Working in the printing or engineering field,daily printing out posters and photos, maps and drawings, you can not do without a plotter. What is a plotter? This device is used to obtain graphic information on a wide format media with the help of technology of formless printing.
Plotter characteristics as well as other plotters can be classified in this way:
- Ability to reproduce colors. There are monochrome, color, and combined, which are focused on monochrome printing with relatively small inclusions of color printing.
- Application area. Advertising and printing, as well as CAD and graphic engineering systems.
- The format of the image. It is possible to receive images from formats A0 and A1, ending with a variety of advertising formats.
- The way the image is displayed. To date, inkjet, pen, electrostatic, direct output, based on thermal transfer, laser are used.
- Productivity. Starting from low-power (20 m2 / day), moving to more productive (20 - 50 m2 / day), ending with the most productive - (50m2 / day).
Classification of plotters.
Inkjet plotters with printheadsSprays ink droplets on the media used. Can be both monochrome and color. They feature silent operation, high reliability, the ability to mix colors, high resolution printing. The only drawback is low productivity.
Перьевые плоттеры работают на основе векторной image building technologies. Are divided into roll and flatbed. They have a high quality image. Disadvantages are also there - high noise and low performance.
Electrostatic plotters.The principles of electrostatics are used in their work. The image is applied by the action of free charges that settle on the dielectric surface under the influence of high-voltage pulses. To print on this printer requires high-quality paper. They have high reliability and image quality.
Plotter direct image output uses thermal technology to produce a monochrome image. They are easy to maintain, high-performance and reliable.
Thermal transfer plotters also workbased on thermal technology, but using a special film allows you to get a color image. Often used to print banners and large advertising posters.
Лазерные плоттеры.They have high performance and low noise. They differ in high cost and ability to print exclusively monochrome images. Despite this, laser plotters are widely distributed in architecture, printing maps and documents.
