plotter
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Related to plotter: graph plotter
plotter
[′pläd·ər] (engineering)
A visual display or board on which a dependent variable is graphed by an automatically controlled pen or pencil as a function of one or more variables.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
plotter
(hardware)A device that uses one or more pens that can be
raised, lowered and moved over the printing media to draw
graphics or text.
The heart of the plotter is the printer head assembly, consisting of a horizontal bar and, attached to it, the head assembly holding the pen in use. The pen can be positioned horizontally by moving the pen assembly along the bar. Vertical positioning is achieved by either moving the bar (stationary page plotter) or the paper (rolling page plotter). Combinations of horizontal and vertical movement are used to draw arbitrary lines and curves in a single action, in contrast to printers which usually scan horizontally across the page.
Colour plots can be made by using more than one pen. Older plotters required a separate pen for each colour and the pens had to be changed by hand. Modern colour plotters usually use only four pens (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, see CMYK) and need no human intervention to change them.
Monochromatic plotters have been largely phased out by laser printers except when large paper size is needed, e.g. in CAD.
The heart of the plotter is the printer head assembly, consisting of a horizontal bar and, attached to it, the head assembly holding the pen in use. The pen can be positioned horizontally by moving the pen assembly along the bar. Vertical positioning is achieved by either moving the bar (stationary page plotter) or the paper (rolling page plotter). Combinations of horizontal and vertical movement are used to draw arbitrary lines and curves in a single action, in contrast to printers which usually scan horizontally across the page.
Colour plots can be made by using more than one pen. Older plotters required a separate pen for each colour and the pens had to be changed by hand. Modern colour plotters usually use only four pens (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, see CMYK) and need no human intervention to change them.
Monochromatic plotters have been largely phased out by laser printers except when large paper size is needed, e.g. in CAD.
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