Features Of A Photocopier

Overview:

Features of a Photocopier

Photocopiers sit at the heart of almost every business throughout the UK. They offer a variety of features that help improve work flows and efficiencies in the workplace. Photocopiers have continually evolved to become the sophisticated devices they are today, able to offer a wide range of features in addition to photocopying.

Photocopying

The main function of a photocopier is to produce paper copies of a document. Most photocopiers use laser technology, a dry process that uses electrostatic charges on a light-sensitive photoreceptor to transfer toner onto paper to form an image. The full photocopying process can be explored in further detail here.

Photocopiers can be full colour devices or mono. If you only need to reproduce typed documents with simple logos and without pictures, then it is highly likely you may only need a mono device, but if you are wanting to produce photocopies which include complex logos, illustration and photographs, then a colour photocopier would be beneficial.

Modern photocopiers are able to offer more than just photocopying, they are multifunction devices that offer scanning and printing as standard with the option of faxing too. These not only save office space as they are combined into one device, they also save money as companies do not have to invest in multiple devices, the toner to run each device and the electricity to power them either.

Enlarging / Reducing

One of the most beneficial features of a photocopier is the resizing functionality. You can reduce a large image down to a smaller size, so it fits within a letter sized document. Additionally, you can enlarge text pages with small font so that it is easily readable.

Scanning

Similar to a photocopying, a scanner produces a copy of a document, however rather than producing a paper copy, a scanner creates a digital copy which can be opened on a computer. Dependent on user preference, scans can be sent to computers via email or sent directly to a folder via a network.

Most modern photocopiers have scanners with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) which converts images of typed text into machine-encoded text. These documents can then be edited electronically. Additional benefits of OCR come when integrated with a document management system as you can file documents based on certain fields within the document, so they go into the right folder, with the right name within your server, reducing user error with data entry. This can be incredibly useful with documents such as invoices, statements and receipts.

Additionally, scans can be done to an extremely high resolution for use in computer design software and photo editing in packages such as Photoshop. Scans can be done in black and white or colour, as desired.

Printing

Printing is the logical addition to a photocopier and scanner device. Rather than sending scans to your computer, a printer receives documents from your computer and produces physical copies. There are numerous considerations to make when looking for a photocopier with print functionality, these include duty cycle, speed, quality, colour output, costs and capacity. These considerations will impact the photocopying function too as they work synonymously.

Printing technology is advancing rapidly. Today most printers are able to print on both sides of the paper, which is known as duplexing. This not only saves paper, but also helps with the making of booklets and pamphlets for marketing materials.

As well as these features, photocopiers have a range of functions which help improve office workflows. These include finishing options, document feeders, collation and USB printing.

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