C Plotter Size
Page size 3–3 When do you need to adjust the page size in the plotter? 3–4 To adjust the page size in the Setup Sheet 3–5 Page size and clipped plots 3–6 Rotating a plot 3–7 Can you rotate any drawing using the Setup Sheet? 3–7 To rotate a plot using the plotter’s Setup Sheet 3–7 Exactly what is rotated? If you have any questions about what size plotter paper you need for your HP, Epson, or Canon plotter printer or your plotter paper needs, feel free to give us a call and one of our many highly qualified plotter specialists will gladly assist you. For questions and support call 414-321-1422. This product can only be shipped via FedEx Freight Economy. Please expect a 3-6 day delivery schedule (could be longer for AK/HI). Due to the size of the product, it cannot be returned. Save $300 instantly.
Before buying plotter paper for your inkjet printer or xerographic copier, it’s important to understand a few specifications related to plotter paper roll sizes. The type of plotter paper roll size you need will depend on the specific model of wide format inkjet printer or xerographic copier that will use the paper.
An 11-pm spot size, yields a softcopy C-factor that is slightly less than the C-factor for a first-order plotter. Although the soft C-factor is empirical, it can be shown that softcopy pho- togrammetry is capable of accomplishing precision topo- graphic mapping and the soft C-factor can indicate the proper flying height. With a C-size tray and automatic roll-feed capability up to 24 inches, you can print postcard-size images, full-color pages, or banner-size images. Print speeds up to 4 minutes per page for B size in Normal mode help get the job done. Color technologies from HP deliver reliable and accurate color.
Here are a few specifications to take into account (take a peek at our plotter paper size chart for a quick reference.)
Roll Width: The width of the plotter paper roll is the first number in the specification. In the United States, plotter paper roll widths are expressed in inches. Popular roll widths for wide-format plotters include 11, 17, 18, 22, 24, 30, 34, 36, and 42 inches.
These roll widths make it cost-effective and efficient to continuously print higher volumes of standard-size engineering and architectural drawings and office documents on wide-format inkjet printers with built-in cutters. (See the list of standard sizes for engineering and architectural drawings and letter papers in our plotter paper size chart.)
Roll Length: The length of the plotter paper roll is expressed in feet. Bond papers are commonly sold in lengths of 150, 300 and 500 feet, so you don’t have to stop to reload the paper during a job in which you are printing multiple copies or sets of drawings. Heavier or thicker papers or clear films for special applications are typically sold in roll lengths of 100 to 150 feet.
Core Diameter: The core size refers to the diameter of the cardboard tube on which the plotter paper is rolled. Plotter paper rolls for inkjet printers are sold on 2-inch cores. Plotter paper rolls of xerographic copiers are typically sold on 3-inch cores.
Caliper: The thickness of a paper is typically expressed in “mils,” which is one-thousandth of an inch. Older-model inkjet printers that were designed to print on bond papers and clear films can only feed materials with thicknesses of 9 mil or less. Newer models of wide-format inkjet printers were designed to handle a wide range of bond papers, photo papers, art papers, canvas and sign materials and can feed materials much thicker than 9 mil. Some models can handle materials up to 12 mil thick; other models can print on substrates up to 31 mil thick. Check your printer’s user manual or spec sheet to determine the maximum thickness of material that your printer can handle.
Other Specifications: Some popular models of Xerox engineering copier require that the inside edge of the paper be taped to the cardboard core. Freedom Paper sells some engineering copier paper rolls on taped rolls.
If you are buying an optically clear inkjet film for an HP Designjet printer and some other aqueous-ink inkjet printers that use optical sensors, order a clear film that has visible strips on the edges of the rolls so the sensor can “see” the film or a film with a paper interleaf. Refer to your printer’s manual to determine if you need a paper interleaf or side strips for the printer’s sensor to see the material.
Please call the experts at Freedom Paper at 866-310-3335 if you have any questions about plotter paper roll sizes. If you don’t have easy access to the spec sheet or user manual for your printer, we can tell you if the paper you plan to order isn’t for your specific printer and suggest compatible alternatives.
Standard sizes for U.S. Architectural Drawings are:
ARCH A: 9 x 12 inches
ARCH B: 12 x 18 inches
ARCH C: 18 x 24 inches
ARCH D: 24 x 36 inches
ARCH E: 36 x 48 inches
Standard sizes for U.S. Engineering Drawings are:
ANSI A: 8.5 x 11 inches
ANSI B: 11 x 17 inches
ANSI C: 17 x 22 inches
ANSI D: 22 x 34 inches
ANSI E: 34 x 44 inches
ISO (International Standards Organization) Drawing Sheet Sizes are:
A0: 33.11 x 46.81 inches (841 x 1189 millimeters)
A1: 23.39 x 33.11 inches (594 x 841 millimeters)
A2: 16.54 x 22.23 inches (420 x 495 millimeters)
A3: 11.69 x 16.54 inches (297 x 420 millimeters)
A4: 8.27 x 11.69 inches (210 x 297 millimeters)
US Letter Sizes
A: 8.5 x 11 inches
B: 11 x 17 inches
C: 17 x 22 inches
D: 22 x 34 inches
E: 34 x 44 inches
F: 28 x 40 inches
Before we get into which are the best chartplotters or MFDs, it is worth briefly noting the difference between the terms ‘chartplotter’ and ‘MFD’. The terms are broadly used interchangeably, typically an MFD works as a chartplotter but also functions as a whole system hub too, connecting a variety of information sources.
For the most part, MFDs are what you would look to put on most cruising yachts and racing yachts of the modern era. A chartplotter by itself might be something you are after if you are very limited in terms of space and/or budget, or have (and intend to remain with) very few other electronics onboard.
Happily in the last decade or so improvements have worked to both make units more user friendly and have seen something of a levelling process across the market, which means you would be hard pushed to pick the wrong unit, though some will inevitably work better for your needs than others.
What features do the best chartplotters offer?
Screen technology is one area that has seen significant development in recent years. Screens are now screens brighter, easer to see at angles, less troubled by glare and touchscreens are much more responsive when wet too. This has all made touchscreen MFDs much more reliably responsive.
The bonus here is that a pure touchscreen will offer increased screen real estate for its mounting size. To put that simply, a 7in touchscreen will always offer more than a 7in unit with buttons round the outside. But buttons may remain something you want as a backup if you are considering going far offshore.
Most of the chartplotters we cover here will be available in a variety of screen sizes. Typically you’d want to pick up the biggest screen you have space for, so which size option you choose will likely be governed almost entirely by the size of your boat, as well as cost – bigger is pricier.
Most of the best chartplotters will connect via NMEA to other onboard electronics such as wind speed and direction, boat speed, autopilot, AIS and much more. This will enable sailing features such as laylines, accurate routing and auto routing to be available.
Charts are one of the biggest questions for those looking to buy a new MFD. Though these are pretty standardised across a small number of suppliers, there is still variance from unit to unit. If you know what charts you prefer already then you will want to make sure that your chosen MFD is compatible.
Best chartplotters available right now
Plotter Printers For Sale
Raymarine Axiom MFD
Best chartplotter with augmented reality
Raymarine’s Axiom MFDs come in three sizes, 7, 9 or 12in screens and feature a touchscreen surrounded by a border and a few basic buttons on the bottom edge of the screen. Beyond the screen size there is practically no difference between the models, so it will simply be a case of selecting the right size for your boat and your budget.
The Axiom series comes with Raymarine’s proprietary Lighthouse 3 operating system. Lighthouse 3 was launched in 2019 and is an impressive bit of kit, and certainly upgrades a great many of the company’s sailing features. Currently Raymarine are in the process of building a library of yachts into Lighthouse 3. This will mean that if your boat is one of those already in the library you will automatically get a set of performance polars (which can take significant time to develop from scratch) which will make auto routing and layline functions even more accurate and boat specific.
In 2019 alongside the launch of Lighthouse 3 Raymarine unveiled and an augmented reality system, which will work on Axiom MFDs – though it will require the purchase and mounting of a FLIR camera. Once mounted and connected, this camera sends its imagery to the MFD and overlays useful information such as AIS targets’ speed, heading and collision warning data, course to steer visuals and lay lines to name a few. A smartphone or tablet can also be connected as a second screen.
Raymarine’s Axiom MFDs are compatible with their own proprietary Lighthouse charts and Navionics, C-MAP Essentials, and C-MAP 4D MAX+.
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B&G Vulcan MFD
Best chartplotter for club racing
B&G were, for many years, the go-to brand for serious racing sailing and, as such, have long led the field in terms of the best chartplotters and MFDs for sailing. However, the high end nature of their products has meant they were once also considered something of an expensive option.
B&G’s Vulcan range offers a great deal of impressive functionality at great value. This sailing chartplotter was designed primarily for coastal cruising and club racing, so it does lack some of the very top-end racing features you might find in B&G’s other products.
The multi-touch screen comes in three sizes (7, 9, or 12in) and is still packed with plenty of B&G’s unique sailing features including their impressive SailSteer and RacePanel – particularly well loved for providing an easy to follow, simple racing display on an MFD.
B&G’s Vulcan MFD supports the following charts: Insight, Navionics (Gold, NAV+ Platinum+), C-MAP (MAX N, MAX N+) NV Digital (Raster US Charts).
Read PBO’s B&G Vulcan chartplotter review
B&G Zeus3S chartplotter
Best chartplotter for professional sailors
The Zeus is B&Gs higher-end model and features several of the racing and more professional features that the Vulcan skips. The key differences here over the Vulcan are improved processing power – an iMX8 integrated six-core processor – which improves response of the unit. It also includes compatibility with FLIR video cameras too.
The screen for the Zeus3S is a market leader in terms of visibility in light and dark conditions – with or without polarised sunglasses – and control of the touch screen in wet conditions.
The MFD can also be connected and screen shared with other devices, such as a smartphone of tablet, providing you a secondary way of accessing your charting information and/or sailing feedback. Finally, although there is the excellent touchscreen the Zeus3S also features a keyboard in case of severe conditions, which is not included with the Vulcan.
The Zeus3S comes with world baseman charting installed and also supports: Insight, Navionics (Gold, NAV+ Platinum+) , C-MAP (MAX N, MAX N+,Reveal) NV Digital (Raster US Charts).
Garmin GPSMap 8400 MFD
Best chartplotter for sailing and fishing
Garmin are a well-known and trusted marque, their products are generally very impressive and cover a wide range of options. However, they have been quite focussed on the fishing market in the past somewhat to the detriment of their sailing customers and features.
In recent years, though, there has been a clear push to better develop their sailing specific software and this, coupled with the connectivity to the many other available Garmin items on the market, has made them a force to be reckoned with. The GPSMap 8400 range is very much their top-of-the-line marine tech. The units come on a variety of sizes from 10in all the way up to a massive 24in display.
Garmin SailAssist provides critical data displays and pre-race guidance to help you gain a competitive edge. Other sailing features include laylines, enhanced wind rose, heading and course-over-ground lines, true wind data fields and tide/current/time slider.
Gauge displays provide information at a glance, including true and apparent wind angle, set and drift, true or apparent wind speed, horizontal or vertical graphs and a data bar with customisable fields. Connectivity with other devices is excellent with the activeCaptain app allowing connection with smartphones and tables as well as connection to Garmin Quatix sailing watches and FLIR cameras.
The GPSMap8400 can be supplied with Garmin’s exclusive optional BlueChart g3 and BlueChart g3 Vision charts with integrated Navionics data.
Simrad Go7 XSR chartplotter
Best compact chartplotter
The Simrad XSR range is a, full-featured standalone marine chartplotter packed into a compact, unit. Both the GO5 and GO7 XSR feature a bright touch display, StructureScan HD and CHIRP Sonar, autopilot integration/control, integrated wireless connectivity and the new Simrad TripIntelT trip computer.
The XSE display has multi-touch controls that are modelled to be similar to smartphone and tablet control systems and so will be easy to use for most. Boaters are able to tap the screen to create or select waypoints, pinch-to-zoom, or tap-and-drag to pan smoothly across charts, while simple home screen and menu layouts allow quick access to all functions.
Adjustable split-screen views and customisable panel layouts with large, clearly captioned icons that are easy to recognise, make the XSR a simple-to-use, full-featured chartplotter.
Simrad’s Go7 XSR comes with preloaded Basemap and supports the use of C-Map Pro.
Tablet with Navionics
Plotter Paper Sizes Arch
A great value chartplotter alternative
If you are not looking to permanently fit an MFD to your boat, either due to size or lack of places to fit one, a decent option is simply to run Navionics on either a ruggedised tablet, or on a standard tablet with a waterproof casing.
Not being kit designed for this very purpose, there are some things to consider and some obvious drawbacks. You either have to buy a ‘WiFi and Cellular’ version which has an onboard GPS chip (you do not have to insert a SIM card nor do you need a data plan for the GPS functionality). If you go for the WiFi only you will need an external GPS device to plug in to an iPad.
Additionally the screens are not designed to be used inwet environments and they often have not been created to deal with the same sort of glare levels as are the screens on a full-on MFD.
However, the cost of a year’s subscription to Navionics – the charts which many MFDs use anyway – a new tablet, case and mount can be pretty close to that of one of the best chartplotters, and would also mean you have a shiny new tablet which has plenty of other uses.
If you have a smaller boat and merely want a chartplotter to supplement your standard paper-chart navigation, this is a pretty good option.