Printers, Plotters, and Graphics

Abstract

A work station may or may not include a printer or a plotter in its own configuration, but almost surely there must be a printer somewhere in the system, for it would be a rare system that did not require printing out some of its products. And if the applications include the printing out of graphics to any significant extent, there is a high degree of probability that a plotter will be required to get truly satisfactory results. But like the components, functions, and characteristics discussed in the prior chapter, there is such a diversity of factors to be considered as to make this a fairly complex area of concern. However, if there is a single major characteristic that distinguishes printers and plotters from most other computer-system components it is this: printers and plotters are essentially mechanical devices, despite their electrical and electronic refinements, whereas most other components are essentially electronic, even if they have some mechanical components.

Despite the steadily increasing automation of all our information processes and systems, we continue to have a substantial reliance on “hard copy”—ink and paper—and the subsystems to produce this.