A
plotter is a printer that interprets commands from a computer to make line
drawings on paper with one or more automated pens. Unlike a regular printer,
the plotter can draw continuous point-to-point lines directly from vector
graphics files or commands. There are a number of different types of plotters:
a drum plotter draws on paper wrapped around a drum which turns to produce one
direction of the plot, while the pens move to provide the other direction; a
flatbed plotter draws on paper placed on a flat surface; and an electrostatic
plotter draws on negatively charged paper with positively charged
toner.Plotters were the first type of printer that could print with color and
render graphics and full-size engineering drawings. As a rule, plotters are
much more expensive than printers. They are most frequently used for CAE
(computer-aided engineering) applications, such as CAD (computer-aided design)
and CAM (computer-aided manufacturing).
A
plotter consists of an arm that moves across the paper on which the diagram or
graph needs to be drawn . Apen moves along the arm. and the arm itself moves
relative to the paper. Acombination of the two thus provides movement along the
horizontal and vertical axes.
In
some plotters, the paper is held station ary while the arm and the pens move over
it. This is called a flat-bed plotter. In the other type of plotter, the paper
is wrapped around a drum and anchored at anchored at both ends. The drum
rotates while the pen moves laterally along a fixed rail. This is called a drum
plotter.
To
draw clear and high-qualit diagrams, a plotter needs high-quality pens with
special inks of different colors. A plotter can be connected to a PC through
the parallel port. A plotter is more software-dependent than any other
peripheral, and needs much more instructions than printer for producing output.
Plotter
are used in applications like CAD, which requir high-quality graphics on paper.
Many of the plotters now available in the market are desktop models that can be
used with PCs. Businesses typically use plotters to present an alysis in terms
(bar charts, graphs, diagrams, etc.) as well as for engineering drawings.
Two
commanly type plotters are:
§ Drum Plotters
§ Flatbed Plotters
Drum
Plotters
In
this plotter the pen moves in the horizontally and the drum rolls on the other
axis. Generally it is a graphical output device, and it is generally used to
plot drawings. the width of the plot is limited by the length of the drum. It
is the first graphical output device produced to print large scaled engineering
drawings.Colored prints can be made if you use colored ink.This electronic
equipment used to plot large sized drawings on a tracing sheet. Plans for
building ( architectural drawing) , engineering drawings , dress models ETC are
drawn using suitable packages. These drawings are plotted on a tracing sheet,
which can be used to produce a large no of blue prints.
It
is very good for line drawings but it is very slow. Here the pen is held in
gantry and it moves in x-axis and the paper moves on y-axis.
Flatbed
Plotters
This
is a plotter where the paper is fixed on a flat surface and pens are moved to
draw the image. This plotter can use several different colour pens to draw
with. The size of the plot is limited only by the size of the plotter's bed.
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