Difference Between a Plotter & a Format Printer

Two types of printers used in industrial and commercial settings are the plotter and the wide format printer. The distinction between the two can be subtle.

Wide Format Printer

A wide format printer refers to any printer that can print documents of a size larger than the sizes of standard paper, such as poster or even billboard sized documents.

Plotter

By distinction, plotters are special printers that use a set of pens to draw large documents that consist entirely of lines with no areas of solid color. This is distinct from other printers, which draw all images as an array of colored dots. Plotters range in size from desktop to room-size. They are used most commonly in Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) and similar applications.

Modern Plotters

Pen-driven plotters have been replaced largely by other types of wide-format printers, though printersdesigned especially for use in CAD sometimes are still called "plotters."

How to Install Plotter Driver to Your Desktop

How to Install Plotter Driver to Your Desktop?

Connect the plotter and insert the plotter CD/DVD

Click on Start » Settings » Printers » Add Printer 

You will see Add Printer wizard and follow the wizard as given below:

1. Welcome to the Add Printer Wizard:

2. Check “Local Printer” box.

3. Check “Create a new port” and “Local Port” in the Type box.

4. Enter \\p1_casnet\myplot into the box.

5. Select “MyManufacturer” from the Manufacturer column and “MyplotterModel“ from the Printers column.

6. Keep the Printer name as the way it is and check “No” to “Do you want your Windows-based programs to use this printer as the default printer?”

7. Check “Do not share this printer”.

8. Once the plotter driver is installed, open your Power Point file.  Click "Page Setup" to specify the Width and Height of your poster.  Note: If you choose "Landscape", the maximum height is 34 inches; if you choose "Portrait", the maximum width is 34 inches.

9. When you are ready to print, select “MyPlotterModel” in the Name box, then click "Properities" box.

10. Click tab "Paper Size", select "Landscape", and click "More sizes" box.

Then accordingly select the required size the click on OK and then Apply.