AUTOMATED JOB CREATION FOR JOB PREPARATION

A system and method are disclosed for providing production printing instructions for a printed end document to a job preparation station. The printed end document is made up of a plurality of other documents received from the customer which are to be inserted in a predefined order and in a predefined format. The job submission station includes a computer and a receiver which receives the plurality of documents in electronic format. An input device, such as a keyboard or a mouse, is used to provide the job submission station operator with the ability to provide input instructions to the computer. The operator uses the input device to arrange all of the documents into an electronic folder, such as a directory, and to arrange the documents in the order in which the documents are to be printed to compose the end document. The computer is programmed to automatically convert the document into a ready for printer format file and merged the plurality of documents together to create a single document. The computer also generates an electronic job ticket that provides global attributes for the printed end product.