Plotter is a printer used to draw large blueprints, schematic diagrams, and similar illustrations. Many plotters use several pens to draw lines on a roll of paper. A computer controls the movement of both the paper and the pens. The paper moves back and forth under mountings that hold the pens. The pens slide along the mountings at a right angle to the movement of the paper. Other plotters used to make large drawings are an electrostatic plotter, which works somewhat like a copying machine; and an inkjet plotter, which is basically a large inkjet printer.
Plotters serve as output devices for architects and industrial designers who use a technique called computer-aided design and drafting (CADD). CADD software offers several electronic design tools. For example, a designer can rotate a picture of the object being designed as if the actual object were rotating in space. This tool can give the designer a variety of helpful views of the object.
