What Is A Photocopier?

Date First Published: 10th July 2023

Topic: Computer Systems

Subtopic: Computer Hardware

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 2/10

Learn about what a photocopier is in this article.

A photocopier is a device that reproduces hard copies of documents, photos, and illustrations. Most photocopiers use a technology called xerography to do this, which uses electrical charges to transfer toner to a piece of paper in the same position as the document and create a visible image. The toner is fused onto the paper using heat, pressure, or both.

Photocopiers make it easy to reproduce a document and are quicker than using a scanner to convert them into a digital format and then printing them from a computer. They reproduce the requested copies of documents quickly and automatically. A standard photocopier can copy 20-30 pages per minute, but some can copy over 50 pages per minutes.

Photocopiers vary in terms of printed pages per minute and paper size. This is why it is important to look at those factors carefully before deciding to buy a certain photocopier.

Note:

Although photocopiers can use inkjet technology, xerography is the standard technology due to its reduced cost.

Functions

Modern photocopiers are often multifunctional devices. This means that they don't only produce paper copies of documents, photos, and illustrations. They can also print, scan, and fax. Some additional functions that photocopiers often have are:

• SD card printing - This allows data stored on an SD card to be quickly printed without the need for a print driver.
• Enlarging and shrinking - This allows documents to be enlarged or shrunk to the ideal size. To do this, the appropriate enlargement or reduction percentage is chosen. Most photocopiers allow resizing from 30% to 300% of the original document size.
• Duplexing - This allows two separate pages to be printed onto one sheet on both sides, halving the amount of paper used.
• Collation - This function allows pages to be put into a specific order, which is useful for quickly sorting out multiple documents. Usually, all the pages will print at once and the photocopier will repeat this process by printing separate sets until the number of document sets is finished.
• Booklet printing - This function allows documents that are folded in the middle with two staples to hold the sheets together to be printed. This means that booklets can be quickly printed without having to pay for outsourced booklet printing.
• Scan to searchable PDF - This function uses a scanner to read the letters and words so that documents can be saved as a searchable PDF.
• Scan to email - This function allows documents from the photocopier to be sent by email. It is a useful way of directly sending a scanned image or document to an email address without having to transfer them to a computer first.
• Stapling and hole-punching - This allows documents to be stapled together or hole-punched just by clicking a button and ensures that the staples and hole punches stay in the same place each time.

Is A Photocopier An Input Or Output Device?

A photocopier is both an input and an output device as the information from the document is inserted into the photocopier (input) and the contents of the documents are copied onto another sheet of paper (output). A photocopier is capable of inputting data for processing and transferring it out.

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