Rather than implementing a printer as a single set of rendering parameters,
a printer can be implemented as a "meta-printer" that comprises one or
more virtual printers. The virtual printers define different sets of
rendering parameters. Each virtual printer is accessed through a page
description language or through a user interface presiding in a print
driver or server. In particular, each virtual printer of the meta-printer
has an associated set of rendering parameters. One virtual printer of this
meta-printer may be set up to print a first type of content using a first
set of selected rendering parameters. This same virtual printer may be set
up to print a different type of content using a different set of selected
rendering parameters. This may be repeated for any number of additional
content types. A user can access these virtual printers to print a
document containing a variety of different content types. A user may
select one virtual printer of the meta-printer to render an entire
document. In this case, if the selected virtual printer defines only a
single selected rendering parameter option for each rendering parameter,
that rendering parameter option will be used to render all of the
different various content types in that document. In contrast, if the
selected virtual printer defines different selected rendering parameter
options for different content types for various rendering parameters, the
different content types will be rendered differently using the particular
rendering parameter options selected for each content type.
