Patent ID: 8363274

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: a plurality of controllers which controls a nozzle group forming an image on an image forming medium on the basis of image data; and a plurality of distribution units which is connected to one or more controllers and transmits the image data, which is used to control the nozzle group controlled by the controller, to the controller, wherein upper and lower distribution units are connected to each other in a communicable way from a first distribution unit, which is the uppermost unit, to a second distribution unit, which is the lowermost unit, and the first distribution unit is connected to an external apparatus in a communicable way, and wherein the distribution unit includes an image receiving section which receives the image data of the entire image of an image forming target from the external apparatus or the upper distribution unit, an extraction section which extracts necessary image data, which is data necessary for control of the controller connected to the distribution unit, from the image data of the entire image in accordance with a predetermined extraction condition, and an image transmitting section which transmits the image data of the entire image to the lower distribution unit.