What Is A Soft Copy?

Date First Published: 29th January 2024

Topic: Computer Systems

Subtopic: Computer Software

Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty: Easy

Difficulty Level: 3/10

CONTENTS

Advantages and Disadvantages Of Soft Copies
Is A Soft Copy Or A Hard Copy Better?

Learn about what a soft copy is in this article.

A soft copy is an electronic copy of a document that can be viewed on a phone, tablet, or computer. Unlike a hard copy, a soft copy does not exist in physical form or on paper, meaning that it exists as digital data with no tangible element.

Advantages and Disadvantages Of Soft Copies

The advantages of a soft copies are:

They are not permanent and can be easily edited at any time without the need to reprint anything.
They are more durable. As long as they are placed in a proper hardware structure, they are not vulnerable to physical damage.
They can easily be copied and shared with other people. They can be easily shared by email, over the internet, or on storage devices, like USB flash drives.
They are more environmentally friendly as they do not require any paper or ink.
They often come with security features to prevent unauthorised access, such as password protection and encryption.
Soft copies are easily searchable using keywords, which makes finding information quickly.

The disadvantages of soft copies are:

They can easily be corrupted or lost. If a file is accidentally deleted or overwritten, data can be permanently lost with no way of recovering it.
Unlike hard copies, they require the right hardware and software to create, edit, and access them. This makes accessing soft copies more time-consuming.
They are less suitable for sharing large amounts of data than hard copies. Storing large amounts of data as soft copies can require a lot of storage space.

Is A Soft Copy Or A Hard Copy Better?

There is no easy answer to this question. Whether a soft copy or hard copy is better depends on the type of document and what it will be used for. Wherever possible, most people find it easier to have a soft copy of a document without the need to print it out. However, a hard copy is useful for important meetings and legal documents so that records can be kept and easily viewed by other people without the need for digital devices.