumption status detecting unit; and a consumption information output unit configured to output the information for each of the end status and the near-end status of the first and second consumable items based on the parameters set by the consumption information output setting unit and a detection result of the consumption status of the first and second consumption items detected by the consumption status detection unit.