Re: gEDA-user: improve PNG output quality

[Dave McGuire <mcguire@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Oct 21, 2008, at 1:57 PM, Joerg wrote:
>>> Nowadays some CAD SW defaults to bitmaps instead of vector for text.
>>> Probably because of a declining acceptance of vector-graphic import
>>> into
>>> text docs. Or maybe because nobody uses plotters anymore. I still
>>> remember the mess when a client's engineer tried to unclog one of
>>> those
>>> dinosaurs. At the end of the day his brand new shirt was ruined,
>>> permanantly stained with ink splatters. His wife was not enthused.
>>
>>    Bunk!  Lots of people still use vector plotters; I see them all
>> the time.  Large-format ink jet plotters (still called "plotters"
>> even though they're not vector devices) have replaced some of them,
>> but not all.  These large ink jet devices are currently huge
>> sellers.  There are dozens of them, both pen and ink jet, in my
>> backwater town alone!  (I know this because a company I do some work
>> for repairs them)
>>
>>    But, from your comments regarding unclogging, I'm assuming you're
>> talking about ink jet plotters, as pen plotters almost exclusively
>> use felt tip pens which don't clog.  The suggestion that ink jet
>> plotters have fallen into disuse is even more absurd.
>>
> Well, let's put it that way: I have a lot of clients and the last  
> time I
> saw any kind of large plotter at a company doing electronics was  
> either
> 1993 or 1994.
>
> AFAIK out here the only guys still using large vector-based  
> plotters are
> the vinyl cutters in the advertising business. If folks like me or
> companies need a huge schematic they email it over to places like
> Kinko's and somebody picks it up after lunch break.

   The biggest users of plotters around here are architects and civil  
engineers.  There aren't really any electronics firms around here,  
much to my annoyance.  But I'd go so far as to say that large-format  
plotters are bigger now than ever before.

> Do you know if HP still produces plotters?

   Yes, a wide range of models.  The company I (sometimes) work for  
sells them, as well as services them.

           -Dave

-- 
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL




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