The term “printer” as used in the present application will be understood to refer to a hardware device or system that is in network or circuit communication with a computer or other programmable device and execute print jobs in response to commands from said programmable device. Printers may print ink and other media onto a variety of “paper” print mediums or coatings disposed thereon, including onto plain and coated wood-based paper surfaces, into films disposed onto paper materials in photo paper mediums, onto transparency film or paper surfaces that are translucent, etc. It will be understood that the term “paper” as used herein may refer to any print medium printed upon by a printer.
In operation a user generally sends a print job to a printer by entering an appropriate “print” command within an application executing on the programmable device. While some applications provide dialog windows that inform the user of a variety of settings and print options that may be selected or revised to change attributes of execution of the print, the prior art generally fails to determine and inform the user if there are enough paper sheets in a paper supply tray to print an entirety of the submitted print job.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds