subject: Carbon Paper Low-tech But Effective Alternative To Photocopiers [print this page] In today's electronic age, making copies of documents is as easy as putting the document in a photocopier or a scanner. However, there are times when an electronic means of copying cannot be used. Perhaps the copy machine or scanner is down or simply not available. Perhaps instant copies of written or typed documents need to be made along with the original. Whatever the reason, there is another solution -- albeit low-tech--for making copies.
Have you ever heard of carbon paper? Not often used in today's modern office and home environments, carbon paper can be a great way to make a copy of the original document. It won't work for all documents -- but it will work well for any handwritten or typed documents. Carbon paper can be used to make one or more at the same time the original document is created.
If you are unfamiliar with carbon paper, here's a little overview of what it is. Carbon paper is a specially manufactured piece of paper that has a layer of dry ink or pigmented coating on one side which is bound by wax.
To make a copy, all you have to do is place a piece of carbon paper between the original document and a blank sheet of paper. As you write or type on the original, the pressure exerted by the pen or typeface impresses the ink from the carbon paper to the underlying blank sheet of paper. This creates a "carbon copy" of the original document. You can make as many as four or five legible copies using this method as long as there is a carbon sheet between each blank sheet of paper. A single piece of carbon paper can be used several times until the impression gets too light to see clearly.
Carbon paper is still used occasionally for receipts at point of sale (POS), or for backups when electronic POS devices are inoperable. They are still used in law enforcement for making copies of fines and traffic tickets, by individuals who need to make duplicate checks, and by banks who issue money orders. Carbon paper is also used by shipping companies and mail services to make multiple copies of bills, manifest documents, tracking slips, packing slips, etc.
In conclusion, we've seen that there is another alternative to photocopying machines and scanners for making duplicate copies. While carbon paper is not used as widely as it once was, it is still provides a useful-- if not low-tech alternative to other copy methods. Carbon paper has been around for a long time, and has seen its heyday, but it is not yet quite ready to go the way of the dinosaur.
by: Jesse Whitehead
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