Patent ID: 7787138

Claim:
A system comprising: a first processing component which identifies preliminary attributes of print jobs to be printed on sheets; a job scheduler which receives the preliminary attributes of a plurality of print jobs to be printed from the first processing component and assigns each of the print jobs to one of a plurality of job queues in time order for printing based on the preliminary attributes, whereby print jobs spanning the same time are scheduled for printing contemporaneously, the job scheduler having a mode of operation in which the assignment of the print jobs to the job queues is based on the preliminary attributes of the print jobs and on the application of at least one constraint which affects contemporaneous printing of at least two of the plurality of print jobs, the application of the at least one constraint comprising applying a latitude model for a stress-causing job which sets a limit on the extent of printing of the pages which tend to place a stress on the printing system, whereby the job scheduler schedules a stress-relieving job for contemporaneous printing by interspersing the stress-relieving job with the stress-causing job; a second processing component which identifies detailed attributes of the print jobs in the print queues; and a sheet scheduler which receives information on the assignments of the print jobs to the job queues and the detailed attributes of the print jobs and forms an itinerary for each sheet to be printed.