In addition to volume and speed, a copier machine should also conform to the types of copies you make. Some businesses need color copies, high-resolution photo printing, finishing, or tracking features.
Here are a few of the most popular business-specific features.
Color Copies
Some businesses require color copies of varying quality. A color printer copier is slightly more expensive than a black and white model. The costs and options depend on the quality of the prints needed. Most copiers use CMYK or RBG, two common color printing techniques. RBG produced higher quality images and higher resolution prints. Businesses like interior design firms or graphic design companies might want to go with a higher-quality print option, which can match print color exactly to a pantone color or custom color created in a program like Photoshop.
Most businesses, if they need color copies at all, choose to go with “business color,” an option where colors are approximated to match the originals specified. If you are using color copying capacity only to print brochures or graphics, and the colors don’t need to be an exact match, this is a substantially less expensive option.
Make sure that the machine will be able to copy the types of media you use it for. Again, if you are a furniture designer or own an art gallery, you might need to copy fabric, paint, or materials other than paper. Make sure the machine can perform accordingly.
Copy and Document Tracking
Many businesses, such as law firms, use copy tracking to assign documents to clients or cases. Since clients are billed for time and materials, automating the tracking function is an easy way to keep track of how many copies are made for each case and for each client. An employee can input an assigned number, and a reporting function can compute the number of copies for each client on a monthly or weekly basis. If your business needs this feature, make sure you ask a vendor about it. Tracking features can also help you manage document use by department, by employee, and by project.
Other Features
Most copiers aren’t just used for making copies. An all in one printer fax scanner copier is a good investment for a business that wants to cut down on overall printing costs and shift onto electronic document storage. Documents can usually be scanned, faxed, and printed by a multi-function device. These machines use less in materials (ink, toner, etc.) than would several different machines, take up less space, and use less electricity than several devices would.