Exploring a universal production printing architecture

Hello everyone,

I've spent many years working in commercial production printing with
mixed-vendor environments (Xerox Fiery, HP DesignJet, office printers,
legacy Windows print servers, etc.), and I've been thinking about
whether there is room for a higher-level printing architecture that
complements CUPS rather than replacing it.

The core idea is to separate document generation from production workflow.

Today, applications generally render directly to a printer driver,
where media selection, finishing, device capabilities, and
vendor-specific options are all intertwined.

I'm wondering whether there is interest in an architecture where a
universal virtual printer exists on any supported operating system.
Rather than targeting a physical device, applications would simply
"print" to this virtual destination. The resulting job would then
enter a vendor-neutral workflow system (headless or GUI-based)
responsible for production decisions such as:

- device selection
- media selection
- imposition
- finishing
- routing
- job scheduling
- recovery after interruptions
- accounting and auditing
- communication with vendor-specific drivers, RIPs, or printer applications

The workflow engine could operate as a local application, centralized
server, or completely headless service with a web interface. The
virtual printer would provide a consistent interface to applications,
while the workflow layer would determine how and where jobs are
ultimately produced.

My question isn't whether this should replace CUPS or existing printer
drivers. Rather, I'm curious whether OpenPrinting has already explored
an architectural separation like this, or whether this is an area
where discussion would be appropriate.

I'd appreciate any pointers to prior work, existing standards, or
reasons this approach has already been considered.

Thank you,
--
Joshua Braddock
Queen City Print Shop (qcprints.net)
701.203.2873

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