Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus that continuously forms images on a plurality of media, comprising:

• a first medium container that contains media on which the images are formed;
• a second medium container that supplies media in place of the first medium container;
• a receiving part that receives image data of the images;
• a carrying controller that carries a medium contained either in the first medium container or the second medium container based on the image data;
• and
• an image forming part that forms an image on a medium that is carried based on the image data, wherein
• when the receiving part receives the image data,
• the carrying controller carries a medium contained in the second medium container to a predetermined position before the media contained in the first medium container is used up,
• the carrying controller, in middle of printing using the media supplied from the first medium container and in a state in which there is a medium remaining in the first medium container, carries the medium that was carried in advance from the second medium container and performs an image-formation of a last page of print data, which is generated from the image data, on the medium from the second medium container, and
• during an image formation using the media carried from the first medium container and when the media contained in the first medium container is used up, the carrying controller subsequently carries the medium that is carried in advance from the second medium container and continues the image formation.

An image forming apparatus that forms images on sheets at an image forming section, comprising:

• a plurality of sheet trays that contain and supply the sheets, each of the sheets being carried through a sheet carrying path from the sheets trays to the image forming section;
• a sheet feeding controller that feeds the sheets from one of the sheet supply trays to the sheet path, the supplying sheet tray being selected based on an image data to be printed and designated as an original sheet tray, the contained sheets therein being as original sheets;
• a detection part that detects a remaining amount of the original sheets contained in the original sheet tray;
• a searching part that searches for another sheet tray, which is other than the original sheet tray, containing sheets that are at least of the same width as that of the original sheets contained in the original sheet tray, the another sheet tray being designated as a substitute sheet tray and the contained sheets therein being designated as substitute sheets, wherein
• the sheet feeding controller, when the detection part detects that the remaining amount of the original sheets has reached a predetermined amount, feeds one of the substitute sheets as a first substitute sheet to set the sheet at a predetermined position before the original sheets are used up so that the image forming apparatus continues to feed the first substitute sheet to the image forming section with a substitute medium interval (MIs) after a final original sheet is fed to the image forming section, the substitute medium interval being the same as a normal medium interval (MIn) that is defined as a distance between a final original sheet and a second final original sheet that is fed prior to the final original sheet.