Copy Paper

paper used in making copies of various documents with the aid of technical office equipment. The most widely used are those used for diazo copying: diazotype paper for high-contrast diazotypes, reflex phototechnical paper for contact copies of one- or two-sided line originals, negative and positive light-sensitive paper for photocopies of line and half-tone originals, photosensitive transparent paper for contact and projection copies of line originals, and photosemiconductor paper (paper with a thin light-sensitive zinc-oxide-based layer deposited on its surface). Thermoreactive copy paper (used for reflex copying by infrared [heat] rays and for the thermal transfer of images onto plain paper) and hectographic papers are also used. Often the term “copy paper” denotes thin paper with a colored layer deposited on one side, such as carbon paper for typewriters.

Copy papers are characterized by image contrast, coloring, reproduction time (from several seconds to several minutes), processing technique (developing, fixing), and copy lifetime. Copies are often made on plain paper that has not been previously treated (for example, in contact-transfer, matrix-transfer, and electrographic copying and in copying using the apparatus of the small-graphic-arts and printing industries).