A system suited to scheduling print jobs for a printing system includes a first processing component which identifies preliminary attributes of print jobs to be printed on sheets. A job scheduler receives the preliminary attributes and assigns each of the print jobs to one of a plurality of job queues in time order for printing. Print jobs spanning the same time are scheduled for printing contemporaneously. In one mode of operation, the assignment of the print jobs to the job queues is based on their preliminary attributes and on the application of at least one constraint which affects contemporaneous printing of at least two of the plurality of print jobs. A second processing component identifies detailed attributes of the print jobs. A sheet scheduler receives information on the assignments of the print jobs and their detailed attributes and forms an itinerary for each sheet to be printed.