large format printing: Wide-Format Printers
Wide-format printing (also known as large-format printing) usually refers to devices that can handle sheets of paper 24 inches and wider. These aren't commonly purchased printers; according to a study by CAP Ventures, nearly 76 percent of those who own a wide-format printer are print-for-pay businesses -- print shops, copy shops, etc.
That being said, if your company prints a great many posters, blueprints, maps, or other large-format documents, a wide-format printer is a useful device to have, especially if the alternative is sending your jobs out to print shops.
Wide-format printers can use a variety of printing processes, including inkjet, laser/LED, copy press (which literally presses the image into the paper), thermal transfer (which melts color "crayons" onto the sheets), and electrostatic (where negatively charged toner is attracted to a positively charged drum). They are usually freestanding systems
©2006 About, Inc., A part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.
That being said, if your company prints a great many posters, blueprints, maps, or other large-format documents, a wide-format printer is a useful device to have, especially if the alternative is sending your jobs out to print shops.
Wide-format printers can use a variety of printing processes, including inkjet, laser/LED, copy press (which literally presses the image into the paper), thermal transfer (which melts color "crayons" onto the sheets), and electrostatic (where negatively charged toner is attracted to a positively charged drum). They are usually freestanding systems
©2006 About, Inc., A part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.
