Making Copies on a Multifunction Printer: 7 Easy Steps

A multifunction printer (MFP) is a single device that prints, copies, scans, and often faxes. Most modern offices in Philadelphia and across Bucks County use one or several MFPs from brands like Sharp, Ricoh, or HP. The copying process is the same on almost every model.

• Step 1: Power on and warm up. Check that the device is on, paper trays are loaded, and toner is sufficient. A cold start can take a minute or two on enterprise machines.
• Step 2: Position the document. Lift the lid and place the original face down on the scanner glass, aligned to the corner arrow. Or load up to 100 sheets in the ADF if you have a multi-page job.
• Step 3: Tap the Copy icon. On the touchscreen, select Copy from the home menu. The default mode is usually black and white at 100 percent scale.
• Step 4: Set your job options. Choose color or monochrome, the paper tray, copy quantity, and resolution. Most office jobs run fine at 600 dpi.
• Step 5: Enable duplex if needed. Look for the 2-sided icon to copy both sides of a sheet onto one page, or one page onto both sides. So you cut paper use in half on long documents.
• Step 6: Press Start. The machine will scan the original (or feed each sheet through the ADF) and produce your copies. Quick jobs finish in seconds.
• Step 7: Verify the test copy. Always check the first sheet for skew, faint print, or missing edges before running large batches. A 30-second sanity check saves a ream of waste.

Copy Quality Tips for Professional Results

Want copies that look as crisp as the original? A few small adjustments make a big difference, especially on contracts, brochures, and image-heavy documents.

Resolution. Bump from 300 dpi to 600 dpi for photos or fine detail. Anything higher is rarely visible at normal reading distance.

Density. Increase darkness one notch for faded originals; decrease one notch for receipts or thermal paper that bleeds.

Color mode. Use grayscale instead of full color when you only need shades of black. Color toner can cost two to three times more per page.

Reduction and enlargement. Most MFPs scale from 25 percent up to 400 percent. Enlarge for poster previews; reduce when you want to fit two pages on one sheet.

Sort, group, and staple. If your copier has a finisher, multi-set jobs get sorted, stapled, or hole-punched automatically. So a 50-page handout for 20 attendees comes out ready to distribute.

What Does It Really Cost to Make Copies?

Cost per copy is one of the most misunderstood line items in office budgets. Hardware is only a slice. So is paper. The real cost includes toner, drum kits, electricity, service calls, and the time your staff spends fixing jams.

According to industry estimates, the all-in cost of a black and white copy on a leased office MFP runs about 1 cent. Color copies typically land between 6 and 9 cents per page. Multiply that by 10,000 pages per employee per year and a 25-person office is spending well above $50,000 annually on print, much of it hidden.

For a deeper dive, read our guide on how much a copy machine costs to lease or buy. We also break down ink and toner economics in our explainer on how many pages an ink cartridge prints. Both posts are worth a quick read before signing a new copier contract.

And remember: a managed print services program can shave 30 to 50 percent off your total print spend. The savings come from right-sizing the fleet, automating supply orders, and catching wasteful behaviors before they pile up. For more detail, the Association for Intelligent Information Management publishes thoughtful research on the topic.

Common Copying Problems and Quick Fixes

Even the best copier hits a snag sometimes. So here are the most frequent issues and what to try first.

• Streaks or lines on copies. Clean the scanner glass with a soft microfiber cloth and a drop of isopropyl alcohol. A speck of dust shows up as a line across every copy.
• Faded text. Increase copy density one notch. If the issue stays, your toner cartridge is likely low.
• Paper jams in the ADF. Fan the stack before loading; align edges; check that you are not feeding more than the rated capacity. For a deeper guide, see our post on why your printer keeps jamming.
• Skewed copies. Square the original against the corner guide on the platen or adjust the ADF guides.
• Wrong size output. Confirm the paper tray setting matches the loaded paper. Letter, legal, and tabloid jobs use different trays.
• Slow first copy. Most MFPs warm up after idle. Quiet mode and sleep settings can extend warm-up time.

Modern Copying Features You May Not Be Using

Today’s MFPs include features that were premium add-ons just five years ago. So if your office runs a copier from 2019 or earlier, you are likely paying for a worse experience than a current Sharp or Ricoh model would provide.

Single-pass duplex scanning. Two scanner heads capture both sides of a sheet in one pass through the ADF. So a 100-page double-sided original scans in under a minute on a 75 ppm machine.

Optical character recognition (OCR). Scanned documents become searchable PDFs with text you can copy, paste, and index. So your accounting team can find an invoice by vendor name in seconds rather than rifling through folders.

Mobile printing and copying. Apps from Sharp, Ricoh, and others let staff send a job from their phone or tablet, then release it at any device in the office. Great for hybrid teams.

Cloud connectors. Most modern MFPs ship with Microsoft 365, Google Drive, Dropbox, and Box connectors built in. So a scan can land in the right SharePoint folder with one tap on the panel.

Secure print release. A PIN, card swipe, or smartphone tap holds the job until the right person stands at the device. Sensitive HR or legal documents never sit forgotten in the output tray.

Voice and AI assistants. A few high-end models add voice prompts to walk users through complex jobs. So a new hire can run a complicated copy job without three weeks of training.

If your current copier is missing two or three of these capabilities, an upgrade or refresh likely pays for itself within the lease term. Our team at Associated Imaging Solutions can run a no-obligation feature audit to spot gaps. For tips on relocating equipment during an office change, see our short guide on how to safely move a copier or printer.

Should You Buy or Lease Your Copier?

Buying a copier outright works when you have the cash, low copy volume, and a long planning horizon. But for most growing offices, leasing wins on cash flow and flexibility. A typical 36 to 60 month lease keeps you on current hardware, bundles service and supplies, and converts a capital purchase into a predictable monthly operating expense.

Leasing also matters for tax planning. Lease payments are usually fully deductible as a business expense in the year paid. Buying spreads the deduction across years through depreciation. So your accountant may prefer the lease path for cleaner books.

If you serve clients in Philadelphia, Bucks County, or Montgomery County, our local team handles every Pennsylvania copier lease from quote to install. So you talk to one person, not three vendors. Get a quote if you want a side-by-side cost comparison for your office.