Definition of a Plotter Printer

Plotter printers serve in computer-aided design as large scale, wide format printers. The name comes from the word "plotting," because these devices used to output traced images and lines rather than conventional images.

Identification

Contemporary plotters retain a few features that distinguish them from home and office printers. First, they are much wider than regular printers. Secondly, plotter printers incorporate autocutting and more advanced print management tools.

Significance

Plotters are crucial to designers because they're best suited for printing large images. The wide format design of a plotter enables fast, high-resolution printing of images sized some 300 feet long and 50 inches wide.

Features

Good plotters can accommodate almost any type of material, or media, with a paper weight range far in excess of mainstream printers. Their large size means higher resolutions--2,400 DPI (dots per inch) or more.

Types

Original plotters employed pens that were slow and costly for any use other than line graphics. Electrostatic plotters came about later, using toners much like those found in laser printers. Ink jet plotters have also become common.

Misconceptions

When looking to purchase a plotter, make sure you understand your needs and get the right machine. Nowadays, traditional plotters that produce traced line graphics are typically limited to medical uses. For most other applications, the word "plotter" now simply means wide format printer.

Considerations

Due to the amount of material and technology that goes into plotter printers and their niche use, a good plotter can easily cost a hundred times more than a budget ink jet printer. However, the idea is to recoup this investment over time by saving on professional printing costs.