How Fast Should Your Office Printer Be?
How Fast Should Your Office Printer Be?
Printer speed gets marketed like a horsepower rating — bigger numbers, more impressive. But the "fastest" printer on paper isn't always the right choice for your office, and paying for speed you'll never use is one of the most common ways businesses overspend on equipment.
Understanding Pages Per Minute
Manufacturers advertise speed in pages per minute (PPM), typically measured under ideal lab conditions with simple black-and-white text documents. Real-world speed, especially with color, graphics, or duplex printing, is almost always slower than the number on the box.
Matching Speed to Team Size
A one- or two-person office rarely needs more than 20–30 PPM, since print jobs tend to be short and infrequent. Mid-sized offices of ten to thirty people typically benefit from 35–45 PPM to avoid queues during busy periods. Larger offices or print-heavy departments may need 50+ PPM, particularly if multiple people are sending jobs simultaneously.
First-Page-Out Time Matters More Than You'd Think
If your office prints mostly in short bursts — a few pages here, a single document there — the time it takes to produce the very first page matters more than the machine's theoretical top speed. Some slower-rated machines actually feel faster in daily use because they wake up and start printing more quickly.
When Speed Actually Pays Off
Departments that regularly run large print jobs — marketing producing bulk mailers, legal producing lengthy contracts, operations printing large batches of shipping documents — genuinely benefit from higher-speed equipment, since the time saved across hundreds of pages adds up quickly.
A Real-World Example
A Frankfort logistics company had purchased a top-of-the-line 60 PPM copier assuming faster was always better, but their actual usage was mostly short two- to three-page shipping labels printed throughout the day. We helped them move to a mid-range machine with faster first-page-out time instead, and their day-to-day experience improved noticeably while their equipment cost dropped.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does higher PPM always mean better value? Not necessarily — if your actual usage doesn't require it, you're paying for capacity that sits unused.
How do I know my office's real print speed needs? Look at how many people print simultaneously during peak hours and how large your typical print jobs are, rather than just headcount.
Can a printer be too fast for small jobs? Not exactly too fast, but very high-speed machines are often optimized for large jobs and may not offer a meaningfully better experience for short, frequent print runs.
Let's Match Speed to Your Actual Workflow
We'll help you find equipment that matches how your office really prints, not just an impressive spec sheet. Contact Authentic Business Systems for a personalized recommendation.
