Parallel printing system

A method of operating a printing system for parallel processing of a print job with a plurality of Raster Image Processors (RIPs) into a printer-ready format for printing of the print job, wherein the method is implemented in a computer system comprising one or more processors configured to execute one or more computer program modules, the method comprising:

• splitting the print job into a plurality of chunks and sending the chunks of the job to the plurality of the RIPs for processing, the print job comprising objects described in a page description language;
• interpreting the job to determine the objects required by each of the plurality of the RIPs to process corresponding received chunks;
• storing the determined objects to maintain knowledge of the determined objects;
• and
• sending the determined objects along with the corresponding chunks to the designated RIPs to process the corresponding chunks, if the same determined objects are not already with the designated RIPs.

A splitter for splitting a print job into a plurality of chunks, the print job comprising objects described in a page language description language, the splitter is configured to:

• interpret the job to determine the objects required by each of a plurality of RIPs to process corresponding chunks;
• store the determined objects to maintain knowledge of the determined objects;
• and
• send the determined objects along with the corresponding chunks to designated RIPs to process the corresponding chunks, if the same determined objects are not already with the designated RIPs.