What are the additional features of a printer or copier: fax, scanner… ?

As digital technology is gradually replacing traditional gear, today's printers are more and more often “all in one” products. Which means that they’re not only printers: they also work as a copier, scanner and fax machine.

Some printer models also include the double-sided printing and/or scanning feature, which saves considerable amounts of paper, or the possibility of inserting a memory card or USB key in order to print without going through the computer station. Besides, most recent models all include WiFi connectivity as well.

Digital copiers can connect to a wired and/or wireless network and be equipped with additional features such as printing, faxing, optical character recognition (OCR), document storage, scanning or Internet fax. This is then referred to as a "MFP” or MultiFunction Printer.

The ability to print on various media (envelopes, transparencies, labels, etc.) in several formats (A4 but also A3 or even A2) is also one of the features which can be taken into account when choosing a printer or copier.