Print & Copier Glossary

Plain-language definitions for the print and copier terms that show up on quotes, leases, and service contracts — each linked to the calculator that prices it.

Cost per page (CPP): The all-in cost to print one page: toner or ink, plus the drum and the service that keep most office devices running. It is not just the toner price divided by yield. Price your own with the cost-per-page calculator.
Cost per copy (CPC): The copier-era term for cost per page, still used on multifunction devices and in service contracts. On a lease it usually means the same thing as the click charge. See the cost-per-copy calculator.
Click charge (click rate): The per-page price billed under a copier lease or cost-per-copy service contract. Each "click" bundles toner, parts, and labor, so it runs higher than buying toner alone but covers upkeep. Mono and color clicks are priced separately. Decode yours with the click-charge calculator.
Coverage: The share of a page covered by toner or ink. Cartridge yields are rated at 5% coverage; a page with heavier ink — solid fills, photos, dense tables — uses more toner and yields fewer pages. Adjust for it with the toner coverage calculator.
Page yield: The manufacturer's rated number of pages a cartridge prints, measured at 5% coverage under the ISO/IEC 19752 (mono) and 19798 (color) test standards. Real-world yield is usually lower. Look up a model in the toner finder.
Duty cycle: The maximum number of pages a device is built to handle in a month. For longevity you run well under it — a common rule is a rated duty cycle around three times your actual monthly volume. Check a fit with the duty-cycle calculator.
Total cost of ownership (TCO): The full lifetime cost of a device: purchase or lease, supplies, service, and energy — not the sticker price alone. Cheap hardware with expensive supplies often has the higher TCO. Add it up with the TCO calculator.
Managed print services (MPS): A program that bundles devices, toner, service, and monitoring for a per-page fee, and takes printer management off your staff. It typically cuts total print spend 20–30%. Estimate your range with the MPS savings calculator.
Lease factor (money factor): The multiplier applied to equipment cost to get the monthly lease payment. A $10,000 copier at a 0.025 factor is about $250 a month. Estimate a payment with the lease payment calculator.
Buyout / residual: What you pay at the end of a lease to own the equipment. The three common structures are $1 (you keep it for a dollar), 10% (a fixed percentage), and fair market value. Estimate one with the lease buyout calculator.
Fair market value (FMV) lease: A lease whose end-of-term buyout is the equipment's market value at that time. Payments are lower than a $1-buyout lease, but the end cost is higher and less certain. Compare paths with lease vs. buy.
MFP (multifunction printer): A single device that prints, copies, scans, and often faxes. The "copier" in most offices is an A3 color MFP. Find the right class with the device finder quiz.
A3 vs. A4: Paper-size classes. A4 devices top out at letter and legal; A3 devices also handle larger ledger/tabloid sheets and are the classic office copier. A3 machines cost more but do more.
Duplex printing: Two-sided printing. Defaulting to duplex cuts paper use — and paper cost — by roughly half. See what paper costs you with the paper cost calculator.
Meter read: The device's page counter, reported for billing. Copiers on a click contract send meter reads automatically so the vendor can bill actual volume each period.
Drum unit: The imaging component that transfers toner onto paper. It wears out on a schedule separate from toner and is a real per-page cost that cheap-printer math often ignores. See the true cost of a cheap printer.
Fuser: The heated assembly that bonds toner to the page. It is a periodic maintenance part with its own rated life, and part of what a click charge or service contract covers.
Toner vs. ink: Toner is a dry powder used by laser printers and copiers; ink is a liquid used by inkjets. Office print economics almost always revolve around toner and laser devices.
Fleet right-sizing: Matching the number and type of devices to your real volume and headcount, then retiring redundant machines. A common target is one shared MFP per dozen staff. Model it with the fleet right-sizing calculator.
Print volume: The number of pages you produce per month. It is the single most important input for sizing a device and pricing a contract. Estimate yours with the print volume calculator.

Every figure on this site is an estimate, not a quote. For exact numbers, run the calculators or get a free print assessment.