When we talk about a hard copy, we mean a tangible printout of information sourced from a computer. It’s often referred to as a “hard copy document.” Hard copies are helpful in various settings, including businesses, schools, and households.
The primary purpose of hard copies is to reproduce documents. This ranges from printing out school essays to work reports. In the corporate environment, hard copies, such as contracts or legal papers, serve vital functions. Additionally, they can be employed for generating physical pictures or graphics.
Some individuals favor hard copies due to their ease of reading and handling compared to their digital counterparts. Sharing is also made simpler with hard copies than with digital files. Nevertheless, it should be noted that printing requires additional space and incurs higher costs.
A hard copy entails physically printed data originating from a computer—often accomplished via printers—with the intention of offline access or data backup in case the computer files get lost or damaged. For example, important documents like contracts are frequently printed by businesses for offline review and signing purposes.
In publishing terminology, we use the term ‘hard copy’ specifically when referring to physical books as opposed to digital formats like e-books—a distinction commonly applied by publishers referring to bound novels and unbound manuscripts as ‘hard copies.’ These publishers might create hard copies by printing out manuscripts sent for review purposes or keeping them on file when digital versions are at risk of being lost or damaged.
Some people undeniably prefer reading tangible book versions to their digital counterparts; they deem them more comfortable on the eyes while providing a delightful experience flipping through pages. Moreover, physical books facilitate lending/selling options only sometimes available in digital formats.