Patent ID: 7974546

Claim:
A method for outputting finished image receiving medium in an image forming device, comprising: receiving instructions for an image forming operation in an image forming device; evaluating the image forming operation to determine a page count required to complete the image forming operation; accessing print medium information relevant to an image receiving medium available to the image forming device for completing the image forming operation; estimating a stacking thickness for a full set of output image receiving media associated with the image forming operation, the estimated stacking thickness being determined based on the determined page count and the print medium information and further based on effects imposed on the output image receiving media during the image forming operation, the effects comprising: deposited toner thickness, wherein the estimated stacking thickness based on the deposited toner thickness is scaled in accordance with an amount of estimated deposited toner per page of the output receiving media; thermal expansion; and electrostatic charging; and processing the image forming operation based on the estimated stacking thickness.