A control device includes a generating unit, a specifying unit, a calculating unit, a determining unit, and a controller. The generating unit generates, upon receiving a print instruction, which includes attribute information representing an attribute of a printed material to be created, processing information by using the attribute information and a preset rule. The specifying unit specifies activation periods of activation operations of activating the respective processing devices indicated by the processing information. The calculating unit calculates processing periods of processing operations executed to create the printed material by the respective processing devices indicated by the processing information. The determining unit determines starting times of the activation operations executed by the respective processing devices indicated by the processing information. The controller controls the respective processing devices indicated by the processing information so that the processing devices start the respective activation operations at the starting times determined by the determining unit.