Apparatus and technique for on-demand printing, and on-demand printing services

摘要

Disclosed is a printing service that can be accessed by a customer through the World Wide Web over the Internet. Such a printing service is suitable for printing letters, illustrations, pictures, manuals, catalogs, text, research documents, images, reports and more. The printing service utilizes network printing to allow for printing of the final document(s) at a location convenient for the customer. The printing service quotes a price for a print job before the customer is obliged to use the printing service. The printing service has an editor to improve document quality before printing. Number of copies, type and size of paper, presence of a cover or a binding, and type and location of the output device are among a few of the attributes a customer may specify before printing. This service is particularly friendly to customers with small print jobs.