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Calcomp

developed by Calcomp Plotters/Technology

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 28, 2026
Entity authorityQ5018852
Source-derived summary

Calcomp Technology, Inc., often referred to as Calcomp or CalComp, was a company best known for its Calcomp plotters.

History

It was founded as California Computer Products, Inc in 1959, located in Anaheim, California.

Sanders Associates, Inc., purchased Calcomp in 1980. In 1986, Sanders Associates was purchased by the Lockheed Corporation, and merged into Lockheed's Information Systems Group. Lockheed kept CalComp as a brand name.

Shutdown

Calcomp Technology shut down its operations in 1999, and transferred different product lines to various other companies, some of whom continue to use the "Calcomp" or other "Cal-" trademarks:

Technical Services and spare parts: CalGraph Technology Services, Inc.

TechJet 5500 Large Format Inkjet Plotter / Printer Information: CalComp Graphics.

Digitizer, Tablets and scanners: GTCO CalComp, Inc.

Film Imaging Systems: EcoPro Imaging (now part of OYO Instruments)

Cutter and sign maker products: Westcomp

Products

It produced a wide range of plotters (both drum and flat-bed), digitizers, thermal transfer color printers, thermal plotters (InfoWorld June 13, 1994 p. 40) and other graphic input/output devices.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Calcomp” is developed by Calcomp Plotters/Technology. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Calcomp, developed and Plotters, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA sound reference starting point where classification, measurement and the date of the underlying evidence remain visible. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1959, 1980, 1986, 1999—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Calcomp, developed and Plotters is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “developed by Calcomp Plotters/Technology” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5018852. The first chronological checks are 1959, 1980, 1986 and 1999.

Critical limits

A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
Verify next

Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Calcomp”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Calcomp primary sources, Calcomp archive and Calcomp research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Calcomp”?
  2. Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
  3. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Calcomp” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.