How does the cutting plotter work?

The cutting plotter is a very popular device. It is indispensable wherever large quantities of small parts of uniform shape need to be cut in a short time. How does such a device work and what are its technical capabilities?

Cutting plotter - what is this device?

Plotery tnące są to urządzenia służące przede wszystkim do wycinania w różnego rodzaju materiałach.

Cutting plotters are devices used primarily for cutting in various types of materials. Plotters can cut by using a blade or a laser beam. There are many groups of cutting plotters, they include:

• craft plotters - small home devices used in handicraft and hobby work,

• professional plotters - devices often used in printing and advertising for large-format cutting, they are characterized by high speed and precision cutting,

• printing and cutting plotters - large format plotters used in specialized industries,

• solvent plotters - professional printing devices used, among others: to create billboards or advertisements,

• table plotters - devices based on a flat table, often used for manufacturing boxes or processing paper and fabrics,

• laser plotters - plotters which cut and engrave through a laser beam,

Plotters are usually operated with the help of a graphics program installed on a computer with which they connect, whether through an appropriate cable, via wifi or bluetooth.

To fathom the secret of the popularity of these machines, it is necessary to know what a plotter does. It is a device equipped with a special head with a writing tip or cutting blade. Depending on the tool used, it can often also sketch designs on a substrate, cut them out, engrave, overcut or gild.

Plotter - how does the cutting model work?

In order to know the full potential use of this device, it is useful to know what a plotter is, how such a device works and what types there are.

How does a cutting plotter work?
Craft and professional plotters can cut through materials when placed on plotter mats that hold the material stationary during the cutting process. Often they can also cut out backing materials such as self-adhesive sheets, self-adhesive films, thermal flex and flock films without the need for a mat. Both the mat and the film are moved forward and backward in the machine using rollers. The head, together with the blade holder, slides right and left on the metal guide lowering the blade with the appropriate pressure and cutting the pattern on the loaded material.

Advantages and applications of cutting plotters.

Knowing how a cutting plotter works, one can imagine a wide range of its uses. Devices of this type are particularly popular in the advertising industry and in the production of stationery. With their help, you can also cut stencils, stickers, labels, business cards of unusual shapes, elements for ironing or thermal transfer and many other details.

Among the advantages of this device, the ability to quickly cut many identical elements in a short period of time comes to the fore. More importantly, the cutting plotter also works well for unit projects. With the right settings, the machine can make parts of different sizes, from materials of different thickness, stiffness or texture.