A printing support system includes an information processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus. The information processing apparatus generates distribution target data indicating distribution targets. Based on the distribution target data, the image forming apparatus recognizes departments to which the distribution targets belong, respectively. The image forming apparatus recognizes a minimum color number department whose permissible number of colors used is smallest. The image forming apparatus determines a highlight part in document data. The image forming apparatus generates automatic highlight image data that is image data including the highlight part subjected to a highlighting process and using a number of colors equal to the permissible number of colors of the minimum color number department.