Office activities: photocopying a small item

Self-tutoring about office activities: the tutor mentions photocopying a small item.

I recall watching a secretary photocopy a student ID card when I was a kid. They paper-clipped it to the top left of a blank white sheet of 8½ by 11 paper, lifted the lid, then placed the page on the glass and lowered the lid onto it. (I think the paperclip was plastic, so as not to scratch anything.) Next, they pressed the “Copy” button. Some humming ensued, then a piece of paper skimmed into the output slot.

Photocopiers were relatively new in schools then. Their use was rationed since it was expensive. What interested me, though, was that the secretary attached the card to a white sheet of paper rather than just putting the card on the glass by itself. I wondered why then, and obviously have never forgotten.

I came to understand that the reason they did so was likely that, where nothing was on the glass, it would be interpreted as “black” by the machine. Therefore, if just the card was put in, everywhere the card wasn’t would show up as black on the copy, which would use a lot of toner. However, the white background (the blank page the card was fixed to) would indicate to leave that area blank on the copy as well.

The other day I needed to copy a small item, so recalled the history above. Yet, since then, I’m sure I’ve seen people put small items on the glass without any backing. What’s changed? Moreover, should I attach the small item to a blank sheet of 8½ by 11 paper, as the secretary did around 30 years ago?

I examined the underside of the lid one lowers over the item to be copied, and found it to be flat white. That’s the difference between now and then, obviously, so that a person no longer need attach a small item to a blank 8½ by 11 backing sheet when copying it.

The copy produced as I expected: all white around the item itself. Interesting, eh?