1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, method, and computer-readable storage medium storing a program that make print settings in a subset within a print job.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a strong market demand for subset finishing, which enables multiple different subsets to be set within a single job. A “subset” is a unit indicating a collection of pages defined within a single job. “Setting different subsets”, meanwhile, refers to a case where, for example, stapling is set for a certain subset but is not set for other subsets.
Distribution texts can be given as an example of one of the primary use cases of such subset printing. Distribution texts contain multiple subsets enclosed within a binder, and each subset may have different print settings.
With such distribution texts, there are situations where a specific subset within the multiple subsets is replaced with another subset, settings of an existing subset are applied to new data and the resulting data is inserted in a different location within the distribution text, and so on. In such a situation, with a distribution text, there are cases where, for example, a practice subset is replaced, an answer subset is newly inserted, and so on.
There is also market demand for the easy alteration of such subset finishing settings, such as insertion, replacement, and so on, for subsets in jobs saved in an image controller.
In an attempt to implement subset insertion such as that described above, existing techniques have provided a function for merging multiple jobs saved in an image controller. In this merging method, data saved within the image controller is selected and merged with the beginning or end of another job, thereby configuring a single new job. With respect to insertion at the page level, multiple RIPped jobs saved within the image controller can be inserted among jobs at the page level.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-162519 (Patent Document 1) discloses a document processing system that makes it possible to choose whether to apply the source settings or target settings when inserting a document defined as a chapter into a different document defined as a chapter using a document processing application.
However, with Patent Document 1, either the source settings or the target settings are applied in all cases, and thus the settings of an arbitrary chapter different from the source and the target cannot be applied. Therefore, when a chapter having settings different from a user's intentions is present in the insertion location, it is necessary to change the settings of the source or target chapter in advance. Alternatively, it is necessary for the user to prepare a new chapter having the settings that he or she intends, which increases his or her workload.