photocopier

Machine that uses some form of photographic process to reproduce copies of documents or illustrations. Most modern photocopiers, as pioneered by the Xerox Corporation, use electrostatic photocopying, or xerography (‘dry writing’).

Additional functions of photocopiers include enlargement and reduction, copying on both sides of the sheet of paper, copying in colour, collating, and stapling. Images of scanned pages are now stored digitally and can be manipulated in complex ways and distributed over networks before printing.