Patent ID: 7450255

Claim:
A method for authoring a plurality of digital image records, each digital image record corresponding to a separate customer order, in a digital image record authoring system including a dedicated computer having a computer processor, said method comprising: a scanning step to transmit a plurality of digital images corresponding to a separate customer order over a first data path from a scanner to the computer processor, wherein the first data path includes one or more first high-speed image data interface buses; a processing step to process the plurality of digital images by the computer processor and to combine the processed plurality of digital images into a record image, wherein the processing step includes: displaying a user interface that allows a user to select images from the plurality of digital images; displaying a user interface that allows the user to adjust the selected images; and combining the adjusted images into the record image; and a writing step to transmit the record image over a second data path from the computer processor to an image-recorder for recording onto a medium, wherein the second data path includes one or more second high-speed image data interface buses, wherein each of the one or more second high-speed image data interface buses is separate from each of the one or more first high-speed image data interface buses; wherein the scanning step is repeated, prior to completion of the writing step, to transmit a new plurality of images corresponding to a new customer order over the first data path, such that transfer of the new plurality of digital images over the first data path and transfer of the record image over the second data path occur simultaneously over separate paths, and wherein a queue for job files corresponding to customer orders, a queue for record images, and a queue for print files are each continuously polled in parallel.