AFP (Advanced Function Printing) enables users to control formatting, the form of paper output, how a document is to be printed or viewed, and manage document storage and access in a distributed network across multiple operating system platforms. AFP is primarily employed in large enterprises for production variable data printing (VDP).

AFP applications allow users or print room operators to distribute print jobs among a group of printers or in a printer farm, and to designate backup printers when one fails, which is called failover. In publishing AFP is considered to be a cornerstone of electronic document management (EDM) applications such as print-and-view, archive and retrieval, and Enterprise Report Management (ERM).