A drive for providing a continuous range of magnifications in a copier system. The drive includes a variable speed transmission whose output can be adjusted over a continuous range and then fixed to produce a constant scan rate for transmitting a document image to a photoreceptor. The transmission has two pairs of angled or conical capstans coupled by drive belts or cables whose initial position with respect to the capstans dictate the transmission speed. To change speed the transmission is decoupled from a copier drive motor and one capstan pair is rotated with respect to the second pair. The velocity profile of the rotated pair is thereby charged to produce a desired change in magnification. An alternate embodiment is disclosed wherein a cam and cam following surface in conjunction with a single angled or conical capstan provide the adjustable scanning drive.