Abstract: Disclosed are embodiments of a system, method and computer program product for implementing a federated print services network. The embodiments provide a central server that receives external print job requests from customers and, optionally, any backlog of internal print job requests from a participating print shop or any internal print job requests that are outside a participating print shop's current printing capabilities or that exceed the participating print shop's supply inventory. The server can selectively distribute those requests amongst the participating print shops in the network for fulfillment. Distribution is based on printing equipment utilization records in order to balance printing equipment utilization across the network and, if necessary, on printing capability records and/or supply inventory records. Thus, for participating print shops, the embodiments provide a means for increasing equipment utilization percentages during downtimes and, thereby a means to subsidize the cost of ownership.

Abstract: Disclosed are embodiments of a system, method and computer program product for implementing a federated print services network. The embodiments provide a central server that receives external print job requests from customers and, optionally, any backlog of internal print job requests from a participating print shop or any internal print job requests that are outside a participating print shop's current printing capabilities or that exceed the participating print shop's supply inventory. The server can selectively distribute those requests amongst the participating print shops in the network for fulfillment. Distribution is based on printing equipment utilization records in order to balance printing equipment utilization across the network and, if necessary, on printing capability records and/or supply inventory records. Thus, for participating print shops, the embodiments provide a means for increasing equipment utilization percentages during downtimes and, thereby a means to subsidize the cost of ownership.

Abstract: A way to allow customization of attributes seen in a marking machine user interface (UI) and their layout. A user can create multiple “UI sets,” each of which can include tabs, each of which can include UI elements laid out in various ways. The user can name the UI sets and tabs and can select any attribute from a superset of supported attributes, allowing custom configurations that will work across multiple printer types. Only attributes supported by a currently connected printer will show on the user's UI, so the user does not see invalid options. UI sets are stored in a file on the user's local disk, so it persists across multiple sessions and could be created by a system administrator and deployed to all the users.