Using computers to produce art began with scientists, mathematicians, and individuals with strong technical backgrounds who used the graphic material as visualizations of data in technical fields. People are using computer art in advertising, as well as in painting; sculpture; music; textile, product, industrial, and interior design; architecture; city planning; concrete poetry; dance; theatre lighting; and animation and cartooning. Several computer output devices produce different kinds of visuals, some of the most common of which are the line printer (prints letters, dots, lines, and so forth in various shades and densities), the CalComp plotter (computer-driven vertically moving drum), the cathode-ray-tube (electric beam deflected across a screen which allows for interaction in real time), and Dicomed Image Recorder (digitizes transparencies so that sections can be manipulated separately). There is great potential for computer graphics in advertising; computer animation is highly flexible for commercial purposes and cuts the time for conventional animation from several weeks to a couple of days. (TJ)