Parallel printing system

A method of operating a printing system for parallel processing of a plurality of document print jobs with a plurality of Raster Image Processors (RIPs) into a printer-ready format for printing of the document print jobs, 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:

• combining, using a splitter, the plurality of document print jobs in a print queue into a single job, and splitting the single print job, which is comprised of the combined plurality of document print jobs, into a plurality of chunks, each chunk being sent to a respective designated RIP for processing, wherein each document print job comprises a document print job having a Page Description Language (PDL) type, wherein at least one document print job comprises resources described in a Turing Complete page description language in which programming instructions are interpreted so as to indicate page boundaries of the document print job, wherein at least one of the resources includes a description, in the Turing Complete page description language of a font, placement size and font information for one or more characters, a group of one or more graphical commands, or pixel data defining an image in the document print job, wherein each chunk includes common resources defined therein and one or more of the plurality of document print jobs, and wherein the plurality of document print jobs are submitted to the print queue by a user and each document print job includes data to be printed by the printing system;
• interpreting, using the splitter, the descriptions, in the Turing Complete page description language, in each chunk to identify common resources defined therewithin and a remainder of each chunk, the remainder of each chunk including one or more portions of the chunk that include information other than the common resources;
• and
• sending the remainder of each chunk to the designated RIP for processing and sending one or more of the identified common resources defined in a corresponding chunk to the designated RIP for processing the corresponding chunk, if the same common resources are not already with the designated RIP.

A reversible splitter device configured to:

• combine a plurality of document print jobs in a print queue into a single job, and split the single job, which is comprised of the combined plurality of document print jobs, into a plurality of chunks, the plurality of document print jobs being received by a Raster Image Processor system comprising at least one Raster Image Processor (RIP) and each chunk being sent to a respective designated RIP for processing, wherein each document print job comprises a document print job having a Page Description Language (PDL) type, wherein at least one document print job comprises resources described in a Turing Complete page description language in which programming instructions are interpreted so as to indicate page boundaries of the document print job, wherein at least one of the resources includes a description, in the Turing complete page description language of a font, placement size and font information for one or more characters, a group of one or more graphical commands, or pixel data defining an image in the document print job, wherein each chunk includes common resources defined therein and one or more of the plurality of document print jobs, and wherein the plurality of document print jobs are submitted to the print queue by a user and each document job includes data to be printed by a printing system;
• interpret the descriptions, in the Turing Complete page description language, in each chunk to identify common resources defined therewithin and a remainder of each chunk, the remainder of each chunk including one or more portions of the chunk that include information other than the common resources;
• and
• send the remainder of each chunk to the designated RIP for processing and send one or more of the identified common resources defined in a corresponding chunk to the designated RIP for processing the corresponding chunk, if the same common resources are not already with the designated RIP.