JP5125286B2 - Print control apparatus and print control program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a print control apparatus and a print control program.

  In general, the print server receives image information from a personal computer, temporarily stores the received image information, and transmits the image information to a printer. On the other hand, the printer that has received the image information from the print server executes a printing process for the image indicated by the image information.

  By the way, as a function of a print system in which a print server and a printer are connected, an image print process indicated by image information stored in the print server is performed for a printer instructed in the order in which the image information is stored in the print server. A direct print function for transmitting the image information and executing the print process, and an on-demand print function for executing the print process of the image indicated by the image information selected by the user from the image information stored in the print server. There is a printer provided.

  In printing using the direct print function, a printer that prints a print job is instructed as a user operation and transmitted to the print server. On the other hand, in the printing by the on-demand print function, after giving an instruction to send a print job to the print server as a user operation, the user moves to a printer installation position and operates an operation panel provided in the printer. As a result, the print job transmitted to and held by the print server is selected and a print instruction is issued. By this operation, the instructed print job can be printed by the printer.

As a technique related to a printer provided with the direct print function and the on-demand print function, Patent Document 1 discloses that image information included in a print job for which print processing is executed by the direct print function, In the case of image information that has been subjected to print processing by a function, a technique is disclosed in which the print job is regarded as confidential text and the print processing is executed by an on-demand print function. Further, in Patent Document 2, if an image indicated by image information included in a print job that has been printed by the direct print function is different from a pre-registered standard format, the print processing of the print job is turned on. A technique for switching to and executing the demand print function is disclosed.
JP 2004-001284 A JP 2006-255936 A

  The present invention provides a print control apparatus capable of promptly executing a print process of received image information even when the print process is not performed under a predetermined condition by a designated printing apparatus, And a print control program.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that the information is specified to identify image information connected to an information processing apparatus and to perform printing of an image indicated by the image information. Receiving means for receiving from a processing device; storage means for storing at least the image information received by the receiving means; and a plurality of printing devices connected to the image information stored by the storage means , A printing apparatus provided with a first function for executing print processing of an image indicated by the image information stored in the storage means in the order in which the image information is stored in the storage means, and the storage means stored in the storage means a plurality of printing devices including a printing apparatus a second function of executing print processing of the image represented by the image information selected by the user is provided from the image information First indicating that the transmission means for selectively transmitting to any one of the printing apparatuses specified by the specific information is in a state where the printing process of the image indicated by the image information received together with the specific information is stagnant. And the second state indicating that the continuation of the printing process is not possible, and the image does not have image information for executing printing by the first function. When there is a printing apparatus provided with the first function, the printing apparatus that executes printing of the image indicated by the image information received together with the specific information is designated as the first apparatus that does not have the image information. When switching to a printing apparatus provided with a function and there is no printing apparatus provided with the first function that does not have image information for performing printing by the first function, The printing apparatus for performing printing of an image represented by the image information received together with the specific information, different from the second function and the printing device specified by the specific information among the plurality of printing devices are provided printing The switching means for switching to the apparatus, and the switching means for executing the printing of the image indicated by the image information received together with the specific information is provided with the first function not having the image information. When the printing apparatus is switched to a printing apparatus, the printing apparatus that executes printing of the image indicated by the image information received together with the specific information is provided with the first function that does not have the image information. Notification means for notifying the information processing apparatus that the information has been switched to .

  The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, wherein the first state is that a predetermined number or more of image information for performing a printing process preceding the image information received together with the specific information. A state in which the time required for the printing process executed prior to the image information received together with the specific information is a predetermined time or more, and a print process of the image indicated by the image information received together with the specific information Is assumed to be at least one state in which the time predicted to end is a predetermined time or more.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the second state includes a state in which a paper jam has occurred, a state in which a failure has occurred, and a consumable to be consumed. It is assumed that the state is at least one of the states below the fixed amount.

On the other hand, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention described in claim 4 includes image information received from a connected information processing apparatus and an image indicated by the image information from a plurality of connected printing apparatuses. A storage step of storing specific information for specifying a printing apparatus for executing printing in a storage unit; and a plurality of printing apparatuses connected to the image information stored in the storage step, the information stored in the storage step A printing apparatus provided with a first function for executing the printing process of the image indicated by the image information in the order in which the image information is stored in the storage step, and the image information stored in the storage step Selectable to any of a plurality of printing apparatuses including a printing apparatus provided with a second function for executing a printing process of an image indicated by image information selected by a user A transmission step of transmitting, the printing apparatus specified by the specifying information, a first state indicating that the printing process of the image represented by the image information received together with the specific information is ready to be stagnant, and the printing process The first function is provided that does not have image information for executing printing by the first function when the state is at least one of the second states indicating that it is impossible to continue the printing. If the specified printing apparatus is present, the printing apparatus that executes printing of the image indicated by the image information received together with the specific information is printed with the first function that does not have the image information. When there is no printing apparatus provided with the first function that does not have image information for executing printing by the first function, the specific information and The printing apparatus for performing printing of an image represented by the image information received, the printing apparatus different second function is provided with the printing device specified by the specific information among the plurality of printing devices The switching step for switching, and the printing device for executing printing of the image indicated by the image information received together with the specific information by the switching step is provided with the first function that does not have the image information. Is switched to a printing apparatus that performs printing of an image indicated by the image information received together with the specific information and that has the first function that does not have the image information. And a notification step of notifying the information processing apparatus of the fact that it has been performed.

According to the first and fourth aspects of the present invention, even when the print processing of the received image information is not performed under a predetermined condition by the designated printing apparatus, the present configuration is provided. Compared with the case where it does not do, it has the outstanding effect that the said printing process can be performed rapidly.

  In addition, according to the second aspect of the invention, there is an excellent effect that the printing process can be executed promptly according to the situation.

  Further, according to the invention described in claim 3, there is an excellent effect that the printing process can be executed promptly according to the situation.

The print according to the invention described in claim 1, the printing process of the received image information, Ri Do a state where the printing process is not performed at a predetermined condition by the specified printing apparatus, and the first function When there is a printing apparatus provided with a first function that does not have image information, the printing process is quickly executed by the printing apparatus provided with the first function that does not have image information . It has an excellent effect of being able to.

Further, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the print processing of the received image information is in a state where the print processing is not performed under a predetermined condition by the designated printing apparatus, and printing is executed by the first function. Even when there is no printing apparatus provided with the first function that does not have image information to be printed, an excellent effect that the printing process can be quickly executed by the printing apparatus provided with the second function Have

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which the present invention is applied to a printing system including a plurality of personal computers (hereinafter referred to as “personal computers”), a single print server, and a plurality of printers.

  First, the configuration of a printing system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in the figure, the printing system according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of personal computers 14 and a plurality of printers 16A, 16B, 16C... And a network 12 between the personal computers and the printers. The print server 10 is connected via the network.

  A plurality of printers 16A, 16B, 16C,... According to the present embodiment perform on-demand processing by selecting a print job held in the print server 10 and instructing printing in addition to normal printing processing. The print function is installed. If it is not necessary to distinguish between the plurality of printers, the alphabet at the end of the code is omitted, and the “printer 16” is described.

  The personal computer 14 transmits a print job to the print server 10 when the printer 16 performs image printing processing. The print server 10 receives a print job from the personal computer 14. The print job includes image information indicating an image to be printed, identification information that can specify the printer 16 that executes the image printing process, and various setting information related to the printing process (for example, the number of output sheets, paper Size etc.).

  The print server 10 temporarily stores the print job received from the personal computer 14 and then transmits the print job to the printer 16 specified by the specific information via the network 12. The printer 16 that has received the print job executes print processing of an image indicated by the image information included in the print job.

  Here, a printing process using the direct print function and a printing process using the on-demand print function will be described.

  In the printing process using the direct print function, the printing process of the image indicated by the image information included in the print job is performed in the order in which the print job is stored in the print server 10, and the printer 16 specified by the specific information corresponding to the image information. Control to be executed in

  On the other hand, the print processing by the on-demand print function is a print job that is transmitted to the print server 10 by the user via the operation panel 18 provided in the printer 16 that executes the print processing, and stored and held in the print server 10. The user authentication necessary for executing the printing process is executed. For user authentication, for example, a preset password is entered by the user using the operation panel 18. If the entered password matches that of the user registered in advance, the print server 10 transmits a list of print jobs transmitted and held by the user to the printer 16, and the operation panel. A list of print jobs sent 18 is displayed. Then, the user selects a print job desired to be printed from the list, and transmits a print request instruction of the selected print job from the operation panel 18 to the print server 10. When receiving the print request instruction, the print server 10 transmits the print job selected by the user to the printer 16. Then, the printer 16 prints an image indicated by the image information included in the transmitted print job. Note that the printer that executes the printing process with the on-demand print function may be any printer that is connected to the print server 10 and provided with the on-demand print function.

  The printer 16 is a printer that indicates whether or not at least one of a state in which a paper jam has occurred, a state in which a failure has occurred, and a state in which a consumable to be consumed is equal to or less than a predetermined amount has occurred. Send status information. The print server 10 receives the printer status information via the network 12.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the configuration of the main part of the electrical system of the print server 10 having a particularly important role in the printing system will be described.

  As shown in the figure, the print server 10 is used for loading a program executed by the CPU (Central Processing Unit) 30 that controls the entire print server 10 and for storing work data. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 32, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 34 in which programs and other information are written in advance, a magnetic disk type external storage device, a program executed by the CPU 30, and a print job transmitted from the personal computer 14 A hard disk drive 36 for storing various data, and a network interface 38 for exchanging information between the personal computer 14 and the printer 16. Each is connected.

  The hard disk drive 36 stores a print job transmitted from the personal computer 14.

  A print job management program for managing print jobs is represented in a schematic diagram showing the correspondence between the printer 16 and the printer queue shown in FIG. 3 when the user executes print processing using the direct print function of the printer 16. As described above, the print jobs transmitted from the personal computer 14 are associated with the respective printers 16 and managed as print queues 42A, 42B, 42C. The printer queue 42A corresponds to the printer 16A, and stores a print job including the specific information when the printer specified by the specific information is the printer 16A. Similarly, the printer queue 42B corresponds to the printer 16B, the printer queue 42C corresponds to the printer 16C, and stores a print job to be printed by the corresponding printer 16. If it is not necessary to distinguish between the plurality of printer queues, the alphabet at the end of the code is omitted and the “printer queue 42” is described.

  On the other hand, the print job management program manages as a printer queue 44 common to each printer 16 storing print jobs transmitted from the personal computer 14 when the user performs print processing by the on-demand print function of the printer 16. Yes.

  FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the print server 10 according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in the figure, the print server 10 according to the present embodiment includes a status confirmation unit 50, a print job management unit 52, and a notification unit 54.

  The state confirmation unit 50 is in a first state indicating that the printer 16 specified by the specific information stagnates the printing process of the image indicated by the image information received together with the specific information, and the printing process cannot be continued. The print job management program executed as the print job management unit 52 stores a new print job in the printer queue 42 when the print job management unit 52 stores a new print job. The first state and the first state of the printer 16 specified by the specific information included in the print job corresponding to the print job ID received after receiving the print job ID transmitted from the printer queue 42 for identifying the print job. Check the state of 2. Then, the confirmation result is transmitted to the print job management unit 52.

  Note that the first state is a state in which the printer 16 specified by the specifying information has a predetermined number or more print jobs in which print processing is executed prior to the print job corresponding to the print job ID. A state in which the time required for the print processing executed prior to the corresponding print job is a predetermined time or more, and a state in which the print job corresponding to the print job ID is predicted to be completed for a predetermined time or more. It is. The predetermined time is set as an elapsed time such as 5 minutes from the reception of the print job or as a time such as 14:30. Whether the first state has occurred is determined based on the number of print jobs stored in the printer queue 42 corresponding to the printer 16 specified by the specific information, the print job data size, the number of output sheets, the paper size, and the like. Is done.

  The second state is a state where a paper jam has occurred in the printer 16 specified by the specific information, a state where a failure has occurred, and a state where the consumables consumed are below a predetermined amount. is there. The consumables include paper, toner (when the printer 16 is a laser printer) or ink (when the printer 16 is an inkjet printer). The second status is determined based on printer status information transmitted from the printer 16 specified by the specific information.

  Note that the state confirmation unit 50 may confirm at least one of the above states listed as the first state, or may confirm at least one of the above states, and confirm all of the above states listed as the second state. Without checking, at least one may be confirmed. Moreover, the state confirmation part 50 may confirm other than the said state enumerated as a 1st state, and may confirm other than the said state enumerated as a 2nd state.

  On the other hand, when the printer 16 specified by the specific information is in at least one of the first state and the second state, the print job management unit 52 displays the image indicated by the image information received together with the specific information. In order to switch the printer 16 that executes the printing to a printer 16 different from the printer 16 specified by the specific information, the print job including the image information is changed from the printer queue 42 corresponding to the printer 16 specified by the specific information. It is to be moved.

  The print job management unit 52 executes a print job print process corresponding to the print job ID when the printer 16 specified by the specific information is in at least one of the first state and the second state. The printer is switched to a printer 16 that does not have a print job for executing print processing by the direct print function. For this purpose, the print job management unit 52 moves the print job corresponding to the print job ID from the printer queue 42 corresponding to the printer 16 specified by the specific information to the printer queue 42 corresponding to the switching destination printer 16. . Note that whether or not the printer 16 has a print job for executing print processing by the direct print function is determined by whether or not the print job is stored in the printer queue 42 corresponding to the printer 16. To do.

  In addition, the print job management unit 52 has image information in which the printer 16 specified by the specific information is in at least one of the first state and the second state and performs printing by the direct print function. If no printer 16 is present, the printer 16 is switched so that the print job corresponding to the print job ID is printed by the on-demand print function. For this purpose, the print job management unit 52 moves the print job corresponding to the print job ID from the printer queue 42 corresponding to the printer 16 specified by the specific information to the printer queue 44.

  The notification unit 54 notifies the personal computer 14 that has transmitted the print job when the print job management unit 52 performs switching of the printer 16.

  Note that the processing by the state confirmation unit 50, the print job management unit 52, and the notification unit 54 configured as described above can be realized by a software configuration using a computer by executing a program. In this case, the program includes the print control program according to the present embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to realization by a software configuration, and needless to say, it can also be realized by a hardware configuration or a combination of a hardware configuration and a software configuration.

  Next, the operation of the print server 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing of a print control program executed by the CPU 30 of the print server 10 when a print job for executing print processing by the direct print function is received. Are stored in advance in a predetermined area. Note that the program may be stored in a predetermined area of the hard disk drive 36 in advance.

  First, in step 100, the print job is stored in the printer queue 42 corresponding to the printer 16 specified by the specific information included in the print job received from the personal computer 14.

  The next step 102 confirms whether the printer 16 specified by the specifying information is in at least one state of the first state or at least one state of the second state. It is determined whether the state is at least one of the first state and the second state. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 104.

  In step 104, it is determined whether or not there is a printer 16 in which no print job is stored in a printer 16 different from the printer 16 specified by the specifying information. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 106. .

  In step 106, the print job stored in the printer queue 42 corresponding to the printer 16 specified by the specifying information is moved to the printer queue 42 corresponding to the printer 16 in which no print job is stored.

  In the next step 108, the personal computer 14 that has transmitted the print job is notified that the printer 16 that executes printing of the print job has been switched and the printer 16 that is the switching destination, and the program is terminated.

  On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step 104, the process proceeds to step 110, and the print job stored in the printer queue 42 corresponding to the printer 16 specified by the specific information can be printed by the on-demand print function. Move to the printer queue 44.

  In the next step 112, the personal computer 14 that has transmitted the print job is notified that the print processing of the print job has been switched from the print processing by the direct print function to the print processing by the on-demand print function, and the program ends. .

  Note that step 102 corresponds to the operation of the state confirmation unit 50 shown in FIG. 4, and steps 104, 106, and 110 correspond to the operation of the print job management unit 52 shown in FIG. Reference numeral 112 corresponds to the operation of the notification unit 54 shown in FIG.

  FIG. 6 schematically shows the flow of processing by the print server 10 according to the present embodiment when a print job for executing print processing to the printer 16A is transmitted from any of the personal computers 14 by the direct print function. Is shown in

  As shown in the figure, first, a print job transmitted from the personal computer 14 to the print server 10 is stored in the printer queue 42A.

  Next, when a print job ID corresponding to the print job stored in the printer queue 42A is received by the status confirmation unit 50, the printer 16A performs the first operation based on the print job stored in the printer queue 42A by the status confirmation unit 50. Whether the printer 16A is in the first state or whether the printer 16A is in the second state is confirmed based on the printer state information transmitted from the printer 16A.

  When the printer 16A is neither in the first state nor in the second state, the print processing of the print job is executed by the direct print function of the printer 16A.

  On the other hand, when the printer 16A is in at least one of the first state and the second state and no print job is stored in the printer queue 42B corresponding to the printer 16B, the print job management unit 52 performs the print job. The print job corresponding to the job ID is moved from the printer queue 42A to the printer queue 42B. At this time, the notification unit 54 notifies the personal computer 14 that the printer for executing print processing of the print job has been switched from the printer 16A to the printer 16B, and the print processing of the print job is executed by the direct print function of the printer 16B. The

  When the printer 16A is in at least one of the first state and the second state and a print job is stored in the printer queues 42B and 42C, the print job management unit 52 sets the print job ID to the print job ID. The corresponding print job is moved from the printer queue 42A to the printer queue 44. At this time, the notification unit 54 notifies the personal computer 14 that the print processing of the print job has been switched from the print processing by the direct print function to the print processing by the on-demand print function. For example, the print processing of the print job is executed by the on-demand print function of the printer 16C.

  FIG. 7 schematically shows the flow of processing by the print server 10 when the printing system according to the present embodiment is applied to an education site (here, a university). The printer 16D and the printer 16E shown in FIG. 7 are printers provided with a direct print function and an on-demand print function.

  As shown in the figure, the print jobs transmitted from the plurality of personal computers 14 in the classroom to the print server 10 are stored in the printer queue 42D corresponding to the printer 16D. Then, when the status confirmation unit 50 receives a print job ID corresponding to the print job stored in the printer queue 42D, the printer 16D determines the first printer 16D based on the print job stored in the printer queue 42D. Whether it is in the state of 1 is confirmed. In this application example, it is assumed that the print job printing process needs to be completed between the end of the lecture and the start of the next lecture, and the time at which the print job print process must be completed is, for example, 5 minutes after the start of the next lecture. Set as before. Then, the first state confirmed by the state confirming unit 50 is set to a state in which the time when the print processing of the print job corresponding to the print job ID is predicted is after the set time. In this application example, the second state of the printer 16D is not confirmed. When the printer 16D is not in the first state, the printing process for the print job is executed by the printer 16D.

  On the other hand, when the printer 16D is in the first state, the print job management unit 52 moves the print job corresponding to the print job ID from the printer queue 42D to the printer queue 44. At this time, the fact that the printing process of the print job is switched from the printing process by the direct printing function to the printing process by the on-demand printing function by the notifying unit 54 has transmitted the print job corresponding to the print job ID to the print server 10 14 is notified. Then, the print job is printed by the on-demand print function of the printer 16E installed outside the classroom.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using the said embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. Various modifications or improvements can be added to the above-described embodiment without departing from the gist of the invention, and embodiments to which such modifications or improvements are added are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  The above embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims (claims), and all the combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential for the solution means of the invention. Is not limited. The embodiments described above include inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by combinations of a plurality of disclosed constituent elements. Even if some constituent elements are deleted from all the constituent elements shown in the above embodiment, as long as an effect is obtained, a configuration in which these some constituent elements are deleted can be extracted as an invention.

  In addition, the configuration (see FIGS. 1 to 4) of the print processing system and the print server 10 described in the above embodiment is merely an example, and unnecessary portions can be deleted without departing from the gist of the present invention. Needless to say, you can add new parts.

  Furthermore, the flow of processing of the print control program described in the above embodiment (see FIG. 5) is also an example, and unnecessary steps can be deleted or new steps can be added without departing from the scope of the present invention. Needless to say, they can be added or the processing order can be changed.

  The printer 16 in the printing system according to the above embodiment is a printer provided with a direct print function and an on-demand print function. However, only one of the direct print function and the on-demand print function is provided. A printing system including an unprinted printer may be used.

  The print control program according to the above embodiment includes a form installed in advance in the print server 10, a form provided in a state stored in a computer-readable recording medium, and a wired or wireless communication unit. It can be applied to a form distributed via the Internet.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the electric system of the print server which concerns on embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram conceptually showing a correspondence relationship between a printer and a printer queue. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a print server according to an embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow of a print control program according to the embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of application of the printing system which concerns on embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of application in the university which concerns on embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

10 Print server 14 Personal computer (information processing equipment)
16 Printer (printing device)
36 Hard disk drive (storage means)
38 Network interface (reception means, transmission means)
52 Print Job Management Unit (Switching Unit)

Claims (4)

Receiving means for receiving, from the information processing apparatus, specific information for specifying a printing apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus and executing printing of the image information and the image indicated by the image information;
Storage means for storing at least the image information received by the receiving means;
A plurality of printing apparatuses connected to the image information stored in the storage means, wherein the image information is stored in the storage means for printing processing of an image indicated by the image information stored in the storage means; A printing apparatus provided with a first function to be executed in order, and a second printing process for executing an image indicated by the image information selected by the user from the image information stored in the storage means Transmitting means for selectively transmitting to any of a plurality of printing apparatuses including a printing apparatus provided with a function ;
The printing apparatus identified by the identification information is in a first state indicating that the printing process of the image indicated by the image information received together with the identification information is stagnant, and the printing process cannot be continued. When there is at least one of the second states indicating the state, there is a printing apparatus provided with the first function that does not have image information for performing printing by the first function In this case, the printing apparatus that executes printing of the image indicated by the image information received together with the specific information is switched to a printing apparatus that has the first function that does not have image information. When there is no printing apparatus provided with the first function that does not have image information for performing printing by the first function, the image information received together with the specific information is included in the image information. And switching means for switching the printing apparatus provided with different ones of the second function of the printing apparatus for performing printing of an image, the printing device specified by the specific information among the plurality of printing apparatus shown Ri,
When the switching unit switches the printing device that performs printing of the image indicated by the image information received together with the specific information to a printing device that has the first function and does not have image information. In addition, the printing device that executes printing of the image indicated by the image information received together with the specific information has been switched to the printing device provided with the first function that does not have the image information. Notification means for notifying the information processing apparatus;
A printing control apparatus.   The first state is a state in which there is a predetermined number or more of image information to be printed prior to the image information received together with the specific information, and the image information received together with the specific information. At least one of a state in which the time required for the printing process to be executed is a predetermined time or more and a state in which the printing process of the image indicated by the image information received together with the specific information is predicted to be completed for a predetermined time or more The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print control apparatus is in a state.   The second state is at least one of a state in which a paper jam has occurred, a state in which a failure has occurred, and a state in which a consumable to be consumed is a predetermined amount or less. The print control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. A storage step of storing, in the storage means, image information received from the connected information processing apparatus and specifying information for specifying a printing apparatus that executes printing of the image indicated by the image information from the plurality of connected printing apparatuses When,
A plurality of printing apparatuses connected to the image information stored in the storage step, wherein the image information is stored in the storage step for printing an image indicated by the image information stored in the storage step. A printing apparatus provided with a first function to be executed in order, and a second printing process for printing an image indicated by image information selected by the user from the image information stored in the storage step. A transmission step of selectively transmitting to any of a plurality of printing apparatuses including a printing apparatus provided with a function;
The printing apparatus identified by the identification information is in a first state indicating that the printing process of the image indicated by the image information received together with the identification information is stagnant, and the printing process cannot be continued. When there is at least one of the second states indicating the state, there is a printing apparatus provided with the first function that does not have image information for performing printing by the first function In this case, the printing apparatus that executes printing of the image indicated by the image information received together with the specific information is switched to a printing apparatus that has the first function that does not have image information. When there is no printing apparatus provided with the first function that does not have image information for performing printing by the first function, the image information received together with the specific information is included in the image information. A switching step of switching the printing apparatus to perform printing of an image, the printing device different the second function is provided with the printing device specified by the specific information among the plurality of printing apparatus shown Ri,
When the printing device that performs printing of the image indicated by the image information received together with the specific information is switched to the printing device provided with the first function that does not have image information by the switching step. In addition, the printing device that executes printing of the image indicated by the image information received together with the specific information has been switched to the printing device provided with the first function that does not have the image information. A notification step of notifying the information processing apparatus;
A print control program that causes a computer to execute.

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