Accessorize your printer |
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Printing isn't only about speed and print quality; it's about what your printer can do to make your job easier and you more productive. Sure, high-quality printers that produce quality prints quickly are an asset in any company. But did you know that with the right accessories, your printer can be an even more valuable tool?
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Why printers need accessories |
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If printing were just about speed and print quality, printers wouldn't need accessories. You would print a few pages here and there, grab them off the printer, and be done. But in a busy, growing office, printers produce multiple copies of complex documents, often taking the place of photocopiers, for not just one user but typically many. Your office printer becomes your in-house print shop, helping you prepare professional presentations, documentation, and marketing materials.
And if you are going to support more than just basic printing, you need the right tools. The bottom line? When you have to wait in line for your prints, sort through a big stack of print jobs to find yours, spend more time filling paper trays than printing, or have a daily sort-and-staple session, you are less productive--which costs you both time and resources.
There are two common business needs that printer accessories are specifically designed to meet. With the right printer/accessory combination you can:
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Spend less time loading paper and envelopes |
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Better organize and manage output |
| Note: Every printer supports a different combination of accessories. Refer to your printer documentation or an online buying guide to find out what your available options are for a particular model. Typically, both inkjet and LaserJet printers support sheet feeder trays and automatic duplex accessories, while the majority of other accessories work exclusively with LaserJet printers. |
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Reduce the amount of time you spend loading paper and envelopes |
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No one likes to continually load paper into the printer, and it may seem like you're the one who has to do it every single time. If you're reloading your paper tray more than once every couple of days you may want to consider one of these accessories, which hold more paper so you have to reload less often:
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Sheet feeder tray: Every printer comes with at least one sheet feeder tray (or other type of paper input source), but you can often add one or more sheet feeder trays to increase the amount of paper your printer will hold. For example, the HP LaserJet 4600 takes three paper trays for up to 1,100 pages, while the HP LaserJet 5500 takes three paper trays and holds up to 1,600 pages. For inkjets, the HP business inkjet 3000 takes a 700-page paper tray. If you need your printer to regularly support different paper sizes--legal and standard, for example--you can maintain one paper tray for each size so you aren't constantly switching paper out of the printer or printing on the wrong size paper. |
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Side input tray: Side input trays attach to the side of a LaserJet printer and usually hold up to 1,000 sheets of paper. If you have maxed out the number of sheet feeder trays your printer can accommodate and are still reloading too often, this may be the right solution. |
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Envelope feeder: When you have a big business mailing, printing envelopes should not drag down the process. As its name implies, an envelope feeder queues up envelopes so they move smoothly into your LaserJet printer while you do other work. If you regularly print labels and then apply them to envelopes, consider consolidating the process into a single feed-and-print process that skips the labels altogether. Not only will you spend less time peeling and sticking, but the results will look professional. |
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Better manage your output |
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When you just print a page or two at a time, your printer output is simple. When you start generating double- and triple-digit prints, things get interesting. These accessories can help you better manage your output:
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Automatic duplex units: Many printers support manual duplex printing (two-sided printing), but you have to walk over to the printer to flip and rotate paper. If you regularly print on both sides of the paper--for marketing materials or just to save paper, for example--an automatic duplex unit handles the flipping and rotating for you so you don't have to leave your desk to duplex. |
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Mailbox: Designed to work with high-speed LaserJet printers that many users share, a mailbox accessory neatly separates print jobs into separate bins so you don't have to sort through everyone else's prints to find your own. You can use the Web Jetadmin tools to configure the mailboxes so they're easy for everyone to use. |
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Sheet stacker: Much like the sheet stacker on a copier, a sheet stacker for a LaserJet printer neatly piles your multi-page documents in a tray on the side of your printer. If you regularly run long print jobs, this accessory will help you better manage your output and neatly stack your printed pages when complete so they aren't tattered or folded. |
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Sheet stapler and stacker: As its name implies, this nifty accessory both stacks and staples your print jobs. You can prepare for an important meeting or presentation while the printer takes care of the rest. |
| Note: Many multifunction printers (MFPs) also support automatic document feeders (ADFs) that will automatically scan or copy large stacks of paper. If you spend too much time feeding paper into your MFP, an ADF can give you the freedom to focus on more important aspects of your job while your MFP scans or faxes. |
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Printable version
