3D Copiers, Printers, And Scanners... Are They The Way Of The Future?

There are a few things you can expect to be welcomed to when you walk into your office building. The chatter of other employees on the phone. The smell of coffee being made. You can definitely expect to see the ever-so-familiar line at the photocopier as well. Doesn't it all seem a bit monotonous? Wouldn't it be nice to spice things up a little bit? You might not be able to put a Star Bucks in your office, but you might be able to upgrade that old copier that you have in the office. This isn't to say that there is anything necessarily wrong with the normal copiers, but there is always room to upgrade your office technology.

When you think of your normal copier or scanner, you probably don't have 3D copiers, scanners, or printers come to mind. Emerging technology, however, suggests that you should probably start now.

3D Everything
When I say "3D", there could be a couple of different ideas that pop into your head. You might be thinking 3D glasses or even 3D graphics. Well you are on the right track... sort of. These new 3D printers, scanners, and copiers are all more in the business of copying, scanning, and printing, actual objects instead of just paper. These devices are able to scan and create on more than just the typical flat plane. Instead, they are able to access the z-axis instead of just the x-axis and y-axis. Basically they are able to scan and print objects in real space, in case I lost you in the all the math talk. The scanners will scan the objects, create a 3D-rendered image on the software, and then the 3D printer can print of the object in real space, not on a piece of paper.


Application?
If you take a second to think about it, these new devices could become huge assets in the business office. Being able to scan and print off certain supplies that you might need in the office could become a huge money saver. Is your office cater to more graphic design work? Maybe you work for an architectural company? 3D scanners could become your best friend in the office. Why is that you may think? Well the fact that these scanners can gather full imaging of whatever object that you're scanning and then save that data to later be uploaded on the software is a big deal. Instead of just starting from complete scratch, you now have something to work with and edit to your liking. You can then "print" out your images and models to get an idea of what you want when you finally make the real thing.

Is It Really The Future?
Even though these new devices sound promise, can they still take over the photocopier? Are these new products able outshine your normal Xerox machine? They just might be able to. How you may ask? Well think if these products allow for both 2D and 3D scanning, printing, and copying. You then have something that could basically be a 6-in-one machine that can be used in the office. Some of these new 3D devices are portable as well. There are 3D scanners that you can even put on your iPad's camera lens in order to capture 3D rendered imagining such as that. We have home scanners and home printers. That's all well and good but what about the possibility of having these objects scanned, the 3D image information sent over to your 3D printer wirelessly, and printing out for you? Now we are getting more towards the future.

There are still times when all you really needs is a paper document copied and printed off. That being said, many companies are starting to go paperless and just send their memos via email. College classrooms are sending syllabuses via email now as well. When we need something on paper we still have that possibility, but we may be on the verge of seeing a technological shift from regular 2D paper copying, to 3D image scanning, rendering, and printing.

Copiers: Not Just For The Office Anymore

Do you ever feel like your work day may already be piling up on top of you? I'm not just talking about the typical 9 to 5 office cubicle work day either. I'm talking about event coordinators and planners, or the people that have to deal with the people in office buildings. Some days are tougher than others. The only way to make things easier is through convenience. This is why we use the technology and devices that we use in the office or workplace setting. It's all about communicationing and sharing information with people that need to be informed. Why do you think every office has a copier machine? There's clearly a reason for that. Every time you see a stack of documents or important memos being passed out to a crowd or in the main conference room, where do you think they came from? The office copier. The beauty of it is that copiers can be used outside of the office as well.

The Convention
Whenever you go to a convention (if you have been before), there were surely many fliers and pamphlets passed out. While the pamphlets might not be photocopied by a normal copier, you'd better believe that all of the fliers you look at were printed by a copier. Most conventions have thousands and thousands of people attending. There has to be some type of scheduling for these people and they need to have something tangible to look at to ensure that they've are informed. The copier can handle that load and then some. There are more than just schedules that go into a convention. All of the documents that need to be taken care of will be handled by a simple photocopier.

Back To School The schools today are getting more and more advanced with their technology. Who knows how long it'll be until textbooks are replaced with laptops and learning programs. Even so, there is still a big use for copiers in the school. Think about your times in the school library. You more than likely needed something copied or scanned so that you could finish your school project. Imagine how many times that copier was used just in that one day. Not to mention the school's office. Any type of document that needs to be printed out for record purposes is handled by the school's copier. If a teacher needs to hand out a study guide, guess where they go. You know the answer to that already.

Business Training Events
This isn't to be confused with the conventions, but basically serve the same purpose. Training classes happen all the time for businesses. Each person attending the class needs to be kept up with what the class is going to entail and any kind of help they can receive after the class is done. Any type of memo? Photocopied. Any reading information? Photocopied. Any type of help sheet or "things to look out for" sheet? Yup! Photocopied. Yes, email can work just as well, and is usually a big part of the training classes, but if someone is handed a document, there's no way the person can say "I never received my information regarding that." That photocopier will come in handier than you think.

It's obvious that the photocopier might not seem to be the biggest concern when setting up a convention or some type of business event or even in an office or school setting. Just renting your copier will save you so much money that you can use towards other things. Think about it. Would you rather spend all your money at Kinkos, or would you rather rent your copier for whatever you would need it for and save money for any other expenses? I think we both know what answer you're going to choose.

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Could 3D Scanners Make Their Way To Your Office?

Upgrades are nice. There is no denying that. Everyone loves to have the biggest, best, and newest products. When choosing to upgrade though, there are so many factors to take into account. One being price. The price tag on a particular machine can really trigger some of those "Oh my..." faces if it is through the roof. Then comes the price of consumables to help the machine function as needed. All of it adds up quickly. The next thing that should come to mind is practicality and usage. What are you going to need this machine for? What are going to be its main uses? All of these factors come into play at some point. What machine could I even be talking about, you may wonder? A copier, of course. Mind you, not just a regular copier, but one of the newer 3D copiers.

Are you unsure of what a 3D copier is? Well it works a lot like its 2D counterpart. Unlike a regular photocopier that scans a document or some piece of paper, the 3D copier is used to copy actual physical objects. The 3D printer has been out for a little bit now, and works in tandem with a 3D copier. Particularly one from MakerBot. The copier went up for sale last October, and as stated, works together with the 3D printer from MakerBot. How the copier works is through a small turntable. By placing whatever object you are trying to scan upon the turntable, the turntable will then spin. This will allow the laser scan the object properly, and then upload a 3D rendered image onto the products software. All that's left to do is print the object.

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All in all it's a good product and one that could be practical in some situations, but not all. That, paired with a nice $1,400 price tag can really stifle any buyer at that price. This is where a review of what you and your company may need comes into play. If all you are looking for is to photocopy documents and reports, then obviously you don't need a 3D copier, a 3D printer, and its software. However, should you see yourself in something that requires a bit more artistic focus, this may not be a bad investment. Also, there in lies the other factors of using a 3D copier. You will need to companion printer and the software to make everything work properly should you need it. The positive is that in the rendering process, you can edit the scanned object to add and take away from it. The only real case where the copier could be used by itself is with some type of graphic design or digital animation. Other than that, there may be no real use for it.

3D copiers are very fun to use and even more fun to watch operate. The bottom line is though, is that it may not be the most practical thing for a typical office space. However, if you are still interested, it never hurts to rent and try before you buy!

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The Average Photocopier For Dummies

Okay, so it's your first day on the job. New office. New coworkers. New position. You're pretty excited to get to work, but you may not be as technically adept as your fellow workers. You need to make a copy of a document. You never did like copiers or printers cause you could never work them, but there is hope for you yet. They say that knowing your enemy is half the battle, but the copier doesn't have to be your enemy. Just by learning what makes them tick, and what goes on when you copy something, working the copier won't be nearly as difficult.

So what exactly is going on when you decide to hit "start" on the copy machine? Well, oddly enough, it has a lot to do with static electricity. It may seem nearly impossible for that to be the case but think about this. When you photocopy something, you are typically using toner. Well toner isn't ink. It is actually an extremely fine black powder that can be charged with static electricity. There is a drum inside of every copier that allows the toner to gain charge and stick to the drum. Now, obviously, not every picture is going to be completely black, so there has to be a way to keeps of the paper white. This is where the drums ability to use selective charge really comes in handy. The drum selectively charge certain sections of itself in order to attract toner on the specific parts that have charge. It's selective charge is all thanks to the power of light! See how the name "PHOTOcopier" works now? When the paper finally comes through, it is statically charged so the toner becomes attracted to the paper. The toner is then fused to the paper through the use of heat, since the toner particles themselves are very sensitive to heat.

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Another thing to remember; Toner is NOT ink! It can be referred to as dry ink, but again, it's not ink at all. The toner itself is actually stuck to slightly larger beads that have a positive charge inside the toner cartridge. Once the toner beads are rolled over by the drum, the particles of the toner are more attracted to the positively charged areas on the drum. This cause them to stick to the drum (again with the static electricity). Once the statically charged paper rolls on through, the particles jump to the paper, but since the toner particles still contain charge, they could still fly off the paper. In order to make sure the particles stay, the toner particles are made with plastic in them that become melted to the paper once the toner is heat. Static problem solved.

Simply by knowing whats going on inside that photocopier can greatly help when trying to figure out what is wrong with it. Not every copier is going to have problems so don't let that fool you. Maybe you aren't really looking for a full time purchase. Maybe you are just looking to rent to get the feel of a new photocopier. If you are business just starting up, you need as much info on all of the office equipment you are going to get. Also remember that renting can help make things a lot easier for you. Instead of your company having to spend money on repairs, let the rental company take care of that "toner cartridge probelm", or nasty "paper jam".

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