Plotter is nothing but a device that draws pictures on paper based on commands from a computer. Plotters differ from printers in that they draw lines using a pen. As a result, they can produce continuous lines, whereas printers can only simulate lines by printing a closely spaced series of dots. Multicolor plotters use different-colored pens to draw different colors. In general, plotters are considerably more expensive than printers. They are used in engineering applications where precision is mandatory.

Answered by Surya Pratim , an ibibo Advisor, at 5:34 AM on November 14, 2007

A Plotter is a device that converts computer output into drawings on paper (ie, images created mathematically by a series of lines connected by points) or displays the output on display-type terminals instead of printing a listing. A Plotter is typically used for large engineering and architectural drawings and is generally used with CAD and design systems. The two most common types of plotters are pen/pencil plotters and electrostatic plotters.

Answered by @ , an ibibo Master, at 1:39 AM on November 14, 2007

A plotter is a vector graphics printing device that connects to a computer. Pen 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. (Pen Plotters are incapable of creating a solid region of color; but can hatch an area by drawing a number of close, regular lines.) When computer memory was very expensive, and processor power was very slow, this was often the fastest way to produce color high-resolution vector-based artwork, or very large drawings efficiently. Traditionally, printers are primarily for 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". The two common ASCII based plotter control languages are Hewlett Packard's HPGL2 or Houston Instruments DMPL with commands such as "PA 3000, 2000; PD". Programmers in FORTRAN or BASIC generally did not program these directly, but used software packages such as the Calcomp library, or device independent graphics packages such as Hewlett-Packard's AGL libraries or BASIC extensions or high end packages such as DISSPLA. These would establish scaling factors from world coordinates to device coordinates, and translating to the low level device commands. For example to plot X*X in HP 9830 BASIC, the program would be 10 SCALE -1,1,1,1 20 FOR X =-1 to 1 STEP 0.1 30 PLOT X, X*X 40 NEXT X 50 PEN 60 END

Answered by expert , an ibibo Specialist, at 11:19 PM on November 13, 2007

A graphics printer that draws images with ink pens. It actually draws point-to-point lines directly from vector graphics files. The plotter was the first computer output device that could print graphics as well as accommodate full-size engineering and architectural drawings. Using different colored pens, it was also able to print in color long before inkjet printers became an alternative. Pen plotters are still the most affordable printing device for CAD use and offer resolution unlike any other printer. The lines are not made up of dots. They are actually drawn, providing infinite resolution. See drum plotter, flatbed plotter, electrostatic plotter and inkjet printer.

Answered by ayisha , an ibibo Master, at 9:50 PM on November 13, 2007

A plotter is a vector graphics printing device that connects to a computer. Pen 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. (Pen Plotters are incapable of creating a solid region of color; but can hatch an area by drawing a number of close, regular lines.) When computer memory was very expensive, and processor power was very slow, this was often the fastest way to produce color high-resolution vector-based artwork, or very large drawings efficiently.

Answered by Adi , an ibibo Advisor, at 7:16 PM on November 13, 2007

A device that draws pictures on paper based on commands from a computer. Plotters differ from printers in that they draw lines using a pen. As a result, they can produce continuous lines, whereas printers can only simulate lines by printing a closely spaced series of dots. Multicolor plotters use different-colored pens to draw different colors. In general, plotters are considerably more expensive than printers. They are used in engineering applications where precision is mandatory.

Answered by A.R.Karthick , an ibibo Master, at 7:14 PM on November 13, 2007

A plotter is a vector graphics printing device that connects to a computer. Pen 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. (Pen Plotters are incapable of creating a solid region of color; but can hatch an area by drawing a number of close, regular lines.) When computer memory was very expensive, and processor power was very slow, this was often the fastest way to produce color high-resolution vector-based artwork, or very large drawings efficiently.

Answered by pooja , an ibibo Master, at 6:20 PM on November 13, 2007

plotter is a vector graphics printing device that connects to a computer. Pen 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. (Pen Plotters are incapable of creating a solid region of color; but can hatch an area by drawing a number of close, regular lines.) When computer memory was very expensive, and processor power was very slow, this was often the fastest way to produce color high-resolution vector-based artwork, or very large drawings efficiently. Traditionally, printers are primarily for 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". The two common ASCII based plotter control languages are Hewlett Packard's HPGL2 or Houston Instruments DMPL with commands such as "PA 3000, 2000; PD". Programmers in FORTRAN or BASIC generally did not program these directly, but used software packages such as the Calcomp library, or device independent graphics packages such as Hewlett-Packard's AGL libraries or BASIC extensions or high end packages such as DISSPLA. These would establish scaling factors from world coordinates to device coordinates, and translating to the low level device commands. For example to plot X*X in HP 9830 BASIC, the program would be

Answered by Pammu , an ibibo Specialist, at 6:14 PM on November 13, 2007