photocopier

At the heart of the photocopier is a metal drum on which an image is formed. The toner is attracted to the image by static electricity. As the paper moves past the drum, the image is transferred to the paper. The image is fixed by heating and pressing the toner into the paper.

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.