Optimized printing of electronic documents

A method for optimizing the printing of electronic documents, comprising:

• receiving over a communications network first print data representing at least a portion of a first electronic document for processing;
• generating an estimated time to process the first electronic document;
• placing the first print data in a processing queue comprising one or more additional print data representing one or more additional electronic documents for processing;
• and
• re-ordering the first print data and the one or more additional print data in the processing queue based on the estimated time to process the first electronic document and one or more estimated times to process the one or more additional electronic documents.

A method for optimizing the printing of electronic documents, comprising:

• receiving print data representing at least a portion of a first electronic document for processing from a client device over a communications network;
• generating an estimated time to process the print data;
• and
• providing data back to the client device indicating the estimated time to process the first electronic document.

A printing device comprising:

• a print process configured to process print data and cause a printed version of an electronic document to be generated;
• and
• wherein the printing device is configured to:
• receive over a communications network first print data representing at least a portion of a first electronic document for processing;
• determine a time for processing one or more portions of the first print data by rasterizing the one or more portions of the first print data;
• based on the time to process one or more portions of the first print data, generate an estimated time to process the first electronic document;
• place the first print data in a processing queue comprising one or more additional print data representing one or more additional electronic documents for processing;
• and
• re-order the first print data and the one or more additional print data in the processing queue based on the estimated time to process the first electronic document and one or more estimated times to process the one or more additional electronic documents.

A printing device comprising:

• a print process configured to process print data and cause a printed version of an electronic document to be generated;
• and
• wherein the printing device is configured to:
• receive over a communications network first print data representing at least a portion of a first electronic document for processing;
• generate an estimated time to process the first electronic document;
• place the first print data in a processing queue comprising one or more additional print data representing one or more additional electronic documents for processing;
• and
• re-order the first print data and the one or more additional print data in the processing queue based on the estimated time to process the first electronic document and one or more estimated times to process the one or more additional electronic documents.

A printing device comprising:

• a print process configured to process print data and cause a printed version of an electronic document to be generated;
• and
• wherein the printing device is configured to:
• receive first print data representing at least a portion of a first electronic document for processing from a client device over a communications network;
• generate an estimated time to process the first electronic document;
• and
• provide data back to the client device indicating the estimated time to process the first electronic document.

A computer-readable medium for optimizing the printing of electronic documents, the computer-readable medium carrying instructions which, when processed by one or more processors cause:

• receiving over a communications network first print data representing at least a portion of a first electronic document for processing;
• determining a time for processing one or more portions of the first print data by rasterizing the one or more portions of the first print data;
• based on the time to process one or more portions of the first print data, generating an estimated time to process the electronic document;
• placing the first print data in a processing queue comprising one or more additional print data representing one or more additional electronic documents for processing;
• and
• re-ordering the first print data and the one or more additional print data in the processing queue based on the estimated time to process the first electronic document and one or more estimated times to process the one or more additional electronic documents.

A computer-readable medium for optimizing the printing of electronic documents, the computer-readable medium carrying instructions which, when processed by one or more processors cause:

• receiving over a communications network first print data representing at least a portion of a first electronic document for processing;
• generating an estimated time to process the first electronic document;
• placing the first print data in a processing queue comprising one or more additional print data representing one or more additional electronic documents for processing;
• and
• re-ordering the first print data and the one or more additional print data in the processing queue based on the estimated time to process the first electronic document and one or more estimated times to process the one or more additional electronic documents.

A computer-readable medium for optimizing the printing of electronic documents, the computer-readable medium carrying instructions which, when processed by one or more processors cause:

• receiving first print data representing at least a portion of a first electronic document for processing from a client device over a communications network;
• generating an estimated time to process the first electronic document;
• and
• providing data back to the client device indicating the estimated time to process the first electronic document.