In the 1980s, one of the major players in the large-format hardcopy market was the Xerox-owned Versatec Corporation. Versatec made large-format electrostatic (raster) plotters. Most of the profitability in this business came from the sales of consumables. In 1988, HP introduced its 7600 Series electrostatic plotters: the A1/D size 240D (C1600A, $22,900), and the A0/E size 240E (C1601A, $27,500). These first two models were monochrome.

HP introduced its color electrostatic plotter in 1990, the Model 355 (C1620A, $45,900). During this year, HP also upgraded the original monochrome models to the Model 250 (C1625A, $25,900) and the Model 255 (C1627A, $29,900). HP's electrostatic plotters were all made by the Matsushita Corporation of Japan.

The electrostatic plotter market collapsed very quickly after the introduction of the large-format inkjet plotters (the DesignJet Series) in the early 1990s. The inkjet plotters offered a much lower capital and opearting cost structure than the electrostatic plotters.