While a scissors is a device for cutting or shaping paper[paper?:paper sample maker cutting machine], and is used for a variety of applications from making paper snowflakes to cutting out newspaper articles, a paper cutter is a device primarily used to trim sheets of paper to a particular size. Paper, in this context, refers not just to sheets of bond paper, but to the wide range of paper thicknesses, including cardstock, cardboard, photographs, and may be used on similar materials like film[film?:film cutting machine] and vellum.
Most paper cutters include some type of safety features to insure safe operation. Other aspects to consider when anticipating a purchase paper cutter are the number of sheets that can be cut at once and the width of paper that can be accepted. The manner of operation of the paper cutter and — for automatic models — the speed are also important to take into account.
For high-volume work, there is the semi-automatic paper cutter or the automatic paper cutter. The semi-automatic paper cutter may be operated with a hand crank or a button. Automatic paper cutter models may be electric or hydraulic. In addition to stack thickness, these paper cutters give yield volume in cuts per minute.
