Have you ever had to transcribe a document from a technical manual or some type of hardcopy document onto your computer? Well, this article will talk all about copyholders or, in other words, a paper holder while typing, and give you 4 examples of copyholders I have used over the years.
Copyholders are unique office accessories that have been manufactured to be your 3rd hand to hold up the document on your desktop while you are typing. A copyholder is one of the many modern desk accessories that are available today as an additional tool in your office. They are certainly cool office gadgets that can really come in handy in the office.
I’ve had to use copyholders on multiple occasions. In fact, I’ve purchased all 4 of these copyholders at some point in my working career and have used them all. In this article I’ll present you with the 4 options that I have used over the years.
4 Unique Copyholders
3M Flat Panel Copy Holder
The 3M Flat Panel Copy Holder is the first copy holder that I purchased a number of years ago. I wrote this article at the time and it shows me mounting it to my flat panel monitor.
Copyholders come in all sizes and shapes and this one will hold up to 35 sheets of copy at one time.
There is a clip that secures the copy at the top and there is also a lip at the bottom onto which you can place the bottom of your copy.
It comes with mounting adhesive that allows you to mount it to the side of your monitor. That just might be the only drawback of this copy holder. It requires you to adhere the plastic adaptor to your monitor. The other copyholders in this article do not require you to affix anything to your flat panel display.
Vanki Paper Document Copy Holder – Paper Holder for Desk While Typing
The Vanki Paper Document Copy Holder is probably my favorite. It’s essentially a paper holder for desk while typing. I recently wrote this article about this uniquely created copy holder.
It’s funny but the original version that I purchased was a 3M Document Wedge but 3M discontinued that product but it is almost exactly the same as this Vanki Copy Holder.
I have even had readers email me about where they could purchase the 3M version. I actually had a couple of them and only needed one so I sent my extra one to a reader.
Anyway, the Vanki Copy Holder is unique in that the pink portion you see on the left is a wedge shape. The section in front where there is a depression for a finger or thumb, depresses when you push on it and the hardcopy goes between the wedge and that section.
This copy holder can hold up to 70 sheets of paper and is free-standing which allows you to take it with you if you need it. It is fairly small at 3.5” long X 2” wide but it stays standing with hardcopy secured into the wedge. It also comes with rubber on the bottom so that it won’t mar your desktop. Great little office accessory for a paltry price.
The Page-Up Document Holder – a Paper Holder while Typing
The Page-Up Document Holder is another rather uniquely-designed copy holder. I wrote about it in this article. What is also interesting about this copy holder is that it is even smaller than the Vanki Copy Holder.
It’s dimensions are 2.4 x 2.2 x 1.7 inches. There is a slot into which the paper copy is inserted.
The slot is roughly 0.25” wide so there is a limitation on number of paper sheets you can insert into this Page-Up Document Holder. I could fit a max of 20 sheets of printer paper into the slot without it falling over.
Besides the blue on the left, this unit also comes in other translucent colors such as purple, red, grey, pink, black, and orange. If there is any criticism I have of this Page-Up Document Holder, it’s that if it was twice as large it would still have a small footprint but it would hold many more sheets of paper and maybe even a journal if you are transcribing something into your computer.
Kensington Insight Priority Puck Document Holder
The Kensington Insight Priorty Puck Document Holder is another in the family of copyholders with a unique design and functionality. I wrote this article at the time I purchased it.
This Kensington paper holder has not only one slot for hardcopy but a total of five. Due to the gradation of each slot, you can have multiple sheets and the one behind will be higher than the other one.
It comes advertised as the only desktop copyholder with five slots to prioritize daily tasks. The product dimensions of this unit, as seen on the left, are 8.5 x 5 x 2.75 inches. It is made out of a hard plastic.
The unit on the left is a grey color but it is advertised as blue so maybe the Amazon image hasn’t been updated recently. The one I purchased a number of years ago was this grey color. This particular copy holder gives you a few more options due to the multiple slots for hardcopy.
Copyholders are Certainly Unique Tools
In the world of copyholders, the four presented above are some of the unique ones. It certainly depends on your needs on which one you will choose for your office or cubicle. The good part is that your choices are endless!
If you have never even heard of this cool workspace accessories you now have! Hopefully you can find one that you can use to help you become more efficient in the workplace.
Bob has been blogging for over 20 years and has been an office and cubicle dweller for more than 35 years. He has been featured in numerous online publications such as US News and World Report, Bustle, and Work Awesome (you can read his articles here). He created the popular office website CubicleBliss in January 2011 and rebranded it as WorkspaceBliss in April 2020.
In the office he’s been an IT Manager, Applications Engineer, Systems Analyst, Software Project leader, and Programmer Analyst in his long career. He’s a Certified Microsoft Professional and possesses a Masters of Science degree and two Bachelor of Science degrees, one of those in Informational Technology.
During his career he has worked in the office full-time, as a hybrid remote worker, and has worked from home permanently.