Authoring a plurality of digital image records, each digital image record corresponding to a separate customer order, in a digital image record authoring system including a dedicated computer, including scanning a plurality of images corresponding to a separate customer order from a scanner into a plurality of digital images, the scanner being connected to the dedicated computer by a first interface bus, processing the plurality of digital images and combining the processed plurality of digital images into a record image, and writing the record image by an image-recorder to a medium, the image-recorder being connected to the dedicated computer by a second interface bus, wherein the scanning is repeated, prior to completion of the writing of the previous record image, to scan a new plurality of images corresponding to a new customer order from the scanner into a new plurality of digital images.