Methods and apparatus for printing around a job in a printer queue

A computer network comprising:

• a central controller;
• a computer readable memory device which can be accessed by the controller to thereby store electronic data to, and retrieve electronic data from, the memory device, the memory device defining a print job queue;
• a plurality of client devices each capable of generating a print job comprised of a data stream of electronic signals, the client devices being in signal communication with the controller;
• an imaging device in signal communication with the controller;
• and
• a printer control program comprising a series of computer executable steps which can be executed by the controller to receive the print jobs from the client devices and store them in the print job queue, determine whether a first print job in the print job queue can be printed by the imaging device, transmit the first print job to the imaging device for printing when the imaging device can print the first print job, and determine whether a second print job in the print job queue can be printed by the imaging device when the first print job in the print job queue cannot be printed by the imaging device.

A computer-readable storage medium for use in a computer system having a processor configured to execute computer executable instructions to control the transmission of print job data files from a memory device to an electronic imaging device for processing by the imaging device, the medium holding computer executable instructions to:

• store a first print job in the memory device;
• store a second print job in the memory device;
• determine whether or not the first print job can be processed by the imaging device;
• and
• when it is determined that the first print job cannot be processed by the imaging device, to determine whether or not the second print job can be processed by the imaging device.