In the first and second exemplary embodiments discussed earlier, rolled paper to which print jobs are to be allocated is managed in the order in which a user designates the print jobs, and the print speed to be applied to the print jobs allocated in units of rolls of rolled paper is determined to estimate the time needed to execute each print job.

In the third exemplary embodiment, however, the combination of print jobs to be allocated to rolls of rolled paper is changed with reference to the paper travel distance.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example of the functional configuration of the management server 30 according to the third exemplary embodiment. Portions in FIG. 17 corresponding to those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the corresponding reference numerals.

In the case of the present exemplary embodiment, a schedule determination section 314A is used in place of the schedule management section 314 (see FIG. 2).

The schedule determination section 314A determines a schedule that improves the efficiency in executing the print jobs on the basis of the rasterizing speed for each print job, the maximum transport speed that defines the limit of the performance of the image forming apparatus 10 (see FIG. 1), and an estimated value of the remaining amount of the rolled paper.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a schedule determination method according to the third exemplary embodiment. The process illustrated in FIG. 18 is executed by the processor 31 (see FIG. 1).