Difference Between Soft Copy And Hard Copy

The basic difference between a soft copy and a hard copy is, a soft copy is an electronic document stored on the computer. A hard copy is the physical form of a soft copy.

What is Soft Copy?

The term “soft copy” refers to any electronic document that is stored on a computer system.

A soft copy is an electronic document that can be opened and edited using software programs like those for databases, presentations, and more, depending on the file type. The document is saved on a computer or drive, rather than being printed on paper. The output of a soft copy is found on electronic devices like computers and USB drives.

You probably already know that paper is dead. The days of printing out documents from your computer are long gone. Today, almost every document is created digitally using software such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs.

But even though you can create a document in seconds using these programs, they don’t always provide the same level of quality as printed copies. For example, a scanned image might look blurry or pixelated, whereas a printout seems crisp and clear.

What is Hard Copy?

A hard copy is any physical object that contains information. Examples of hard copies include books, magazines, newspapers, and printed documents.

Hard copy means printing out a paper version of the soft copy information.

The disadvantage of the hard copy is that saving the data means much space is required to place the books and a shelf to store books.

Difference between hard copy and soft copy

The main difference is that hard copies are permanent, whereas soft copies are only stored in a computer.

Soft Copy	Hard Copy
A soft copy is in electronic form.	A hard copy is in print form.
It is easy to modify.	It is difficult to modify.
It is intangible.	It is tangible.
It is stored on a storage device.	It is printed on paper.
A soft copy document requires specific tools and software for storing, displaying, accessing, and editing.	No specific software is required for storing, displaying, and accessing documents.
Its duplicate copies can be produced without any cost.	Its duplicate copies can be produced at cost.
A soft copy is an electronic file that can be read and displayed on a computer or other electronic device.	It does not require any physical medium to read and see the data.
A soft copy is a temporary copy.	A hard copy is a permanent copy.
Although soft copies have no physical weight, they can carry a lot of importance.	It carries some weight in physical form.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)