Plotters
This article provides a comprehensive list of the most common uses for a wide-format plotter or wide-format printer. You will also learn of places you can purchase them.
Many architectural firms rely on using plotters to print their residential and commercial floor plans. They also rely on plotters to print drawings made in programs such as ArchiCAD. These drawings can include plans for plumbing, foundation, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and electrical systems. Landscape drawings can also be printed on a plotter to guide a homeowner, business owner, or contractor in planting a garden or lawn. They will provide a scale drawing of a piece of property or the dimensions and size of a yard. Floor plan drawings printed on plotters are detailed, concise, and printed to scale for ease in understanding how you or a contractor will build something.
Floor plans have measurements and dimensions including conversions such as “one quarter of an inch is equal to one foot” to ensure the exact scale of what is being built, and this information can be clearly read on the printout from the plotter. There are many different sizes of paper for printing your drawings with a plotter. The most typical sizes are as follows: The first of these is size A and measures 8.5 by 11 inches. The second is size B and measures 11 by 17 inches. The third size is C and measures 18 by 24 inches. The fourth size is D and measures 24 by 36 inches. The final most popular size is E, measuring 30 by 42 inches. These sizes of paper can be bought on a roll or in individual packages that have been cut to the appropriate size. How you use a plotter will depend on the size of paper and how you choose to buy it.
Assembly drawings such as those that show how a part of a machine is put together or how the machine as a whole is constructed can be printed on a wide-format printer or plotter. These drawings give the size and specifications of an object, so it can be built and show how it will appear once it is constructed. These types of drawings are considered mechanical. Architectural assembly drawings can also be printed on a wide-format printer or plotter and typically show how to construct part of a building or home. The objects in the assembly drawings can also be drawn and printed on a plotter as three dimensional with color to show the look of the finished product. Wide-format printers and wide-format plotters can handle black as well as many different ink colors. The ink cartridges in newer wide-format printer and wide-format plotter models can be replaced as needed, whereas, the ink in older plotters had to be replaced all at once. The convenience of only replacing an ink cartridge and color when it is required can save time and money. A wide-format printer or plotter also uses many different types of ink, and the kind you choose will be determined by what you need to print, the quality of printing you require, and how durable the printing needs to be.
Many school districts have purchased wide-format printers and plotters to use for a variety of reasons. Mathematics professors and teachers have found that printing large pie charts or graphs on a plotter is a good teaching tool and visual aid, thus enhancing the effectiveness of teaching the subject. Chemistry professors and teachers with wide-format printers at their school have the ability of printing large periodic tables to display in the classroom. School principals can also use these wide-format printers to print banners to display in the hallway or signs promoting school spirit. A plotter can also be used to print flyers of an upcoming event that can be hung on school walls to keep students informed. Certain schools have also used wide-format printers to display the artwork of their students by printing several panels with collages of the work and then hanging the panels together to create a mural. A school’s Parent Teacher Association can use these wide-format plotters to print brochures for to try and boost membership. The Association can also print mass amounts of notes and reminders on a plotter to send home with students, so the parent can stay informed on dates and locations of future meetings.
A demand for more durable patterns has prompted some fashion designers and clothing stores to purchase quality, wide-format printers. As opposed to the standard patterns that are printed on tissue-like paper, some clothing designers are now using these plotters to print their patterns on other materials. Patterns printed on thin, yet durable paper with a plotter can still be cut, but are more durable and don’t tear as easily as the typical patterns you can buy in any retail fabric store. Using a wide-format printer for patterns allows for a longer lasting pattern that can be used multiple times without the fear that cutting or pinning the pattern to a piece of fabric will tear and render it useless for any future projects. Measurements can be included on the layout of the pattern, and depending on the size of the wide-format printer, a large variety of sizes can be printed. Printing patterns on a wide-format plotter can be done using a water-based ink, such as the ink that is found in desktop printers. The ink is durable and virtually odorless, so a room that houses a plotter would not require extra ventilation.
Certain plotters are more geared towards AutoCAD projects and have the capability of batch printing AutoCAD documents. Batch printing is just how it sounds - multiple documents can be printed on a plotter in large batches. Depending on the type of plotter being used, a command in AutoCAD can be set to send many different drawings to the plotter’s memory. As each drawing is printed on the wide-format plotter, it is cut and subsequently, the next drawing is started. Some plotters may not have the capability to batch print, so if your needs require this, it is best to check with the manufacturer before purchasing your plotter to ensure that the wide-format printer will be able to handle the batch function. Batch printing on a plotter with a roll of paper is efficient in that, while it is printing, other tasks can be taken care of instead of manually feeding each sheet of paper into the plotter. A roll of the appropriately sized paper can be mounted to a wall behind the wide-format plotter to assist in easy feeding of the paper. The size of the drawings to be printed will determine the type of wide-format plotter to be purchased. Typical wide-format plotters can range from 24 inches wide to more than six feet wide. Grand format plotters have widths from five feet to 16 feet or more. Planning ahead and considering future growth will help in choosing which type of wide-format printer to purchase, so you can ensure your needs are met.
There are types of wide-format plotters and wide-format printers that produce high quality, high-resolution photographs and images. Freestanding, life-sized photographs can be printed by a plotter, by cutting and trimming around the edges of the object in the photograph and affixing it to a card or foam board. Smaller images can also be printed on wide-format printers and kept in rectangular shape to display in a frame or on an easel. Images like this can be given as gifts to family members or significant others. Printing on a wide-format printer is not limited to photographs of yourself or other people. Photographs of flowers, a landscape, a landmark, or other objects can be printed with a plotter and given as a gift or used as a decoration in your home or office. Many art professors take images of famous works of art, such as the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci, and make large, high-resolution copies with a plotter to display in their classrooms. Home interior stores also display floral painting prints by Monet, Van Gogh, and other painters in their model rooms; this can be done by printing with wide-format printers.
Many marketing companies and businesses purchase wide-format printers to print a countless number of things, from signs and banners to brochures and magnetic vehicle signs. Restaurants, clothing stores, and retail shops sometimes display large signs in a front window, whether advertising a job opening or the special of the day. Many of these businesses take their sign design to a copy shop and pay a fee to have their signs made. However, businesses that need to print many things all the time may find it more economical in the long run to invest in a wide-format printer. Adding and comparing cost between taking your materials to a specialty copy shop to be printed and purchasing your own wide-format printer should be considered. Costs involved in printing mass amounts of marketing tools with a wide-format printer for your business include ink, printing materials, maintenance, and the wide-format printer itself. It is important to weigh the options and decide if purchasing a plotter to print your marketing tools will be more cost efficient for your business, depending on the amount of materials you have to print on a monthly, or even yearly basis. If you have large amounts of marketing tools to be printed with a plotter, having your own could save money over time, as opposed to paying a high fee to a copy shop each time you need large materials printed.
Many types of maps can be printed using a wide-format printer. Topography maps have contour lines, giving a three-dimensional look at elevation and terrain of a certain area. These can be used while backpacking, camping, hiking, or even for survival wilderness courses and can be printed on a wide-format plotter. The Boy Scouts of America frequently use these types of maps while on backpacking trips. Printing these maps on a plotter could prove to be more cost efficient than taking the map to be printed at a copy shop, especially if you need to print more than one. Geological survey maps could also be printed on a wide-format plotter, and because of the ink a plotter uses, the maps printed are high resolution and have very high quality. City or state maps could be printed using a wide-format printer and easily tucked away in your vehicle’s glove box. If your business deals in printing road maps, it could be economical to purchase a plotter and print them in mass quantities yourself. Country maps can be printed with plotters and could be displayed in museums or history classrooms to show states with their shape and position in relation to other states. Depending on the type of paper and ink you choose to use in your wide-format printer, maps can be printed efficiently and will be long lasting.
Corporate offices often have to present a product or service in the form of a graphics presentation in order to obtain another company as a sponsor. The charts and graphs can easily be printed on a wide-format printer and could be ready to present in minutes. If your office requires printing many graphic presentations or charts, it may be cost efficient to purchase a wide-format printer, instead of taking materials to a copy shop and having them print what you need for a fee. Some sales offices often display large graphs showing company growth or an incline or decline in sales for a certain amount of time. These graphs can be printed with a plotter and made into a variety of sizes or colors to represent different values. Certain plotters, depending on the type of paper and ink used, will print slowly, while others print very quickly. Wide-format plotters and wide-format printers that print images faster are of a lower resolution and quality, while slower ones produce very high resolution, quality images. If your business or office is based on speed, you may have to purchase a plotter that prints very quickly, but is of slightly lower quality. If your business or office offers high quality products or services, a slower printing plotter may work best, because the plotter will take more time printing an image, thus making it high resolution.