Plotters

Roland-CAMM-1-PNC-1000-vinyl-cutter-and-pen-plotter

Description

Plotters are computer controlled (CNC) devices which drive a pen (or cutter) to transfer a computer generated design from the screen on to materials such as vinyl, paper and card. Most modern plotters (and Cutter/Plotters) move the pen or cutter along the X Axis but friction rollers move the material under it along the Y Axis. X-Y Flat Bed Plotters have largely been replaced by large format Printers except when the need is to plot, crease, score or cut thicker materials.

Features and Applications

Cutter/Plotters use knives in place of pens such that they are able to score or cut through thin sheet materials. They are used extensively in the sign making industry to cut out self-adhesive vinyl lettering, for example, but can be used also to cut designs out of paper or thin card.

Some Cutter/Plotters include Optical Eyes. The Optical Eye is a laser pointing device for Contour Cutting which is a feature mainly for cutting around designs from printed material (such as printed iron-on transfer for t-shirt). The design can printed onto media such as white vinyl and later its outline is cut out to create a decal or sticker. Software used is able to locate 3 registration points to calculate the scale and position of the medium to enable the design to be cut out.