Image copier having enhanced duplex capabilities; method of printing a copy of a document to produce a duplex copy product

An image copier producing a user selected copy product comprising:

• a scanner configured to electronically scan at least two page sides of a document comprising at least two pages, the scanner further configured to produce an electronic data stream comprising discrete electronic representations of individual page sides of the document;
• a printer comprising an input-output system configured to receive the discrete electronic representations of individual page sides of the document, a printer engine configured to receive engine-ready data, an image processing pipeline configured to convert the discrete electronic representations of individual page sides of the document into engine-ready data, and a print element configured to receive the engine ready data from the printer engine and print a copy of two pages sides of the document on a single sheet of printable medium in response to a command from the processor;
• and
• the printer engine is configured to receive the engine-ready data from the processing pipeline in such a manner that the first page of the document scanned is the first page of the copy product printed by the printer, and the last page of the document scanned is the last page of the copy product printed by the printer, and wherein the image copier is configured to print the first two page sides of the document prior to having scanned all pages of the document.

A method of duplex copying a plurality of sheets respectively having first and second sides defining page sides, the method comprising:

• scanning a first page side of one of the sheets to produce a first electronic image;
• scanning a second page side of one of the sheets to produce a second electronic image;
• scanning a third page side of one of the sheets to produce a third electronic image;
• and
• commencing printing of a copy of the first electronic image of the first page side prior to scanning the third page side of one of the sheets.