Variable data print job system

Abstract

A variable data print job system that reduces the master and variable jobs into a single job sent from the client to the printer that does not require indefinite disk storage on the printer. The first part of the job contains the master data pages and the second part of the job contains the variable data. The print job is assembled and sent to the printer which detects that the job is a two part job. It places the master data in the page buffer and copies it to another area of the page buffer so a page of the variable data can be overlaid onto the page buffer and is then sent to the print engine for printing. This process is repeated for each page of variable data. The invention expands upon this concept and handles multiple masters with a print job that contains variable data grouped with the associated master data. The single print job is assembled with the sequential variable data pages placed immediately after their associated master pages in a serial fashion. The printer simply decodes the job serially and places the master data into memory whenever master data are encountered in the job stream. Another preferred embodiment of the invention adds master indexing to each page of a variable job. The master data is grouped in the front of the job with each variable page in the print job containing an index indicating the master data that it is associated with. The printer loads each master data into the page buffer that is called up through the variable page index. A further preferred embodiment of the invention modifies the traditional two-job approach with the variable data containing the sub-index to the associated master page. The printer finds the appropriate master page, loads it into the page buffer, and overlays the variable page onto the master page.