Some Features You'll Need When Shopping for a New Photocopier

Every office typically needs a photocopier; even with the best of desktop printers, there are some copy jobs that only a photocopier can handle, including a high volume job or one that requires specialty size papers. If you haven't shopped for a new photocopier for many years, you might get a little overwhelmed by all the features they now offer. Note here some of features you might see as this will help you determine the best photocopier for you and your staff.

Image editing

Today's copiers can do more than just copy; they can actually edit a document as they work. This doesn't mean proofreading your presentation or moving paragraphs around, but it means adding images to a document as it gets copied. These images might include a watermark, trademark or copyright symbol, page numbers, a logo, a time and date stamp, a "confidential" mark, and so on. 

Enlargement and reduction

A copier can scan an image or lines of text on a sheet of paper and then enlarge it before it creates copies, or it can reduce that image or text. This can allow you to scan something on a legal or other oversized sheet and then shrink it down so it will fit on a standard 8-1/2" x 11" or A4 sized paper, or vice versa; smaller print or graphics might show up better on your copies if you have the machine enlarge them first.

Network interface card

This type of card allows your copier to plug into your computer network and then interface with all the computers on that network. This makes it easy to copy documents you have stored in the computer or a shared drive; rather than having to print out that document and then walk it to the copy machine, network interface allows you to send documents directly to the machine from your computer. 

Finisher

A finisher offers trimming and booklet options for finished copies. This might mean stapling copied documents in one or more places, hole punching them, adding spiral, combs, or other sorts of binding, cutting the copies down to a certain size, or even laminating certain sheets.

Manual bypass tray

This tray allows you to manually feed the paper on which copies will be made. These trays typically accommodate specialty sizes or thicker paper that may otherwise get caught in the rollers of the machine, and which you use so infrequently that you don't need stored in actual feeder trays.   

For more information about your options, visit a shop that specializes in office printer sales.