Abstract: A method for producing packages of printed materials arranged in order based on multiple original digital documents. A user interface is provided to allow the user to specify the order of the original documents to be printed. A print server generates multiple sub-jobs which contain linking information that links them to each other in the specified order to form a job set. The job set can be submitted to a printer in one submission. A printer executes the linked sub-jobs sequentially based on the linking information contained in the sub-jobs to produce the multiple printed documents in the specified order.

Abstract: A method implemented in a server computer for producing a package of printed documents from multiple original digital documents. A user specifies the multiple original digital documents, their order in the package, and print settings for each original digital document. The user further specifies additional print settings for the package. The server generates a combined digital document by combining contents of the plurality of original digital documents in the specified order, and generates a package job ticket that specifies print settings for the combined digital document in accordance with the print settings for the plurality of original digital documents. The server submits the combined digital document and the package job ticket as a print job to a printer. The printer executes the package print job to produce the multiple documents in the specified order which form a package of printer materials.

Abstract: Disclosed is a print job management method that provides efficient managing, routing and processing of print jobs amongst multiple printers. By first ranking the printers based on one or more positive and negative history factors as well as a user intention associated with a print job, and then selecting a destination printer from the ranked printers, the print job management method disclosed herein significantly reduces the evaluation workload in locating the best printer for each print job.

Abstract: A method for producing packages of printed materials arranged in order based on multiple original digital documents. A user interface is provided to allow the user to specify the order of the original documents to be printed. A print server generates multiple sub-jobs which contain linking information that links them to each other in the specified order to form a job set. The job set can be submitted to a printer in one submission. A printer executes the linked sub-jobs sequentially based on the linking information contained in the sub-jobs to produce the multiple printed documents in the specified order.

Abstract: A method for producing packages of printed materials arranged in order based on multiple original digital documents. A user interface is provided to allow the user to specify the order of the original documents to be printed. A print server generates multiple sub-jobs which contain linking information that links them to each other in the specified order to form a job set. The job set can be submitted to a printer in one submission. A printer executes the linked sub-jobs sequentially based on the linking information contained in the sub-jobs to produce the multiple printed documents in the specified order.

Abstract: A method for producing packages of printed materials arranged in order based on multiple original digital documents. A user interface is provided to allow the user to specify the order of the original documents to be printed. A print server generates multiple sub-jobs which contain linking information that links them to each other in the specified order to form a job set. The job set can be submitted to a printer in one submission. A printer executes the linked sub-jobs sequentially based on the linking information contained in the sub-jobs to produce the multiple printed documents in the specified order.

Abstract: A method implemented in a server computer for producing a package of printed documents from multiple original digital documents. A user specifies the multiple original digital documents, their order in the package, and print settings for each original digital document. The user further specifies additional print settings for the package. The server generates a combined digital document by combining contents of the plurality of original digital documents in the specified order, and generates a package job ticket that specifies print settings for the combined digital document in accordance with the print settings for the plurality of original digital documents. The server submits the combined digital document and the package job ticket as a print job to a printer. The printer executes the package print job to produce the multiple documents in the specified order which form a package of printer materials.

Abstract: A print shop management method for handling re-assignment of print jobs after a printer error occurs. After a print job is assigned to a printing device, the print shop management system monitors the status of the printers. When a printer error occurs, re-assignment decisions is made based on the severity of the error, so that less severe errors can be resolved by the operator without job re-assignment, while more severe errors cause the print job to be automatically re-assigned to another printer. For some errors, the print shop management system may notify the operator of the error, and wait for a timeout period; if the operator does not respond within the timeout period, the print job will be re-assigned to another printer. The handling of a printer error may be affected by other factors such as time of day, physical proximity of an operator, etc.

Abstract: A user interface display method that facilitates setting of various setting parameters for controlling an application program and preserving past values of the setting parameters as historical snapshots. When a setting panel is displayed and the user modifies setting parameter values in the setting panel and saves the new values, the pre-modified setting parameter values are saved as a historical snapshot, and the modified values are saved as the current setting parameters for controlling the program. Historical snapshots of setting panels that have been saved in the past can be displayed simultaneously with the current setting panel in a manner that visually simulates a stack of panels. The user can select any one of the historical panels in the stack, modify the setting values in that panel, and save the modified values as the current settings while keeping the historical snapshot.

Abstract: An improved web browser program and related web navigation method can store a browsing history having a tree structure with nodes on multiple branches. The browsing history tree is displayed in an area separate from, or partially overlapping, the area where the web page content is displayed. In the browsing history tree display, the nodes may be represented by thumbnails of the web pages, and the user can click a node to navigate to that page. In one embodiment, when a web page is a search result page meeting certain criteria and contains multiple search hit links, the web browser program automatically (without user initiation) accesses each search hit link to downloads its content (without actually displaying the page in the browser winder), and generates a thumbnail based on the downloaded content. The multiple thumbnails generated this way are added to the browsing history tree display.

Abstract: A user interface display method that facilitates setting of various setting parameters for controlling an application program and preserving past values of the setting parameters as historical snapshots. When a setting panel is displayed and the user modifies setting parameter values in the setting panel and saves the new values, the pre-modified setting parameter values are saved as a historical snapshot, and the modified values are saved as the current setting parameters for controlling the program. Historical snapshots of setting panels that have been saved in the past can be displayed simultaneously with the current setting panel in a manner that visually simulates a stack of panels. The user can select any one of the historical panels in the stack, modify the setting values in that panel, and save the modified values as the current settings while keeping the historical snapshot.

Abstract: A printing device is provided with an imager to capture an output image of the paper after it is printed on. The output image is compared to an input image representing the image being printed to detect any artifacts in the output image and to determine the type of the artifacts. The types of the artifacts include effects caused by dirty drum, low or missing toner, dirty or wrinkled paper, etc. The printing device performs a responsive action based on the type of artifacts detected, including displaying a diagnostic message, stopping the printing, rejecting the sheet, re-printing, printing subsequent pages with a corrective action, etc. Further, another imager is provided to capture an image of the paper before it is printed on, and the image is analyzed to detect artifacts of the input paper, including dirty or wrinkled paper, wrong paper size, paper skew or misalignment, etc.

Abstract: An improved navigation method implemented as a graphical user interface (GUI). The GUI has navigation tools to allow a user to navigate to different locations of a structure of data. The GUI stores a history chain containing a sequence of nodes including a first node and a last node, each node represents a location the user has previously navigated to. The GUI moves backward or forward along the history chain in response to a back or forward command from the user. When a current node position in the history chain is the first (or last) node and a back (or forward) command is received, the GUI moves to the last (or first) node of the history chain, thereby forming a looped history chain.

Abstract: An enhanced graphical user interface (GUI) for displaying a main document image and multiple thumbnail images, with filtering functions to allow the user to display selected pages as thumbnail images. In particular, the GUI is implemented in a Make Ready program used in a print shop to manipulate documents before printing. Each page of the document being processed by the Make Ready program is assigned one of multiple processing phases (or processing status values), depending on whether any editing changes are required, and whether any required changes have been made or all required changes are completed. The operator can selectively display pages of a certain phase as thumbnail images, and use this display to make editing changes to the pages. The program automatically updates the phase assignment for a page after changes are made to it. The operator can also manually update the phase of a page.

Abstract: A printing device is provided with an imager to capture an output image of the paper after it is printed on. The output image is compared to an input image representing the image being printed to detect any artifacts in the output image and to determine the type of the artifacts. The types of the artifacts include effects caused by dirty drum, low or missing toner, dirty or wrinkled paper, etc. The printing device performs a responsive action based on the type of artifacts detected, including displaying a diagnostic message, stopping the printing, rejecting the sheet, re-printing, printing subsequent pages with a corrective action, etc. Further, another imager is provided to capture an image of the paper before it is printed on, and the image is analyzed to detect artifacts of the input paper, including dirty or wrinkled paper, wrong paper size, paper skew or misalignment, etc.

Abstract: A print shop management method for handling re-assignment of print jobs after a printer error occurs. After a print job is assigned to a printing device, the print shop management system monitors the status of the printers. When a printer error occurs, re-assignment decisions is made based on the severity of the error, so that less severe errors can be resolved by the operator without job re-assignment, while more severe errors cause the print job to be automatically re-assigned to another printer. For some errors, the print shop management system may notify the operator of the error, and wait for a timeout period; if the operator does not respond within the timeout period, the print job will be re-assigned to another printer. The handling of a printer error may be affected by other factors such as time of day, physical proximity of an operator, etc.