Plotter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other possible uses of the term, see Plot.
Image:Plotter Gerber Infinity.jpg A plotter is a vector graphics printing device that connects to a computer.
Plotters print their output by moving a pen across the surface of a piece of paper. This means that plotters are restricted to line art, rather than raster graphics as with other printers. They can draw complex line art, including text, but do so very slowly because of the mechanical movement of the pens. (Plotters are incapable of creating a solid region of colour; but can hatch an area by drawing a number of close, regular lines.)
Another difference between plotters and printers is that a printer is aimed primarily at printing text. This makes it fairly easy to control, simply sending the text to the printer is usually enough to generate a page of output. This is not the case of the line art on a plotter, where a number of printer control languages were created to send the more detailed information like "draw a line from here to here". Plotters are used primarily in technical drawing and CAD applications, where they have the advantage of working on very large paper sizes while maintaining high resolution. Another use has been found by replacing the pen with a cutter, and in this form plotters can be found in many garment and sign shops.
If a plotter is commanded to use different colours it has to replace the pen and select the wanted colour.
Another application of plotters is in creating tactile images for visually handicapped people on special thermal cell paper.
