Cloud processing for print jobs

A method comprising:

• profiling, by at least one computer, an input file for a print job to determine a processing complexity for the input file;
• receiving, by the at least one computer, feedback from a cloud-based preprocessor and a local preprocessor on computing capacity to process the input file;
• estimating, by the at least one computer, an amount of time for each of the cloud-based preprocessor and the local preprocessor to complete the print job based on the received feedback, and the determined processing complexity of the input file;
• and
• determining, by the at least one computer, whether to send the input file to the cloud-based preprocessor, the local preprocessor or both the cloud-based preprocessor and the local preprocessor based upon the estimated amounts of time to complete the print job and a deadline to complete the print job.

A system comprising:

• a profiler to analyze an input file for a print job, and determine an amount of transparency, reuse, and objects for the print job from the analysis;
• an auditor to determine feedback from a cloud-based preprocessor or a local preprocessor on computing capacity to process the input file;
• an estimator to determine an amount of time for each of the cloud-based preprocessor and the local preprocessor to complete the print job based on the received feedback and the determined amount of transparency, reuse, and objects for the print job;
• and
• a scheduler to determine whether to send the input file to the cloud-based preprocessor, the local preprocessor or both the cloud-based preprocessor and the local preprocessor based upon the determined amount of times to complete the print job by the estimator.