Cutter sequencing method and apparatus

A method for cutting and processing sheets from a web of printed material, the web comprised of first and second side-by-side portions of sheets along a length of the web, the first and second portions each having a series of aligning printed sheets, the method comprising:

• transporting the web in a first horizontal direction along the length of the web;
• splitting the first and second portions of the web as they are transported in the first direction;
• cutting the first and second portions transversely to separate them into separate side-by-side sheets;
• transporting the first portion of the web on a first path having a first length;
• transporting the second portion of the web on a second path having a second length, wherein the first length and the second length are selectively varied to control a downstream sequence order of the sheets;
• and
• right angle turning pairs of cut side-by-side sheets traveling in the first direction so that they are reoriented to be traveling serially in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, whereby after right angle turning, within a pair of turned sheets, a sheet from the second web portion is traveling downstream of a sheet from the first web portion.