Photocopier

Let's see, you spent money for a computer, for a printer, and for a scanner. So, how do you make photocopies? I hope you don't go running down to Kinko's or Staples to do that.

If you have all three of the devices I mentioned, you already have a photocopier, although perhaps an expensive one. However, since you have already made the financial investment for other reasons, you might as well get as much out of it as you can.

You can always scan a document into your favorite image editing program, then print from that. However, that is still overkill and probably too many mouseclicks for such a simple task. A simple, free program will convert your sophisticated computer/scanner/printer into a photocopier. A program called Photocopier uses any TWAIN-compliant scanner to scan your document or photo and send it directly to your printer. (Most scanners today are TWAIN-compliant.)

The simple, easy-to-use interface of Photocopier lets you select color, grayscale, or black-and-white scanning at 100 percent or 70 percent; adjust the brightness; and quickly select the number of copies to print.

Hewlett-Packard includes a similar program with its scanners, and other manufacturers may do the same. However, if your scanner manufacturer "forgot" to include a photocopying program, you can obtain a free one at http://www.downloadsquad.com/2005/10/25/photocopier-scanning-directly-to-your-printer/