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Fax Superstore Frequently Asked Questions and Definitions For more information refer to our Help Section For more information refer to our Terms of Use

ADF/AUTOMATIC DOCUMENT FEEDER: In multifunction or all-in-one printers, fax machines, photocopiers and scanners, Automatic Document Feeder or ADF is a feature which takes several pages and feeds the paper one page at a time into the scanner, allowing the user to scan (and thereby copy, print, or fax) multiple-page documents without having to manually replace each page.

AFP: Stands for "Advanced Function Presentation." It is a hardware & software architecture and a language that describes text & graphics. It is understood by many printers that are used in mainframe environments. It was invented by IBM. AFP is also known as "AFPDS ("Advanced Function Presentation Data Stream").

AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE CONTROL: This feature will automatically adjusts the amount of light necessary to properly expose the selected original.

ANALOG COPIER: Lens and mirrors are the components of the conventional analog copier that transfers the scanned image to a photoconductor. The mirrors direct the light through the lens and then to the drum.

AUTOMATIC START: Allows the user to enter copy functions/commands during the warm-up period. After warm-up is completed, copying will begin automatically.

BATES STAMPING: This feature is usually used in legal applications; and is the numbering of the legal documents.

CONTINUOUS COPIES: This feature enable to user to make copy after copy without having to press the start key at the end of each copy cycle or scan job. The number of continuous copies the machine will do varies by model.

CONTINUOUS MODE: Enables copier to continue producing photocopies until it runs out of paper or until it runs out of toner whichever comes first.

COPY SIZE: This refers to the minimum and maximum copy area, and to the paper size that the copier can utilize.

CONSOLE COPIER: A copier whose weight or design prohibits desktop support. Therefore, these units are free standing and have feature built-in consoles. Walk up copier.

CPM: Stands for Copies Per Minute.

DESKTOP COPIER: Desktop copiers are designed for use on a desk or optional stand. Cannot stand alone such as a console copier.

DEVELOPER: is the substance that carries the toner into the developer unit and charges the toner. The result will cause attraction to the oppositely charged drum and produce an image.

DEVELOPMENT: process by which toner is applied to the image on the photoconductor drum.

DIGITAL COPIER: Digital copiers scan and digitize originals before reproducing them (as opposed to using the analogue "light lens" method) essentially, they are converting images to computerized data. All multifunctional copiers are digital, but not all digital copiers are multifunctional.

DJDE, Dynamic Job Descriptor Entry: is a production printer language developed by Xerox Corporation primarily to map data to forms. It combines print data stream specification, variable data printing and forms development. The output is targeted at Xerox laser printers. Resources, including forms, fonts, graphics and logos were developed with a variety of tools provided by many different companies. These were stored at the printer. When the print data stream was sent from the host to the printer, commands in the data stream referenced resources stored at the printer. The printers were generally directly connected to the host computer usually via Channel.

DRUM: The part of a copier that forms the image. The drum consists of an aluminum core with multiple layers of light and charge sensitive material.

DUPLEXING: is an available feature of copiers, printers and MFPs that allows the automatic printing of a sheet of paper on both sides. Print devices without this capability can only print on a single side of paper; this is sometimes called simplex printing. Duplex printing saves time, money and is an environmentally friendly approach to printing. There is both manual and automatic duplexing available.

Dots per inch (DPI): is a measure of printing or display resolution, in particular the number of individual dots or pixels that can be produced within a linear one-inch (2.54 cm) space. Optical Character Recognition Optical character recognition, usually abbreviated to OCR, is the mechanical or electronic translation of images of handwritten, typewritten or printed text (usually captured by a scanner) into machine-editable text.

FAXING: Fax machine ? Phoneline ? Fax machine A fax machine is an electronic instrument composed of a scanner, a modem, and a printer. It transmits data in the form of pulses via a telephone line to a recipient, usually another fax machine, which then transforms these impulses back into images, and prints them on paper. The traditional method requires a phone line, and only one fax can be connected to send or receive at one time.

DUAL LINE FAX: a dual line fax has two phone lines and therefore can function as two fax machines in one.

INTERNET FAX: Internet Fax achieves a dramatic reduction in communication costs especially when long faxes are frequently exchanged with overseas or distant offices. Since there is no telephone connection charge when sending a fax over the Internet, the cost of sending faxes is covered entirely by the fixed line Internet connection fee. However, recipient machine must also be compatible with Internet Fax. Hardcopy is converted to TIFF or PDF data and attached to an e-mail in MIME format. Then, taking advantage of a connection to the office LAN, data is sent via TCP/IP directly to any Internet Fax on the intranet or Internet. Because they make use of TCP/IP, Internet Faxes do not incur long-distance transmission costs and reception is verifiable.

Fax IP and IP Address Relay: IP Fax transmits data over an office intranet from a networked multifunctional device to the IP address of another. Taking advantage of an established LAN / WAN infrastructure, IP Fax eliminates costly connection and transmission fees. Also, IP Fax does not require a dedicated server or make use of the office mail server. IP Address Relay forwards to a multifunctional device for relaying to a local G3 fax machine. High security is G4, which is usually used by government facilities.

Faxing: Computer-based: As modems came into wider use with personal computers, the computer was used to send faxes directly. Instead of first printing a hard copy to be then sent via fax machine, a document could now be printed directly to the software fax, then sent via the computer's modem. Receiving faxes was accomplished similarly. Computer ? Phone line ? Fax machine Fax Machine ? Phone line ? Computer. A disadvantage of receiving faxes this way is that the computer has to be turned on and running the fax software to receive any faxes. Note: This method is distinct from Internet faxing as the information is sent directly over the telephone network, not over the Internet. This will help in communicating from remote places to the fax machines location.

Flatbed: a flatbed is usually composed of a glass pane (or platen), under which there is a bright light which illuminates the pane. You lift up a hood or lid and place the item to be copied on the glass. This is am important feature to consider if you wish to copy bound items because the ADF will only copy a single sheet at one time.

Laser print technology: : is a common type of printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. Laser printers employ a xerographic printing process but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced by the direct scanning of a laser beam across the printer's photoreceptor

MFP (Multi Function Printer/Product/Peripheral), multifunctional, all-in-one (AIO), or Multifunction Device (MFD): is an office machine which incorporates the functionality of multiple devices in one, so as to have a smaller footprint in a home or small business setting (the SOHO market segment), or to provide centralized document management, distribution, production in a large-office setting. A typical MFP may act as a combination of some or all of the following devices: Printer, scanner, copier, fax and e-mail.

Inkjet technology: devices operate by propelling variably-sized droplets of liquid or molten material (ink) onto almost any medium. Usually the least cost effective devices long term.

Toner: is a powder used in laser printers and photocopiers to form the text and images on the printed paper. Toner particles are melted by the heat of the fuser, causing them to bind to the paper. Toner formulations vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and even from machine to machine. Typically formulation, granule size and melt point vary the most.

Solid ink technology: utilizes solid ink sticks in lieu of the fluid ink or toner cartridges usually used in printers. After the ink stick is loaded into the printing device, it is melted and used to produce images on paper in a process very similar to offset printing. Xerox claims that solid ink printing produces more vibrant colors than other print methods, is easier to use, can print on a wide range of media, and is more environmentally friendly due to reduced waste output. The sticks are non-toxic and safe to handle

THERMAL FAX: a fax produces a printed image by selectively heating coated thermochromic paper, or thermal paper as it is commonly known, when the paper passes over the thermal print head. The coating turns black in the areas where it is heated, producing an image. This method uses a heat-sensitive ribbon instead of heat-sensitive paper. Uses paper rolls or occasionally plain paper.

PPM: or pages per minute, refers to the speed of printing, copying, scanning or faxing.

Standard Document Memory: this refers to how much memory a machine has standard meaning included in the purchase price.

Maximum Monthly Duty Cycle: refers to the volume the specified machine is designed to handle. You can easily calculate monthly volume by monitoring how mach paper you use/purchase.

External TAD interface: : telephone answering device AKA answering machine.

Sorting: collates pages, may offset or rotate pages to separate documents.

Toner saving mode: prints all solid areas as a shade of gray instead of black saving toner consumption.

First page out time: refers to how long before your document will be ready to print, otherwise known as warm up.

ELECTRONIC SORTING (E-SORT): Sorting is done in an internal document tray so no external trays

ENERGY SAVE MODE: an energy conserving feature where after copying and a preset time period, the copier automatically goes into a standby mode in which partial fusing heat is maintained so that a full warm-up period is not necessary for the next copy job.

ENLARGEMENT: ability to increase the size of the image of the original on a photocopy.

EPS or Encapsulated Post Script: a known file format usually used to transfer post script information from one program to another.

FIRST COPY TIME: the time required from when the start key is pressed to the time the first copy arrives at the exit tray.

FUSING: process used to permanently affix the toner particles to the copy paper. Most commonly, heat and pressure applied by a heat lamp inside two rollers.

IMPOSITION: imposition is the process of modifying the position, orientation, and printing order of the individual pages in a document, and grouping collections of individual pages together on larger sheets of paper or film so that the pages are arranged properly for printing on a particular printing press and for binding with a particular binding system.

IPDS/Intelligent Printer Data Streams: is a language that contains the information necessary to identify, monitor, and control the functions of certain kinds of printers that are used in mainframe environments. This information includes the characteristics of the printer, its resolution, what resources it has, whether it has sufficient memory, and whether it receives and prints a job.

MANUAL BYPASS: allows the user to copy on to different paper stock, without changing paper cassettes or trays. Also used for two-sided copying.

MAXIMUM ORIGINAL SIZE: the largest original that can be placed on the glass and copied.

MAXIMUM COPY SIZE: the largest size paper that can be put through the machine.

MAXIMUM / MINIMUM PAPER WEIGHTS: the paper weights that are recommended for use in the machine.

METACODE: a language that describes text & graphics and is understood by many Xerox printers, some current OCE and Heidelberg printers. Metacode is the standard print language of Xerox LPS printers.

MULTI-COPY: greatest number of copies that the copier can be programmed to produce, from one original.

MULTI-COPY SPEED: number of copies per minute produced from one original in a continuous run after the first copy exits. This is also the maximum copy output speed of the machine.

NIC/Network Interface Card: a NIC allows a digital copier or printer to become a network printer.

OCR/Optical Character Recognition: is a computerized process that enables you to convert a paper document into a computer file that you can search and manipulate using a word processor. An OCR system reads text from paper, translates the images of letters, numbers, punctuation marks, etc. into a text-based form, and creates a computer file that contains the translated information. The computer file that gets created contains fonts and ASCII codes. All OCR systems include a scanner. This is a device with a clear glass surface on it and a camera inside it. You put a document face-down on the glass and the camera inside the scanner takes a picture of the document and stores that picture in the form of a bitmap file (also known as an "image file"). Then, the OCR software in your computer uses its intelligence to examine the patterns of dots in the image file and creates a file that contains text that is represented as fonts and ASCII codes.

OFFSET PRINTING: a method of printing in which the image on the plate is transferred to the final substrate via an intermediate surface.

PAPER CAPACITY: Maximum amount of paper that a machine can store in the paper tray.

PAPER TRAY: a removable cassette, where blank paper is stored for copying.

PAPER BRIGHTNESS: In relation to paper quality, this provides a measurement of the luminosity and degree of whiteness of a sheet. It is expressed as a percentage representing the proportion of light reflected compared to the amount of light emitted.

PAPER CALIPER: The distance between one surface of a paper and the other. It is measured in micrometers.

PAPER CARBONLESS COPY: This consists of two sheets of paper; the underside of the top sheet is coated with colorless dye in minute gelatin capsules; the underneath sheet is coated with a reactive chemical which turns blue or black when mixed with the colorless dye; pressure from a pen or typewriter on the top sheet causes the gelatin capsules to break, the dye and chemical mix and the blue or black copy appears on the bottom sheet.

PAPER COATED: - Special type of paper which has undergone a specific surface treatment to give it a good smoothness. In general it is covered with a thin layer of clay or chalk which gives it a better printing quality and avoids the fuzziness that is associated with some papers.

PAPER CUT SIZES: - Paper sizes used with office machines and small presses.

PAPER GLOSS: Gloss can refer to the reflectivity of paper itself or of the printed result on it. Gloss of paper is measured by using a Gardner gloss meter, which measures reflected light at an angle of 75°, and is expressed in Gardner gloss units - the higher the number, the glossier the paper surface.

PAPER GRAIN: The fibers in a web of paper naturally take up an alignment roughly parallel to the direction of travel of the web on the paper making machine; this becomes the grain direction. When cut, the paper’s grain direction may be parallel either to the long edge of the finished sheet (when it is called long grain) or the short edge (short grain). Paper is normally stocked in long grain form, short grain being supplied to special order. The grain direction affects the stiffness in a particular dimension and must be taken into account when planning a job which needs to be folded, as paper usually folds easier with the grain.

NCR paper: No Carbon Required. This expression, which was introduced by the National Cash Register company (which formerly owned the patents), has now been superseded by the term Carbonless (q.v.).

OPACITY: The extent to which a paper is capable of obscuring matter printed on the verso or on an underlying page or other surface.

PERFECTING: Printing both sides of the substrate at the same pass through a printing machine.

REAM: a unit of measurement for sheets of paper; normally 500.

SIZING: This process can either be applied on the surface of the sheet or in the sheet: in the first case starch is applied to the surface to increase its strength and to resist the penetration of oil-based inks (this process is carried out at the size press, which is about two-thirds of the way down the dry end); in the second case chemicals are added to the stock at the pulping stage before the sheet is formed: this is called internal or engine sizing and its purpose is to stop penetration of water-based inks into the sheet.

PAPER SMOOTHNESS: The surface smoothness of paper is measured by the Bendtsen smoothness test. Also know as Sheffield. The test measures the amount of air escaping between an annular ring and the material surface, and results are measured in ml/min. Papers having a value higher than 50 are usually referred to as Matt, below 50 as Silk (sometimes called Satin or Velvet).

PAPER ,VELLUM: strong, tough and of high class appearance - is made to imitate the fine smooth finish of a parchment made from animal skin. Vellum paper is often used for certificates.

PAPER SIZE: US and Canada Paper Size (Inches) Invoice 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 Letter 8 1/2 x 11 Legal 8 1/2 x 14 Ledger 11 x 17

PCL/Printer Control Language: was invented by Hewlett-Packard Corporation, and it is a language that is used for describing the text and graphics in documents. Technically, PCL is known as a "page-description language." Because PCL was invented by Hewlett-Packard Corporation, it is also known as "HP-PCL." Files that contain documents described in the PCL language are normally called "PCL files"; hence, PCL is known as a file format as well as a language.

PDF/Portable Document Format: is a file format that describes the text and graphics in documents. It was invented by Adobe Systems Incorporated. Because it describes the text and graphics in documents, PDF is considered to be a page-description language.

PDL/page-description language: is a computer language that describes the text and graphics in a document. Printers and RIPs understand page-description languages. Usually, AFP, PostScript, or PCL is used when you are printing a document on paper; and PDF is used when you want a file that can be viewed on the screen by using 1) the Adobe Acrobat software, 2) a Web browser that is capable of displaying PDF files, or 3) some other software application that lets you view PDF files. However, you can also print PDF files on paper; and these days, more and more people are generating PDF output (as opposed to AFP, PCL, or PostScript output) for printing hard-copy documents.

PHOTO MODE: the ability of the copier to copy halftones or photographs more clearly.

PLATEN: The platen (or exposure glass) is the plate of glass upon which the original is placed for copying.

PLATEN MOVING: The platen moves from side to side, carrying the original over the optics. Copiers with moving platens usually have speeds of less than 20 copies per minute. (Z-52II/57II)

PLATEN STATIONARY: The platen remains stationary while an internal scanning device moves from side to side to copy the original. This feature usually makes a machine physically larger but gives user the option of adding a document feeder, which cannot be used on a copier with a moving platen.

PPML/Personalized Print Markup Language: is an XML-based language for variable-data printing. PPML was developed by The Digital Printing Initiative (PODi). PODi, formerly known as the Print On Demand Initiative, is a not-for-profit multi-vendor initiative that's working to develop the market for digital printing.

PostScript: is a language that is used for describing the text and graphics in documents. PostScript was invented by Adobe Systems Incorporated. Technically, PostScript is known as a "page-description language." Files that contain documents described in the PostScript language are normally called "PostScript files"; hence, PostScript is known as a file format as well as a language. Most laser printers and imagesetters understand the PostScript language. The Adobe Acrobat Distiller software also understands the PostScript language.

REDUCTION: a function which allows the operator to decrease the size of the image on the copy paper.

RIP/Raster Image Processor: is a device or a software program that converts page-description-language code to the format required by the print engine in a printer or imagesetter. (The print engine is the machinery that actually makes marks on a page.)

SCAN ONCE PRINT MANY (SOPM): ,Single scan systems scans the document once and prints multiple copies.

SINGLE DOCUMENT FEEDER (SPF): ,The document must be manually pulled through the feed mechanism each time a copy is needed.

SORTER: a device which is added to the copier for use when producing collated copies.

TONER: a plastic-carbon based substance that forms the image on the paper. Toner is part of a mono-component, or dual-component developing system. It has the appearance of a dry powder.

VARIABLE DATA PRINTING: is a form of on-demand printing in which all the documents in a print run are similar but not identical. For example, if you are printing personalized letters to be mailed to your customers, each document probably has the same basic layout, but there is a different customer name and address on each letter. When you use your word-processing software to do a mail merge, you are doing a simple form of variable-data printing.

WARM-UP TIME: Amount of time required for the copier to become operable after being switched on.

XML/Extensible Markup Language: you can think of XML as a method for describing information so that computers (and humans) can understand it easily.

ZOOM: the reduction or enlargement modes may be selected by the operator in 1% increments. Magnification percentages (+/-) typically range from 65% to 155%. Definitions