An online printing parameter establishment apparatus is used with a xerographic printing device for printing high quality prints given a target value. The xerographic printing device is capable of producing at least one print control patch on a photoreceptor and is capable of sensing a value of the at least one print control patch. The xerographic printing device has a plurality of sets of inherent performance characteristic values. The online printing parameter establishment apparatus includes a controller device and a switch device. The controller device is operative to produce a first database of different ones of the sensed values. Each sensed value is associated with a respective one of the plurality of sets of inherent performance characteristic values based upon the target value. The controller device is also operative to produce a second database of a plurality of control values. Each one of the control values is extracted from a respective one of the sensed values and the associated set of inherent performance characteristic values. Further, the controller device selects one of the control values which is closely comparable to the target value. A method for online establishment of print control parameters to render high quality prints using a xerographic printing process is also described.