Inspection apparatus, control method, inspection system, and storage medium for performing inspection of a printed sheet

1 . An inspection apparatus comprising:

a controller configured to:

register image data upon receiving the image data;

receive arrangement location information that is generated on a basis of the registered image data and a print setting, the arrangement location information including, for every page of the image data, (a) a first flag indicating whether a page is to be scanned, and (b) a second flag indicating whether a page is to be inspected;

register a reference image obtained by re-arranging the registered image data in an order corresponding to a sheet transport sequence indicated by the arrangement location information and by excluding any page whose second flag indicates that inspection is not to be performed;

in a case where the arrangement location information is changed, update the reference image by re-arranging the registered image data without re-registering the image data; and

perform an inspection on a printed material on which the image data is printed, upon receiving a scanned image obtained by scanning the printed material, based on the scanned image and the reference image,

wherein the arrangement location information including the first flag and the second flag enables the controller to determine at least whether to perform the scanning and/or the inspection for each page.

2 . The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image data includes a plurality of pages to be printed on one or more recording sheets, and the arrangement location information indicates an arrangement location of each page of image data on the one or more recording sheets.

3 . The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the arrangement location information indicates an arrangement location of the image data on a recording sheet such that the image data is printed on the recording sheet based on the print setting.

4 . The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a storage unit configured to store the image data and the reference image,

wherein the reference image is an image obtained by rearranging the image data stored in the storage unit based on the arrangement location information.

5 . The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein in the inspection, the printed material is inspected based on a comparison between the reference image and the scanned image and the second flag included in the arrangement location information.

6 . The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the print setting is a setting for determining an arrangement location of the image data on a recording sheet.

7 . The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the print setting includes setting information about a printing order, a print surface, a number of copies, and a page layout.

8 . The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image data differs from the reference image in a sequence of at least one image.

9 . The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the arrangement location information includes information indicating an arrangement location of a sheet to be inserted, and

wherein the sheet to be inserted is not to be inspected as indicated by the second flag.

10 . A control method for an inspection apparatus, comprising:

registering image data upon receiving the image data;

receiving arrangement location information that is generated on a basis of the registered image data and a print setting, the arrangement location information including, for every page of the image data, (a) a first flag indicating whether a page is to be scanned, and (b) a second flag indicating whether a page is to be inspected;

registering a reference image obtained by re-arranging the registered image data in an order corresponding to a sheet transport sequence indicated by the arrangement location information and by excluding any page whose second flag indicates that inspection is not to be performed;

in a case where the arrangement location information is changed, updating the reference image by re-arranging the registered image data without re-registering the image data; and

performing an inspection on a printed material on which the image data is printed, upon receiving a scanned image obtained by scanning the printed material, based on the scanned image and the reference image,

wherein the arrangement location information including the first flag and the second flag enables the inspection apparatus to determine at least whether to perform the scanning and/or the inspection for each page.

11 . An inspection system including a printing apparatus, an inspection apparatus, and an image diagnosis unit configured to identify a malfunctioning portion in the inspection system based on a diagnostic chart inserted into a printed material, wherein the inspection system includes a controller configured to:

generate arrangement location information of image data and a print setting, the arrangement location information including a scan-required flag and an inspect-required flag for each page; and

perform an inspection on the printed material on which the image data is printed, upon receiving a scanned image obtained by scanning the printed material, based on the scanned image and a reference image generated by re-arranging the image data according to the arrangement location information while excluding pages not to be inspected,

wherein, in generating the arrangement location information, information indicating that the inspection is not performed is added to the arrangement location information corresponding to the diagnostic chart.

12 . The inspection system according to claim 11 , further comprising a scanning apparatus configured to scan the printed material on which the image data is printed,

wherein the printed material is conveyed from the printing apparatus via a conveyance path and passes through the image diagnosis unit and the scanning apparatus, and a scanned image obtained by scanning the printed material by the scanning apparatus is used for the inspection.

13 . The inspection system according to claim 11 ,

wherein the image diagnosis unit includes a discharge unit configured to discharge the diagnostic chart used for image diagnosis, and

wherein, in generating the arrangement location information, information indicating that scanning is not performed by the scanning apparatus and information indicating that the inspection is not performed are added to the arrangement location information corresponding to the diagnostic chart to be discharged by the discharge unit.

14 . A control method for an inspection system including at least a printing apparatus, an inspection apparatus, and an image diagnosis unit, the control method comprising:

controlling the inspection apparatus according to the control method of claim 10 ;

generating the arrangement location information of the image data and the print setting, the arrangement location information including a scan-required flag and an inspect-required flag for each page; and

performing an inspection on the printed material on which the image data is printed, upon receiving a scanned image obtained by scanning the printed material, based on the scanned image and a reference image generated by re-arranging the image data according to the arrangement location information while excluding pages not to be inspected,

wherein, in generating the arrangement location information, information indicating that the inspection is not performed is added to the arrangement location information corresponding to the diagnostic chart.

15 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of an inspection apparatus, cause the inspection apparatus to carry out the control method according to claim 10 .