Abstract: A printer controller arranged to control a print engine comprising: a print job storage for storing print jobs to be printed; wherein a print job may comprise a deadline, the deadline specifying an ultimate time by which the print job is to be completed; a scheduler module for determining a print execution time for each print job in a sequence of one or more print jobs, the scheduler taking into account a setup time for a print job for setting up the print engine to print the print job given a previous print job; a planning module for determining a print order for to-be-printed print jobs in the print storage, arranged to submit a plurality of sequences of to-be-printed print jobs in the print job storage to the scheduler and in response receive from the scheduler for each sequence of to-be-printed print jobs the print execution times of the print jobs; wherein the planning module elects a sequence of to-be-printed print jobs for which each deadline in a print job in the sequence is met according to the print

Abstract: A method of controlling a printing system that is arranged to process a sequence of media sheets and is operable with a finite number of different settings includes calculating a time to finish that will be needed for processing the sequence, scheduling a sequence of sheets for printing, defining a set of possible settings for processing the scheduled sequence, calculating a time to finish for each setting in the defined set, selecting the setting with the smallest time to finish, and processing the sequence with the selected setting.

Abstract: A printer controller arranged to control a print engine comprising: a print job storage for storing print jobs to be printed; wherein a print job may comprise a deadline, the deadline specifying an ultimate time by which the print job is to be completed; a scheduler module for determining a print execution time for each print job in a sequence of one or more print jobs, the scheduler taking into account a setup time for a print job for setting up the print engine to print the print job given a previous print job; a planning module for determining a print order for to-be-printed print jobs in the print storage, arranged to submit a plurality of sequences of to-be-printed print jobs in the print job storage to the scheduler and in response receive from the scheduler for each sequence of to-be-printed print jobs the print execution times of the print jobs; wherein the planning module elects a sequence of to-be-printed print jobs for which each deadline in a print job in the sequence is met according to the print

Abstract: A method of controlling a printing system that is arranged to process a sequence of media sheets and is operable with a finite number of different settings includes calculating a time to finish that will be needed for processing the sequence, scheduling a sequence of sheets for printing, defining a set of possible settings for processing the scheduled sequence, calculating a time to finish for each setting in the defined set, selecting the setting with the smallest time to finish, and processing the sequence with the selected setting.