Abstract: An interactive image display system for displaying a printed article as it will appear when printed. It includes a user interface component, to accept information from a user for producing the printed article, and to provide a graphic image representing the printed article for display to the user; a graphic layout component, to process the information and produce a graphic description file, which is usable for a batch printing process; and an image producing component, to process the graphic description file and produce the graphic image. The user interface component maintains the information from the user, allowing the user to modify a part of the information in order to view changes in the displayed printed article. This maintained information is also used for producing and displaying a different printed article, and also for ultimately preparing and running the print job for the user.