Black And White Copiers & Printers

Black And White Copiers & Printers

Traditional black and white, also known as monochrome (mono) or grayscale printing, relied on halftones – employing pure black ink screens comprising tiny dots that approximated tonal values when viewed from a distance. Modern digital copiers, however, use toners to achieve genuine gradients.

Every office copier, regardless of its manufacturer, distributor, or point of sale, offers both colour and black and white options. When assessing your business printing choices, a fundamental question is whether to print in colour or black and white.

Of course, a colour copier can print using just black. When printing grayscale on a colour business copier, there is also the option for "rich" black, also known as "high-quality grayscale." This uses colour toners to provide a deeper black than just the black toner alone for more impact.

But let us list the pros and cons, so you can determine if having a colour printer is worth the investment. 

Pros:

• Lower purchase cost
• Reduced running expenses due to the simplicity of a single black cartridge
• Simplified maintenance
• Best suited for internal printing needs

Cons:

• Lack of colour option when required
• Unsuitable for producing attention-grabbing documents
• Potential need for an additional printer to handle colour printing

Although black and white printers may be more affordable initially, many companies regularly require colour printing for charts, graphs, proposals, marketing materials, letterhead, and more. Some types of communication are simply more effective when they include colour.

Depending on your printing demands, a practical approach could involve purchasing a colour printer but configuring it to print black and white as the default. This means users must actively select colour as the print output for specific documents. 

This approach provides the flexibility to print in colour when necessary while offering substantial "cost per copy" savings under a standard service agreement. These agreements typically charge a significantly higher rate (usually around 10 times) for colour prints than black and white prints.

For instance, a simple document featuring a colour logo is intended for internal use. If printed in colour mode, the cost may be 10 cents. However, printing in black and white only could lower the cost to 1 cent. For most internal documents, black and white is sufficient, offering economical printing while allowing colour only when needed.

In summary, black and white copiers and printers are primarily intended for text-intensive documents like invoices, purchase orders, worksheets, and internal materials. On the other hand, colour copiers and printers are best for producing brochures, flyers, and vibrant marketing materials. By restricting or limiting the use of colour printing when not needed for internal documents, the best of both worlds can be achieved. 

If you are absolutely certain your business won’t need colour prints, copies or scans, then there’s no point in paying the extra cost that comes along with full-colour printing. Black and white copiers have come a long way since their inception, and a good one can give a modern business simple and reliable printing.

CopierChoice was founded in 2010 to simplify the process of obtaining quotes for black and white copiers and printers. Prices can differ significantly depending on brand, model, features, and options. Our Quote Request service connects you with 3 to 4 suppliers who will offer customised quotes matching your business requirements.