Duplex printing is a feature in which both sides of a sheet of media (e.g., paper) are marked with ink. Cut-sheet printers capable of duplex printing are typically equipped with a flipping unit that flips the sheet of media after printing on the front side so that the sheet may be conveyed through the print engine again for printing on the back side. As such, duplex-capable printers contain two media paths: a “simplex” path that all sheets travel for printing on the front side, and a “duplex” media path that loops back in the printer to the beginning of the simplex path for optionally printing on the back side of the sheet. Printing in a simplex print mode is generally faster than a duplex print mode since the simplex path is shorter.
However, it is sometimes faster to use the duplex print mode to print simplex sheets (i.e., where the back side is “printed” as a blank page) due to a delay in printing which results from switching the print mode from duplex back to simplex. The delay is necessary because it allows the printer to confirm that the media path is clear so that sheets are conveyed and printed properly in the desired order. Thus, when printing a mixture of simplex and duplex sheets (sometimes referred to as mixplex print jobs), the printer may be repeatedly delayed due to waiting for the media path to be cleared for switching from duplex print mode back to simplex print mode. Print shop operations with production printers therefore desire improved efficiency in printing mixplex print jobs.