Tag: Plotter

December 6, 2023

Plotter Alternatives, Part 0

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Some New Information

No, this isn’t a mistake. Melz, a fantastic reader, submitted a comment with so much wonderful information, I asked their permission to post it as an addendum to my Plotter alternatives series. You can find even more information about “system techos” on Melz’s blog.

I have only slightly edited the content below to make it flow well (like adding headers). Where I have edited the text (as opposed to just rearranging something), I’ve placed it [in brackets]. Please don’t grant me credit for this knowledge, it comes from the fantastic brain of Melz.

While Plotter markets itself as a leather binder, it is completely categorized as a “system techo” (システム手帳) in Japan. If you throw that into your preferred search engine, you will start to see more relevant results in terms of matching binder sizes and refills.

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Plotter Alternatives, Part 6

November 25, 2023

Rachel

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Plotter Alternatives, Part 6

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Bonus Options

Welcome back for the sixth and final part of this series. If you haven’t read part 1, I’m sharing alternatives to the Plotter system. If you want the full explanation, I suggest you read that post. You can also review the A5, Bible and Narrow, Mini, and Mini 5 alternatives.

Welcome to the sixth and final installment of my Plotter alternatives series. While I researched the various binder sizes, I found several interesting binders that didn’t fit in as alternatives. These binders are too interesting not to share. I hope you find these interesting — and in some cases, unique — binders useful.

Some of these are more along the lines of categories, as there are multiple options for the type of binder. I can’t link to all of them, but I’ve added some links to various binders of that type.

PLEASE NOTE: The images included in the post have been taken from the listings I link to. They are not my images. You can click on them to view larger.

That said, let’s get into the bonus options.

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Plotter Alternatives, Part 5

November 24, 2023

Rachel

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Plotter Alternatives, Part 5

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Mini 5 Alternatives

Welcome back for part 5 of this series. If you haven’t read part 1, I’m sharing alternatives to the Plotter system. If you want the full explanation, I suggest you read that post. You can also review the A5, Bible and Narrow, and Mini alternatives.

This post was harder than expected. I thought it would be easy to find other Mini 5 sized binders. However, the majority of binders around Mini 5 size are 3-ring, not 5 ring. I was, though, able to find some alternatives.

I found that, despite Mini 5 binders and paper not being close to A8 size, , binders labeled A8 are the correct size. So, it’s likely that if you find a 5-ring A8 binder, it will be the right size. I’m including the paper size comparison again, even though we’ve learned by now that “international standard” sizes mean next to nothing in the binder world.

Paper	B7	A7	Mini 5	A8 Refill	A8
Height	125mm	105mm	105mm	105mm	74mm
Width	88mm	74mm	62mm	67mm	52mm

That said, let’s get into the Mini 5 alternatives.

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Plotter Alternatives, Part 4

November 23, 2023

Rachel

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Plotter Alternatives, Part 4

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Mini Alternatives

Welcome back for part 4 of this series. If you haven’t read part 1, I’m sharing alternatives to the Plotter system. If you want the full explanation, I suggest you read that post. You can also review the A5 and Bible and Narrow alternatives.

While, once again, Plotter Mini size paper doesn’t match any international size papers, it’s closest to B7 paper. And, at 12mm narrower than the Mini binder, B7 paper should fit into it without any problems.

Unfortunately, this is where it gets weird again. Don’t search for B7 refill paper, because it’s virtually impossible to find. However, like I found with A6 refills, A7 refill paper is not A7; it’s much closer to B7.

What is the point of having internationally standard sizes if they aren’t actually used? If a company doesn’t want to make paper in a standard size, fine, don’t; but don’t label it as a standard size!!

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Plotter Alternatives, Part 3

November 22, 2023

Rachel

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Plotter Alternatives, Part 3

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Bible and Narrow Alternatives

Welcome back for part 3 of this series. If you haven’t read part 1, I’m sharing alternatives to the Plotter system. If you want the full explanation, I suggest you read that post. You can also review the A5 alternatives.

For this post, I’m addressing both Plotter’s Bible and Narrow sized binders because they are so similar in size. There is a 3mm difference in height between them, and an 11mm (0.43in) difference in width. The paper is similarly close in size, with no difference in height, and 15mm (0.59in) difference in width. You can easily use either size’s paper in the other size’s binder without any problems.

To make things even more confusing, the Bible and Narrow sized binders are smaller (both in height and width) than average A6 binders. However, the same sized Plotter papers are significantly taller than A6 — more in line with B6 paper — while narrower than both A6 and B6.

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Plotter Alternatives, Part 2

November 21, 2023

Rachel

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Plotter Alternatives, Part 2

Posted in Paper

A5 Alternatives

Welcome back for part 2 of this series. If you haven’t read part 1, I’m sharing alternatives to the Plotter system. If you want the full explanation, I suggest you read the previous post.

Unlike what I’ve found with other Japanese binder systems, Plotter only goes up to A5 size, rather than B5 or A4. Perhaps because it’s the largest size, the A5 binder size has the most accessories and refills.

There are, of course, MANY A5 binders available — including some well-known brands like Levenger Circa (OK, maybe not quite a binder) and Filofax — so I chose some top picks based on binder depth and compatibility with Plotter paper. That said, let’s get into the A5 alternatives.

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Plotter Alternatives, Part 1

November 20, 2023

Rachel

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Plotter Alternatives, Part 1

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About Plotter

A few years back when everyone was going nuts for the Traveler’s Notebook, I fell for the hype and got one. Since then, I used it maybe three-four times and ended up selling it. Now, I’ve been hearing more and more about Plotter and their binder system. It’s highly reminiscent of the hype for Traveler’s Notebook.

However, where there weren’t any alternatives — that I knew about — for the Traveler’s Notebooks. There are many alternatives to Plotter, most of which are significantly less expensive. Traveler’s Notebook seemed to be a fairly unique system at the time; Plotter isn’t.

Do you like the idea of Plotter, but object to the price? Are you curious about the Plotter binders but don’t want leather? This series of posts will provide you with some of the alternatives available for each size of Plotter binder.

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