Printing system and printing method

A printing method in a printing system including a printing apparatus configured to send a print medium after printing to a post-processing machine group including one or more post-processing machines, the printing being capable of performing continuous printing based on a plurality of jobs,

• the printing system including
• a conveyance mechanism configured to convey the print medium and provided inside the printing apparatus, and
• a print medium buffer for temporarily holding a print medium after printing when printing based on a job for which a required print time is shorter than a minimum processing time is performed, the print medium buffer being provided between the printing apparatus and the post-processing machine group, the required print time being a time per set required for printing by the printing apparatus, the minimum processing time being a least required time from a start time of a process for one set to a start time of a process for a next one set in the post-processing machine group,
• the printing method comprising:
• a required print time calculation step of calculating the required print time for each of the jobs;
• an increase and decrease amount calculation step of calculating, for each of the jobs, an increase and decrease amount of a consumption amount of the print medium buffer per set on a basis of a difference between the minimum processing time and the required print time;
• a predicted value calculation step of obtaining a predicted value of the consumption amount of the print medium buffer by accumulating increase and decrease amounts calculated by the increase and decrease amount calculation step;
• and
• a conveyance control step of controlling a conveyance speed at which the conveyance mechanism conveys the print medium on a basis of the predicted value.