https://piratefsh.github.io/2019/01/07/computer-art-history-... https://piratefsh.github.io/2019/01/07/computer-art-history-...

So there were plotters, which would need to be photographed, like you were talking about, but there's also this:

> And then they were the electronic or microfilm plotters. It works in a similar way as the mechanical plotter, but instead of a pen, it uses an electron beam and instead of paper, it “draws” on microfilm. The idea is that it plots an electron beam in a cathode ray tube, runs it through a camera lens system, which records these beams onto microfilm. I think of it like how a CRT display works, but it also exposes light onto film. The microfilm can then be viewed via a microfilm reader, printed or even animated."