If you have ever participated in print media or advertising, there is a high likelihood you have come across the word collate although its importance may not be clear to most.
In a nutshell, collating means putting together printed pieces of paper in their original formation to give full copies of a document.
This means that rather than having to print all the first pages, then all the second pages in a job, and so on, a collated print job will produce sets of complete documents, each of which contains a complete set of interrelated pages.
How Does Collate Work in Printing?
To open the curtain on collate, let’s type and print, say, 10 copies of a 10-page document. If collate were not selected, the printer would push out ten copies of the first page then ten copies of the second page and so on.
This would lead to compilation of ten individual pages per stack which would have to be manually compiled in order to complete the copies.
When collate is selected, the printer starts to print the page number 1 to 10 and collates then prints the page number 1 to 10 and collates the sheets and so over again.
The main question that can arise while comparing collated and uncollated printing is what does collated printing actually means?
Collated and Uncollated printing can be described in one crucial aspect, the order in which the given prints are arranged.
As mentioned earlier, collated printing prints a complete set of documents in the correct order and non-collated printing prints a set of documents in the different stacks.
Should I Use Collate When Printing?
All in all, the decision of whether or not to apply collate function is unique to your purpose. Whenever you are printing more than one copy of a document and you need the end product to be divided in sets for distribution or binding, then you need to collate.
It is much more convenient compared to assembling the pages using some other method.
Nevertheless, if the user, for instance, requires only one copy of a document or will manually join the sheets, the collate function may be unneeded.
Collate Option on Printer
The collate option, however, is not available in the same way in all the models of printers. Almost all the current printer models, especially those that are created for offices or home use are endowed with this feature.
To enable collate you are likely to require the printer settings or driver and click on the relevant icon.
Collate for Multiple Copies
Collating is particularly useful when printing multiple copies of a document. It ensures that each copy is complete and in the correct order.
Whether you’re printing handouts for a conference, materials for a class, or booklets for distribution, collate is a valuable feature.
Conclusion
In conclusion, understanding collate can significantly enhance your printing experience.
With understanding its function and the occasions when it might be employed, time can be saved as well as discouragement together with the generation of polished documents.
Now, if collate is turned on you can greatly enhance your productivity of the job and produce aesthetically pleasing output. Even though it might not be a major feature, one should admit that the ability to print entire sets of ordered pages at once will be more beneficial, as it saves time and effort.
FAQs
Q: What does collate do in printing?
A: Collate is a printing feature that sorts the pages of a document to be placed in the right order of the number of copies. Instead of printing all the first’s, then all the second’s, the third’s and so on, collate makes sure that all the prints are arranged in order, the first, the second, the third and so on.
Q: What is the collate option used for in printing?
A: The collate option is used to save time and effort when printing multiple copies of a document.
By enabling collate, you produce complete sets of pages, ready for distribution or binding, without the need for manual assembly.
Q: What do you mean by collate?
A: Collate is a process of sorting printed pages correctly to make full and consecutive copies of a document.
This means that the process prints the first page of each set successively followed by the second page of each set and so on, until all pages have been printed as required in the different sets.
Q:How does collation affect the printing of multiple copies?
A: Collation enhances the efficiency of printing a number of copies highly. While collate generates a full set of documents, not single pages in separate stacks and saves much time by avoiding the need for manual grouping of the bits of several sheets each.
