Readability both in daylight and at night is improved because, free of the limitations of the standard colors used in ink-based lithographic printing, the plotters can offer distinctive, brighter colors.
Lamination is available to make the chart both water and abrasion resistant.
The margins can be printed with tidal information, marina information, boatyard and shipyard data, commercial shipping agent data - virtually anything that can be transmitted digitally and processed by the system can be added to the chart. It's even possible to customize the margin information for each company, agent, or individual user on request. The charts are printed by OceanGrafix of St. Paul, Minn., which receives chart image files from the Coast Survey. They receive chart orders, print them out, and then send the orders by express shipment to the sales agent, who sells to the customer. OceanGrafix only prints charts when ordered, so there is no wasted ink or paper.