Difference between plotter and printer. Free shipping and installation

Manufacturers of office equipment do not stand still, being in constant search for new solutions and innovative technologies. New options for equipment for home and professional use appear on the market, and the average consumer does not always understand what it is and why.

Many have heard of a device such as a plotter, but still have not figured out the differences between it and a conventional printer.

Printer or plotter

Is an independent device that is installed outside the system unit and is designed to output digital information to hard media. Usually office paper acts as media, but advanced models allow you to print information on labels, banners, film, rolls, cardboard, etc. The standard print format for printers is A4 / A5. There are also large-format machines that provide printing of A3-A0 formats.

(plotter) is an equipment used for automatic drawing of any graphic information in high precision on sheets of up to A0 format or on tracing paper.

So, the main difference between a plotter and a printer is the way the document is printed: in the first case, the document is drawn, in the second, it is printed. However, today this feature of the equipment has lost its relevance, since high accuracy and detail of graphical information is achieved using computer programs and high technology printing. Therefore, conventional large-format printers are considered to be plotters.

As for the design, plotters, unlike printers, have significant dimensions (sometimes the length is several meters) and the way of paper feeding: when printing on a printer, we ourselves load A4 sheets, while the plotter uses rolls for printing, which are limited only in width.

Most plotter models are equipped with a cutter that automatically cuts sheets of the desired size.

There are also flatbed plotters that print information on surfaces with high stiffness. In such devices, the block with ink itself moves over a fixed sheet, applying an image. Thus, it is possible to obtain drawings on glass, plasterboard, veneered, plywood surfaces. In this case, the size of the media usually does not exceed the A2 format, and the equipment itself is very bulky.

To print an image on thermal paper, there is no need to use consumables - direct output machines are used.

And the most important difference between these types of equipment is the cost: the price for large-format printing machines, depending on the parameters and quality, can go up to 60 thousand dollars, while an ordinary home printer costs about 50 dollars.

Ours offers a large selection of printing equipment for home and professional use from world brands. Managers will be happy to answer all questions and help you make the right choice.

Interlink has been selling plotters, large format printers and MFPs for over 25 years. We have collected information for you, an analytical selection of articles and made a video for you to help you buy a plotter. When buying a plotter, you need to consider the obvious characteristics, such as the size, width of the paper, speed, number of colors, productivity and the purchase price of the printer itself. But the important role is played by less explicit parameters of using the plotter after purchase, such as the cost of ownership, cost price, usability, the cost of buying and replacing the print head. How much, your task is not to buy a plotter, but to solve your problems of outputting drawings, maps, posters, photographs and other large format A1 or A0 format products most efficiently, quickly and cheaply.

Often, when choosing a plotter for purchase, they are guided by the advice of friends, partners or competitors. This strategy is often a winning strategy, but not always. Every plotter manufacturer tries to bring technical innovations to the large format printer market and not just keep up with the market changes. Perhaps the plotters that your friends bought are great for solving their problems, but for you there is better choice... Spend a little time before buying a plotter, call us for advice. Hear our proposal for model and price. Still, smoking a plotter is a serious step. We will tell you the pros and cons, and you, armed with knowledge, can buy a plotter and not be mistaken.

Which plotter to choose

A plotter or large format printer is almost indistinguishable from home printers and serves the same purpose as printing on paper, only at a large size. For the most part, plotters are divided into 2 categories: technical and photo. Technical plotters are designed to output drawings, diagrams, maps and posters. Photo-plotters are used to print photographs and paintings.

Technical plotters

Technical plotters have medium speed and few colors, 4-6 cartridges. When choosing a technical plotter, the main focus is on speed and economy. Technical plotters produce drawings, diagrams, patterns, maps and posters. In some cases, photographic quality photographs and posters are printed. The resolution of current plotters allows this. These plotters include: HP DesignJet T-series, Canon iPF 6xx, 7xx, 8xx series, Epson SureColor SC-T series

Free shipping and installation

By purchasing an HP DesignJet T and Z series plotter, you get free delivery in Moscow to your office or transport company... Epson photo plotters are delivered free of charge throughout Russia *. (* - not all models)

HP T and Z series plotters except T120 and T520 are installed free of charge throughout Moscow. Epson plotters are installed depending on the availability of a service center.

Switch to large format large format printers - now it's available! The Interlink company offers to buy large-format plotters with the best combination of price and quality. Interlink sells color plotters and printers of such brands as HP, Epson, Canon. The opportunity to be the official representative of these firms in Russia allowed her to take a leading position in this segment. This also provides customers with the opportunity to buy large format plotters of any level at the lowest prices.

How to choose a plotter? What to look for. What can you save on and what you can't.

So you decided buy a plotter... But you can't decide what size. Let's define what and how. What are the mistakes when choosing a widescreen device?

Very often people choosing an A0 format printer say that 914 mm is enough for them. Of course, according to GOST, the width is a0 841 mm, but in reality a situation may emerge when you need to print something larger than 841 mm: a poster on the wall, an ad: "wipe your feet", a thesis 1 meter wide, or something else. And here you will remember that when you were choosing a printer, you were greedy for an additional 15-20 thousand and bought "the one that is cheaper." The same thing happens when the conversation is about the fact that "we constantly print the maximum a2." Do not be stingy to lay out a little more and buy a1 format plotter... “How can I print a2?” You ask. And elementary))). Turn the drawing on its side and get a1 format on the long side. I also hasten to note that a2 format plotters are rarely supplied with a stand. And for A1 format - it is almost always included. And A1 paper is more affordable and you can choose from different options: coated, photo, canvas and more. The cost price of material in a1 winding will always be cheaper than similar paper in a2 format.

Next typical mistake is that "yes, we will connect the printer via USB to the computer and give access to the rest of the computers." Let's face it, this connection option is possible, but inconvenient. It is much easier to network computers and give everyone the same access to the printer. In this case, there will be no need to keep the machine turned on, to which the plotter is connected via USB. Now, with the low cost of network devices, this will not hit your pocket. And the usability is immeasurably higher.

Well, gradually we got to the cartridges. “Give me the cheapest cartridge,” the buyer usually asks. I'm not talking about non-original cartridges. Using them is a kind of lottery and buying a non-original, you cannot be guaranteed to get the print quality declared by the manufacturer. I'm talking about the volume of cartridges. For example for HP DesignJet Т520There are 38ml and 80ml black cartridge. If you calculate the cost of a milliliter, then it becomes obvious that buying an 80 ml cartridge is simply more profitable. And this if 1 cartridge, and if you need a kit? And if you need 5 sets?

Well, and probably the most important thing. Buy a plotter from those organizations that provide advice and support. Call and just ask questions about the device. Now there are a lot of companies on the plotter market that can sell you a plotter, but alas, only 3-4 companies in Moscow will be able to give a decent consultation and help determine the choice of device... It is important to understand that the seller does not just "sell" a box to you, but will be able to provide a full range of services both during the sale and afterwards. Very often, users have questions during operation, and it is here that it becomes clear who really understands large-format equipment, and who is just a "boxer". Pay attention to the fact that the catalog of goods contains not only plotters, but also consumables and paper. This will significantly save you both time and nerves.

Here are some tips for choosing a plotter.

Buy a plotter in six easy steps

If you have decided to buy a large-format printer A0, A1 or a plotter, you can do it right now! Round-the-clock operation of the site, the site and short delivery times allow you to receive the equipment the next working day. To buy a plotter in an online store you need:

• go to the appropriate section;
• choose a manufacturer;
• decide on the series of the device;
• refine the model according to the given characteristics and select it for placement in the basket;
• fill in information for delivery;
• make payment in accordance with the selected method.

For the convenience of customers, in the same section, author's materials are selected with advice on choosing plotters and printers A1 and A0, a detailed description of each model is given and its price is indicated. The price list is also available separately in zip format in the "Products" section. All sold equipment, including plotters, large-format printers A0, A1, is provided with a manufacturer's warranty. Don't forget about consumables! We have paper and films for plotter and A1 printer, the price of which is much lower than that of competitors. An order can be made by both a legal entity and an individual. Payment for a purchase can be made in cash and non-cash payment methods. Delivery is carried out in Moscow and the region on a paid basis. However, within special promotions it can also be provided free of charge.

Even a person who turns to "you" with office equipment and computer electronics today may not know how a plotter differs from a printer. The confusion in terms is due to both the manufacturers and the market. The point is the unification of technologies and the adaptation of marketing to the lexicon of the layman: the same devices are called large-format printers and plotters, and the latter, in combination with the definition of "cutting", are also used to refer to cutters.

Initially plotters the devices used for automatic drawing of maps, diagrams and any other graphics on large media were called. In fact, they replaced the graphs who no longer had to create high-precision images by hand. Naturally, the drawing was calculated and built on the computer.

Plotter

Printers - printing devices for displaying images or text on a material medium in small quantities, without creating printed form... Office and home models work with media sizes from A4 (rarely A3), and large-format printers are distinguished into a separate category, allowing you to print information on sheets and rolls from A0 to A3.

As you can see, the difference between a plotter and a printer is in the way of outputting the image: the first one draws (plotter from English - "a plotter of curves"), the second prints. However, this difference can already be transferred to the category of historical: devices have to draw less and less - the process is unprofitable.

Today there is no need to draw graphics in a linear fashion, and high accuracy and detail of the image is achieved by software and by means of printing technologies. Therefore, plotters-plotters that output vector drawings are a thing of the past, and their name is often called the large-format printers that replaced them.

Comparison

If we talk about a vector plotter, then the design differences from the printer seem to be very significant. The print head of this type of device applies the ink element along a predetermined path in a linear fashion, as a person does with a pencil in his hand. As a printing element, pens with continuous ink supply are used, and in some models (already discontinued), ordinary drawing pencils could be used. The consumption of materials with this method of image output is minimal, but the process is very slow. Today, such plotters are used exclusively in engineering systems, and most CAD developers are adapting their products to the capabilities of large format printers.

It is these machines that allow you to print a raster image on large format media (up to A0). Structurally, they differ from office printers only in size (they can reach several meters in length) and in the way they are fed. If we usually load A4 sheets, then large-format printing involves the use of materials rolled into a roll. In this case, only the width is limited, and the length finished products can be any. Many models of such plotters are equipped with a cutter to automatically cut the sheet when it reaches the desired size.

In addition, there are also flatbed plotters - devices that allow you to print on hard surfaces. Their ink block itself passes over the fixed sheet, applying and fixing the image. Thus, they create drawings on glass, corrugated cardboard, plywood, veneer. The size of the carrier, as a rule, does not exceed A2 in this case, and the devices themselves are massive, with a floor installation depending on the type of material.

Just like conventional printers, plotters can be laser (mainly used in engineering and architectural systems) and inkjet (the most common type for low-volume printing). For printing on thermal paper, direct output devices are often used, which do not require consumables.

Office and home printers usually have simple tasks: output acceptable quality images or text. Printing requires more subtle settings, so that plotters allow you to adjust a variety of print parameters manually or automatically.

And finally, the difference between a plotter and a printer is especially significant for the layman: the cost of large-format devices can go up to $ 60,000, depending on the level of color printing and the maximum possible format. Equipment for printing ordinary posters, posters and reproductions A3 or A2 will cost an average of about $ 1000. A regular home printer can be purchased for $ 50. This (and the dimensions, of course) makes large-format devices the inhabitants of studios and printing centers, but not offices.

Unlike large format machines, the cutter is not designed for printing. Technologically, it is much closer to traditional plotters, but instead of a writing block it has a cutting block. This technique is used to cut and perforate material when creating, for example, patterns, patterns, stickers. Some models allow you to replace the knife with a felt-tip pen or a lead, as a result you get a drawing.

Table

Printers (printing devices)- devices for outputting data from a computer, converting information ASCII codes into the corresponding graphic symbols (letters, numbers, signs, etc.) and fixing these symbols on paper.

Printers differ among themselves in various ways:

chromaticity (black and white and color);

the way of forming symbols (sign-printing and sign-synthesizing);

principle of operation (matrix, thermal, inkjet, laser);

printing methods (percussion, unstressed) and line formation (sequential, parallel);

carriage width (with a wide (375-450 mm) and narrow (250 mm) carriage);

the length of the printed line (80 and 132-136 characters);

character set (up to the full ASCII character set);

print speed;

resolution, the most common unit of measurement is dpi (dots per inch) - the number of dots per inch.

Within a number of groups, several types of printers can be distinguished, for example, widely used dot matrix sign-synthesis printersaccording to the principle of action can be percussion,thermographic,electrographic,electrostatic,magnetographicand etc.

Among shock printers, letter, spherical, petal (daisy type), needle (matrix), etc. are often used.

Printers can print character by character, line by line, page by page. Print speed varies from 10-300 characters / s (shock printers) to 500-1000 characters / s and even up to several tens (up to 20) pages per minute (shockless laser printers); resolution - from 3-5 dots per millimeter to 30-40 dots per millimeter (laser printers).

Many printers allow for efficient output of graphic information (using pseudo-graphic symbols); service print modes: heavy print, double-width print, underline, superscript and subscript, highlighted print (each character is printed twice), two-pass print (the second time a character is printed with a slight shift) and multicolor (up to 100 different colors and shades) printing.

Dot Matrix Printersbelong to serial impact dot matrix printers ( impact dot matrix), in which the image is formed from dots in a shock manner. The principle of operation of a dot matrix printer is as follows (Fig. 9): a vertical row (or two rows) of needles or hammers "injects" the dye from the ribbon directly into the paper, forming successively character by character. The printhead moves horizontally and the characters on the line are printed sequentially. Many printers print both forward and backward.

Printers can work in two modes - text and graphic. IN text modethe character codes to be printed are sent to the printer, and the character outlines are selected from the character generator of the printer. IN graphics modecodes are sent to the printer that determine the sequence and location of the image dots.

For these printers, it is usually possible to use both cut and roll paper. The printer head can be equipped with 9 (the character matrix in such printers has a dimension of 79 or 99 dots), 18 or 24 needles.

There are models of printers with both wide (A3) and narrow (A4) carriages.

For text printing, the following modes are generally available, with varying print quality:

draft mode ( Draft) - printing in one pass of the printhead along the line;

print mode close to typographic ( NLQ–Near Letter Quality) for 9-pin printers; realized in two passes: after the first pass of the head, the paper is pulled at a distance corresponding to half the size of the point, then the second pass is made with partial overlapping of the points

print-quality mode ( LQ–Letter quality) - for 24-pin printers;

super quality mode ( SLQ-Super letter quality).

Dot matrix printers generally support several scalable fonts (embedded or software downloadable) and their flavors.

Switching modes of operation of matrix printers and changing fonts can be carried out both software and hardware by pressing the keys available on the devices and / or setting the switches accordingly.

The performance of dot matrix printers when printing text in mode Draftis in the range of 100-300 characters / s, which corresponds to about two pages per minute (taking into account the change of sheets).

Typically, modern printers are equipped with. Higher productivity is provided by line (page) dot matrix printers. Instead of small dot matrix heads, they use long arrays with a large number of needles and achieve print speeds in the order of 1500 lines per minute.

IN thermal printersinstead of a needle print head, a thermal matrix head is used. Printing is carried out by "burning" characters. In this case, special thermal paper or thermal carbon is used.

Principle of operation thermal transfer wax printer(thermal wax transfer) consists in the fact that the thermoplastic coloring matter applied on a thin substrate falls on the paper exactly in the place where the required temperature is provided by the heating elements (analogs of needles) of the print head. The main components of the print head of a thermal printer are several small heating elements, located in much the same way as the needles are located in a dot matrix printer: one above the other in two rows. The print head of a thermal printer is positioned horizontally only and paper is fed vertically (serial printers).

Dye Sublimation Printers(Dye sublimation) use a technology close to thermal transfer technology, only the elements of the print head are heated in this case to a higher temperature. During sublimation, the transition of a substance from a solid state to a gaseous state occurs, bypassing the liquid stage. Thus, a portion of the dye sublimates from the substrate and is deposited on paper or other media. With a combination of dye colors, you can choose almost any color palette. This technology is used only for color printing, and the devices that implement it have very good technical characteristics and are quite expensive. Their main advantages include almost photographic quality of the resulting image and a wide range of color shades without the use of rasterization.

FROM inkjet printersbelong to the class of sequential dot matrix impactless printers. They are classified into continuous ( continuous drop,continuous jet) and discrete ( drop-on-demand) actions. The latter in their work can use either thermal "bubble" technology ( bubble-jet, or thermal ink-jet), or piezoelectric effect ( piezo ink-jet). For ink devices, the print head moves relative to the stationary paper (Figure 10). The nozzles (duct holes) on the print head, through which ink is sprayed, correspond to the “impact” needles. The number of nozzles for different printer models usually varies from 12 to 256. Since the size of each nozzle is much smaller than the diameter of a needle (thinner than a human hair), and the number of nozzles can be large, the resulting image is clear (if the ink does not bleed on the paper). The maximum resolution of mass-produced models reaches 1440 dpi.

The main parameters of inkjet printers are:

printing technology- a method of forming a drop of ink. In piezoelectric printheads, a drop is formed and shot onto paper due to the piezoelectric effect (printers Epson), a drop is shot in the bubble heads due to the pressure of the vapor bubble that occurs when the ink is heated (printers Canon,Hewlett-Packardand Lexmark). In bubble printing mechanisms, the print head nozzles wear out faster, so the head is aligned with the cartridge and is replaced with a new one along with an empty ink cartridge. Piezoelectric heads are usually non-replaceable; only ink cartridges are changed;

resolutioncharacterizes the size of the smallest details of the image transmitted when printing without distortion, measured in dpi ( dot per inch) is the number of individual dots of dye applied per inch of paper. For grayscale or color pictures, colors and tints are produced by screening ( Dithering). At the same time, for a rough estimate, we can assume that the grayscale and color resolution will be equal to the two-color specified for the printer, divided by 8 (i.e., a photograph scanned at 150 dpi, in a 1: 1 scale should be printed on an inkjet printer with a resolution of 1440 dpi , otherwise fine details of the image will be lost). In this regard, it is important to highlight the different approaches of the two leading inkjet printer manufacturers Epsonand Hewlett-Packardto improve their printers. If Epsoncontinuously increases their resolution, which is currently 1440720 dpi in most models, then Hewlett-Packardimproves the print quality of its printers by reducing the volume of ink droplets, controlling the droplet diameter and printing in multiple layers, while the resolution of printers has not increased for several years and is 600600 dpi for black and white and 300300 dpi for color printing ... In dark and saturated areas of the image, both methods give approximately the same result. Other companies using bubble printing technology such as Lexmarkand Canonhave reached the resolution of 24001200 dpi to date;

number of colors... In black and white printers, the print head (and the cartridge for it) is one (for example, Epson Stylus 1000,HP Deskjet 520). Tri-color printers accept one black ink cartridge or three ink cartridge CMY(Cyan,Magenta,Yellow- blue, crimson, yellow), while black is obtained by mixing these colors and in reality looks dirty brown, for example, HP Deskjet 600C,Lexmark 1020... Four-color printers implement the print model CMYK(Cyan,Magenta,Yellow,Black) and use either four separate cartridges, or two: black and color. Most modern inkjet printers are four-color. Today, the best quality color bitmap printing is obtained when using not four, but six colors. Six-color models of inkjet printers are in the arsenal of all leading manufacturers of these devices.

interface... Until recently, the main interface for connecting printers was the parallel port with its various extensions: EPP, Bi-Directional, etc. With the active introduction of the USB bus, more and more devices with this interface appear. There are models that support infrared printing. The most powerful and expensive network models allow you to connect directly to an Ethernet network.

usability and additional features... These include:

• availability of automatic paper feed;

  large and convenient receiving tray;

  the ability to print on paper of various weights, envelopes, labels, transparencies and long rolls of paper;

  convenient printer controls;

  the presence of color profiles and means of color calibration of the printer.

  as an additional function, it is possible to install a scanning head instead of a cartridge, which gives the printer the qualities of an entry-level roll scanner (some models Canon);

driver quality- availability and functionality drivers for various operating systems. For color printing, the quality of the color separation operation is very important, an unsuccessful implementation of which can spoil the print quality of a printer with good hardware characteristics.

operating cost... Many inkjet printers are sold at their cost price or even lower, and the manufacturer receives the main income from the sale of consumables. The cost of inexpensive printers is equal to the cost of 3-5 cartridges for them. One way to keep your black and white printing costs down is to refill and reuse cartridges. Refilling cartridges are best suited from bubble printers, while for printers with a non-replaceable head, refilling experiments seem too risky. It is better to use consumables for refueling. renowned manufacturers (BASF,Fullmark) designed specifically for this cartridge model. The cartridge can withstand 2-3 refills without serious deterioration in print quality.

printer resource- time of continuous operation. For inexpensive printers, it usually does not exceed 1000 pages per month; for network printers, this figure exceeds tens of thousands of pages. Printing more sheets will cause premature wear and tear on the printer and damage it.

At the heart of the work dye phase change printers(Phase Change Ink-Jet, or Solid Ink-Jet) the following principle lies. The wax rods for each primary color of the dye are gradually melted by a special heating element and entered into separate containers. The melted dyes are fed from there by a special pump to the print head, which usually works on the basis of the piezoelectric effect. Drops of waxy dye on paper freeze almost instantly, but provide the necessary adhesion to it. In contrast to conventional inkjet technology, there is no leakage, no spreading, no mixing of the dyes. This is why printers using dye phase change technology work with any paper. The quality of the colors is flawless, and double-sided printing is also acceptable.

Laser printers.Laser printers use electrographic principleimage creation used in copiers. This process, in particular, includes creating a relief of the electrostatic potential in the semiconductor layer with its subsequent visualization. The actual visualization is carried out using dry powder particles - toner applied to paper. The most important elements of a laser printer are a photoconductive cylinder (image drum), a semiconductor laser, and a precision optical-mechanical system that moves the beam.

L the laser is used to create an ultra-thin light beam that traces the contours of an invisible point electronic image on the surface of a pre-charged photosensitive drum - an electric charge flows down from dots illuminated by a laser beam on the drum surface. After the development of the electronic image with the dye (toner) powder adhering to the discharged areas, printing is performed - the toner is transferred from the drum to the paper and the image is fixed on the paper by heating the toner until it melts (Fig. 11).

By print speed, laser printers are divided into

low-speed printers - 4-6 pages per minute;

medium-speed printers - 7-11 pages per minute;

shared printers (network printers) - more than 12 pages per minute.

For laser printers working with A4 paper, the de facto resolution is 600-1200 dpi (dots per inch). Printers capable of working with A3 paper, as a rule, have a resolution of 1200 dpi and higher, as well as a low output speed - 3-4 pages per minute. The most important functionalities of printers include support for high-resolution technology, scalable fonts ( PostScript,TrueType), the amount of RAM, etc.

Laser printers can be color and monochrome (black and white). For example, a laser printer from Tektronix(USA) Phaser 550has a resolution both horizontally and vertically 1200 dpi; color print speed - 5 A4 pages per minute, monochrome print speed - 14 ppm.

In addition to laser printers, there are also so-called LED printers(Light Emitting Diode), which got their name due to the replacement of the semiconductor laser in them with a "comb" of the smallest LEDs. In this case, a complex optical system of rotating mirrors and lenses is not required, which makes it possible to implement cheaper solutions. The company specializes in LED printers OKI.

Devices that allow the presentation of data output from a PC in the form of a picture or graph on paper include plotters(or plotters-Plotter).

Pen plotters existing today are conventionally divided into three groups:

plotters that use a frictional pressure to move paper along one axis and move the pen along the other;

drum (or roll plotters), which work in much the same way as friction plotters, but use a special tractor to move a continuous perforated paper tape ( Tractor Feed);

flatbed plotters in which the paper is stationary and the pen moves on both axes.

The most commonly used with personal computers are the first and third types of plotters, which are designed for A3 or A4 paper sizes. But there are flatbed plotters even for the A0 format. Drum plotters are typically used for outputting long continuous graphs, charts and large drawings, which is typical for tasks associated with, for example, CAD.

Different models of plotters can have one or several pens of different colors (usually 4-8). There are three different types of nibs: wick (filled with ink), ballpoint (analogue of a ballpoint pen) and with a tubular nib (incographs) For refueling the latter type of feathers, a special ink is used.

The de facto standard for tablet plotters is the company's devices Hewlett-Packard... Also, the graphical language HP-GL(Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language) has also become the de facto standard in the industry. Models are considered good plotters DXYfrom the firm Roland... Besides the fact that they are all compatible with HPand HP-GL, these models also use their own graphic language DXY-GL.

Plotters can use both special technologies (for example, electrostatic) and technologies used in printers (thermal, laser, LED, inkjet). Currently, inkjet devices are becoming more widespread. For example plotters Hewlett-Packardfamilies DesignJetformat A0 and A1 work 4-5 times faster than their pen counterparts. Using two inkjet ink cartridges, the inkjet plotter operates at a resolution of at least 300 dpi and has two modes: fine and sketch. The algorithm used in sketch (draft) mode can almost halve ink consumption. Typically inkjet plotters can emulate the most famous printers such as Epson 1050and IBM ProPrinter XL24E... New types of plotters are equipped with drivers for most well-known CAD systems, for Windows and UNIX platforms.

The connection of printers and plotters with the PC system unit is carried out via a serial, parallel or SCSI interface. Parallel ports are used to connect printers operating in parallel (receiving information immediately by byte). For example, adapters such as Centronics allow you to connect up to three printers at the same time. Serial ports are used to connect sequentially working (receiving information sequentially by 1 bit) printers, for example, RS-232C adapters (C2 joint). In recent years, the USB interface has become widely used.

Many modern high-speed printers and plotters have their own buffer memory with a capacity of up to several tens of megabytes, into which a portion of the printed information is loaded.

*Interface(interface) - a set of means of interface and communication of computer devices, ensuring their effective interaction.

* * I / O port(I / O - Input / Output port) - interface equipment that allows you to connect another PC device to the microprocessor.