LaserWriter
Encyclopedia
The LaserWriter was a laser printer
with built-in PostScript
interpreter introduced by Apple in 1985. It was one of the first laser printers available to the mass market. In combination with WYSIWYG
publishing software like PageMaker
, that operated on top of the graphical user interface
of Macintosh computers, the LaserWriter was a key component at the beginning of the desktop publishing
revolution.
The LaserWriter was the fourth laser printer on the market and the first for the Macintosh. It was an integral part of the newly announced Macintosh Office
. The printer had a resolution of 300 dpi
and a printing speed of 8 ppm, and its raster image processor
implemented Adobe PostScript interpreter
, a feature that would ultimately transform the landscape of computer desktop publishing.
Unlike HP
's PCL
and other early printer control languages, PostScript is a complete interpreted
page description language
. PostScript describes fonts in outline form, which allows arbitrary size, rotation, and position. PostScript handles bitmap graphics and vector graphics
equally well, allowing any mixture of fonts, bitmaps, and drawing primitives on a single page (limited by the PostScript interpreter’s available RAM). While competing printer control languages offered some of these capabilities, they were limited in their ability to reproduce free-form layouts (as a desktop publishing application might produce). Negotiations between Apple and Adobe over the use of Postscript began in 1983 and an agreement was reached in December 1983, one month before Macintosh was announced.
The PostScript interpreter in the LaserWriter printer can be used interactively: it is possible to connect a serial
terminal to the printer and, by typing “executive”, communicate with the printer’s computer. The printer will also display diagnostic error messages on this link (RS-232, 19200 baud
, 8 bit
s, no parity bit
, 1 stop bit).
The original LaserWriter printer used a Canon
LBP-CX print engine, which was used by many printer manufacturers at the time. The print engine is responsible for feeding paper, image transfer, and fusing the image. Parts from early LaserWriter and HP LaserJet printers, except for the interface board, formatter, and casing, are sometimes interchangeable as they are based on the same print engine.
, ITC Bookman, New Century Schoolbook, Palatino
, ITC Zapf Dingbats, ITC Zapf Chancery
and Helvetica Narrow, a variant of Helvetica
squashed to 82% of the original width.
LBP-SX engine. Later versions included the Laserwriter IIf and IIg (1991-1993).
6,995, the LaserWriter was more expensive than non-Postscript laser printers of comparable print speed and quality. The LaserWriter’s high cost was largely due to the extra processing power needed to run the PostScript interpreter. PostScript is a complete programming language
and requires a complex software rasterizer program, all implemented in the printer. The LaserWriter had a Motorola 68000
CPU
running at 12 MHz, 512KB of workspace RAM
, and a 1 MB framebuffer. At introduction, the LaserWriter had the most processing power in Apple’s product line—more than the 8 MHz Macintosh.
Since the cost of a LaserWriter was several times that of a dot-matrix impact printer, some means to share the printer with several Macs was desired. LANs
were complex and expensive, so Apple developed its own networking scheme, LocalTalk
. Based on the AppleTalk
protocol stack
, LocalTalk connected the LaserWriter to the Mac over an RS-422 serial port. At 230.4 kbit
/s
LocalTalk was slower than the Centronics PC parallel interface, but allowed several computers to share a single LaserWriter. PostScript enabled the LaserWriter to print complex pages containing high-resolution bitmap graphics
, outline fonts, and vector illustrations. The LaserWriter could print more complex layouts than the HP Laserjet
and other non-Postscript printers. Paired with the program Aldus PageMaker, the LaserWriter gave the layout editor an exact replica of the printed page. The LaserWriter offered a generally faithful proofing tool for preparing documents for quantity publication, and could print smaller quantities directly. The Mac platform quickly gained the favor of the emerging desktop-publishing industry, a market in which the Mac is still important.
s, Ethernet
connectivity, and eventually color output. To compete, many other laser printer manufacturers licensed Adobe PostScript for inclusion into their own models. Eventually the standardization on Ethernet
for connectivity and the ubiquity of PostScript undermined the unique position of Apple’s printers: Macintosh computers functioned equally well with any Postscript printer. After the LaserWriter 8500, Apple discontinued the LaserWriter product line.
created by Frogdesign. It also continued a departure from the beige color that characterized the Apple & Macintosh products to that time by using the same brighter, creamy off-white color first introduced with the Apple IIc
and Apple Scribe Printer
8 months earlier. In that regard it and its successors stood out among all of Apple’s Macintosh product offerings until 1987, when Apple adopted a unifying warm gray color they called Platinum across its entire product line, which was to last for over a decade. The innovative look of the LaserWriter was distinctive and marked a turning point in industrial design
as the zero draft
design incorporated into the case allowed the stylish lines to form-fit around the interior mechanism, keeping it small and sleek.
It was also the first peripheral to use the LocalTalk
connector and Apple’s unified AppleTalk Connector Family, designed by Brad Bissell of Frogdesign using Rick Meadows’ Apple Icon Family designs. The connector’s design was used on all of Apple’s peripherals and cable connectors for the next 15 years and influenced the connectors used throughout the industry as a whole.
Laser printer
A laser printer is a common type of computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. As with digital photocopiers and multifunction printers , laser printers employ a xerographic printing process, but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced...
with built-in PostScript
PostScript
PostScript is a dynamically typed concatenative programming language created by John Warnock and Charles Geschke in 1982. It is best known for its use as a page description language in the electronic and desktop publishing areas. Adobe PostScript 3 is also the worldwide printing and imaging...
interpreter introduced by Apple in 1985. It was one of the first laser printers available to the mass market. In combination with WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG is an acronym for What You See Is What You Get. The term is used in computing to describe a system in which content displayed onscreen during editing appears in a form closely corresponding to its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product...
publishing software like PageMaker
Adobe PageMaker
PageMaker was one of the first desktop publishing programs, introduced in 1985 by Aldus Corporation, initially for the then-new Apple Macintosh and in 1987 for PCs running Windows 1.0....
, that operated on top of the graphical user interface
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
of Macintosh computers, the LaserWriter was a key component at the beginning of the desktop publishing
Desktop publishing
Desktop publishing is the creation of documents using page layout software on a personal computer.The term has been used for publishing at all levels, from small-circulation documents such as local newsletters to books, magazines and newspapers...
revolution.
History
The LaserWriter was announced at Apple's annual shareholder meeting on January 23, 1985, the same day Aldus announced PageMaker. Shipments began in March 1985 and the printer retailed for US$ 6,995.The LaserWriter was the fourth laser printer on the market and the first for the Macintosh. It was an integral part of the newly announced Macintosh Office
Macintosh Office
The Macintosh Office was Apple's third failed attempt to enter into the business environment as a serious competitor to IBM. Consisting of three key parts, a network file server, local area network and a network Laser printer, Apple announced Macintosh Office in January 1985 with an ill-fated,...
. The printer had a resolution of 300 dpi
Dots per inch
Dots per inch is a measure of spatial printing or video dot density, in particular the number of individual dots that can be placed in a line within the span of 1 inch . The DPI value tends to correlate with image resolution, but is related only indirectly.- DPI measurement in monitor...
and a printing speed of 8 ppm, and its raster image processor
Raster image processor
A raster image processor is a component used in a printing system which produces a raster image also known as a bitmap. The bitmap is then sent to a printing device for output. The input may be a page description in a high-level page description language such as PostScript, Portable Document...
implemented Adobe PostScript interpreter
Interpreter (computing)
In computer science, an interpreter normally means a computer program that executes, i.e. performs, instructions written in a programming language...
, a feature that would ultimately transform the landscape of computer desktop publishing.
Unlike HP
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
's PCL
Printer Command Language
Printer Command Language, more commonly referred to as PCL, is a page description language developed by Hewlett-Packard as a printer protocol and has become a de facto industry standard. Originally developed for early inkjet printers in 1984, PCL has been released in varying levels for thermal,...
and other early printer control languages, PostScript is a complete interpreted
Interpreter (computing)
In computer science, an interpreter normally means a computer program that executes, i.e. performs, instructions written in a programming language...
page description language
Page description language
A page description language is a language that describes the appearance of a printed page in a higher level than an actual output bitmap. An overlapping term is printer control language, but it should not be confused as referring solely to Hewlett-Packard's PCL...
. PostScript describes fonts in outline form, which allows arbitrary size, rotation, and position. PostScript handles bitmap graphics and vector graphics
Vector graphics
Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon, which are all based on mathematical expressions, to represent images in computer graphics...
equally well, allowing any mixture of fonts, bitmaps, and drawing primitives on a single page (limited by the PostScript interpreter’s available RAM). While competing printer control languages offered some of these capabilities, they were limited in their ability to reproduce free-form layouts (as a desktop publishing application might produce). Negotiations between Apple and Adobe over the use of Postscript began in 1983 and an agreement was reached in December 1983, one month before Macintosh was announced.
The PostScript interpreter in the LaserWriter printer can be used interactively: it is possible to connect a serial
Serial communications
In telecommunication and computer science, serial communication is the process of sending data one bit at a time, sequentially, over a communication channel or computer bus. This is in contrast to parallel communication, where several bits are sent as a whole, on a link with several parallel channels...
terminal to the printer and, by typing “executive”, communicate with the printer’s computer. The printer will also display diagnostic error messages on this link (RS-232, 19200 baud
Baud
In telecommunications and electronics, baud is synonymous to symbols per second or pulses per second. It is the unit of symbol rate, also known as baud rate or modulation rate; the number of distinct symbol changes made to the transmission medium per second in a digitally modulated signal or a...
, 8 bit
Bit
A bit is the basic unit of information in computing and telecommunications; it is the amount of information stored by a digital device or other physical system that exists in one of two possible distinct states...
s, no parity bit
Parity bit
A parity bit is a bit that is added to ensure that the number of bits with the value one in a set of bits is even or odd. Parity bits are used as the simplest form of error detecting code....
, 1 stop bit).
The original LaserWriter printer used a Canon
Canon Inc.
is a Japanese multinational corporation that specialises in the manufacture of imaging and optical products, including cameras, camcorders, photocopiers, steppers and computer printers. Its headquarters are located in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan.-Origins:...
LBP-CX print engine, which was used by many printer manufacturers at the time. The print engine is responsible for feeding paper, image transfer, and fusing the image. Parts from early LaserWriter and HP LaserJet printers, except for the interface board, formatter, and casing, are sometimes interchangeable as they are based on the same print engine.
Other LaserWriter models
The LaserWriter Plus was a later version, sold from 1986 to 1988. It was mechanically identical to the previous LaserWriter; the only difference between them was the expanded ROM which contained seven additional fonts: ITC Avant GardeITC Avant Garde
ITC Avant Garde Gothic is a font family based on the logo font used in the Avant Garde magazine. Herb Lubalin devised the logo concept and its companion headline typeface, then he and Tom Carnase, a partner in Lubalin's design firm, worked together to transform the idea into a full-fledged...
, ITC Bookman, New Century Schoolbook, Palatino
Palatino
Palatino is the name of a large typeface family that began as an old style serif typeface designed by Hermann Zapf initially released in 1948 by the Linotype foundry.In 1999, Zapf revised Palatino for Linotype and Microsoft, called Palatino Linotype...
, ITC Zapf Dingbats, ITC Zapf Chancery
ITC Zapf Chancery
ITC Zapf Chancery is a family of script typefaces designed by the type designer Hermann Zapf. It is one of the three typefaces designed by Zapf that are shipped with computers running Apple's Mac OS.-Variants and similar typefaces:...
and Helvetica Narrow, a variant of Helvetica
Helvetica
Helvetica is a widely used sans-serif typeface developed in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger with Eduard Hoffmann.-Visual distinctive characteristics:Characteristics of this typeface are:lower case:square dot over the letter i....
squashed to 82% of the original width.
LaserWriter II
The LaserWriter II series (1988 - 1991) included the Laserwriter IISC, the Laserwriter IINT, and the Laserwriter IINTX. They were based on the Canon Inc.Canon Inc.
is a Japanese multinational corporation that specialises in the manufacture of imaging and optical products, including cameras, camcorders, photocopiers, steppers and computer printers. Its headquarters are located in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan.-Origins:...
LBP-SX engine. Later versions included the Laserwriter IIf and IIg (1991-1993).
Personal LaserWriter
The Personal Laserwriter series was sold from 1990 to 1993; it used the Canon LBP-LX motor, printing at four pages per minute rather than eight. Personal Laserwriter models included the SC, LS, and NT. The series was continued with the Personal Laserwriter 300 and 320 (1993-1995) which used the Canon LBP-PX engine.LaserWriter Pro
The was sold only from January to October 1993. The LaserWriter Pro 630 was sold between January 1993 and September 1994, and the between October 1993 and November 1994.LaserWriter Select
The LaserWriter Select series (1993-1996) included the 300, the 310, and the 360.Last LaserWriters
The Laserwriter 4/600 PS, introduced in 1995, succeeded the Personal Laserwriter 300 series; it also had a printing speed of four pages per minute but had improved resolution. The Laserwriter 16/600 PS, introduced in 1994, was capable of 17 pages per minute and 600 dots per inch. It was succeeded by the Laserwriter 12/640. The last of the black-and-white laser printers was the LaserWriter 8500 (1997-1999).Cost and value
When the LaserWriter was introduced the use of PostScript was expensive. At an introductory price of US$United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
6,995, the LaserWriter was more expensive than non-Postscript laser printers of comparable print speed and quality. The LaserWriter’s high cost was largely due to the extra processing power needed to run the PostScript interpreter. PostScript is a complete programming language
Programming language
A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
and requires a complex software rasterizer program, all implemented in the printer. The LaserWriter had a Motorola 68000
Motorola 68000
The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor...
CPU
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
running at 12 MHz, 512KB of workspace RAM
Ram
-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
, and a 1 MB framebuffer. At introduction, the LaserWriter had the most processing power in Apple’s product line—more than the 8 MHz Macintosh.
Since the cost of a LaserWriter was several times that of a dot-matrix impact printer, some means to share the printer with several Macs was desired. LANs
Local area network
A local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building...
were complex and expensive, so Apple developed its own networking scheme, LocalTalk
LocalTalk
LocalTalk is a particular implementation of the physical layer of the AppleTalk networking system from Apple Computer. LocalTalk specifies a system of shielded twisted pair cabling, plugged into self-terminating transceivers, running at a rate of 230.4 kbit/s...
. Based on the AppleTalk
AppleTalk
AppleTalk is a proprietary suite of protocols developed by Apple Inc. for networking computers. It was included in the original Macintosh released in 1984, but is now unsupported as of the release of Mac OS X v10.6 in 2009 in favor of TCP/IP networking...
protocol stack
Protocol stack
The protocol stack is an implementation of a computer networking protocol suite. The terms are often used interchangeably. Strictly speaking, the suite is the definition of the protocols, and the stack is the software implementation of them....
, LocalTalk connected the LaserWriter to the Mac over an RS-422 serial port. At 230.4 kbit
Kilobit
The kilobit is a multiple of the unit bit for digital information or computer storage. The prefix kilo is defined in the International System of Units as a multiplier of 103 , and therefore,...
/s
Second
The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock....
LocalTalk was slower than the Centronics PC parallel interface, but allowed several computers to share a single LaserWriter. PostScript enabled the LaserWriter to print complex pages containing high-resolution bitmap graphics
Raster graphics
In computer graphics, a raster graphics image, or bitmap, is a data structure representing a generally rectangular grid of pixels, or points of color, viewable via a monitor, paper, or other display medium...
, outline fonts, and vector illustrations. The LaserWriter could print more complex layouts than the HP Laserjet
LaserJet
LaserJet as a brand name identifies the line of dry electrophotographic laser printers marketed by the American computer-company Hewlett-Packard . The HP LaserJet was the world's first desktop laser printer.-Technology:...
and other non-Postscript printers. Paired with the program Aldus PageMaker, the LaserWriter gave the layout editor an exact replica of the printed page. The LaserWriter offered a generally faithful proofing tool for preparing documents for quantity publication, and could print smaller quantities directly. The Mac platform quickly gained the favor of the emerging desktop-publishing industry, a market in which the Mac is still important.
Legacy
Building on the success of the original LaserWriter, Apple developed many further models. Later LaserWriters offered faster printing, higher resolutionDots per inch
Dots per inch is a measure of spatial printing or video dot density, in particular the number of individual dots that can be placed in a line within the span of 1 inch . The DPI value tends to correlate with image resolution, but is related only indirectly.- DPI measurement in monitor...
s, Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
connectivity, and eventually color output. To compete, many other laser printer manufacturers licensed Adobe PostScript for inclusion into their own models. Eventually the standardization on Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
for connectivity and the ubiquity of PostScript undermined the unique position of Apple’s printers: Macintosh computers functioned equally well with any Postscript printer. After the LaserWriter 8500, Apple discontinued the LaserWriter product line.
Design
The LaserWriter was the first major printer designed by Apple to use the new Snow White design languageSnow White design language
The Snow White design language was an industrial design language developed by Hartmut Esslinger's Frog Design. Used by Apple Computer from 1984 to 1990, the scheme has vertical and horizontal stripes for decoration, ventilation, and the illusion that the computer enclosure is smaller than it...
created by Frogdesign. It also continued a departure from the beige color that characterized the Apple & Macintosh products to that time by using the same brighter, creamy off-white color first introduced with the Apple IIc
Apple IIc
The Apple IIc, the fourth model in the Apple II series of personal computers, was Apple Computer’s first endeavor to produce a portable computer. The end result was a notebook-sized version of the Apple II that could be transported from place to place...
and Apple Scribe Printer
Apple Scribe Printer
The Apple Scribe Printer was a thermal transfer printer made by Apple and first introduced in 1984 alongside the Apple IIc for a relatively low retail price of $299. It was a thermal printer, but was a significant advancement over the old Silentype. It could print on regular paper , and could print...
8 months earlier. In that regard it and its successors stood out among all of Apple’s Macintosh product offerings until 1987, when Apple adopted a unifying warm gray color they called Platinum across its entire product line, which was to last for over a decade. The innovative look of the LaserWriter was distinctive and marked a turning point in industrial design
Industrial design
Industrial design is the use of a combination of applied art and applied science to improve the aesthetics, ergonomics, and usability of a product, but it may also be used to improve the product's marketability and production...
as the zero draft
Draft angle
In engineering, draft is the amount of taper for molded or cast parts perpendicular to the parting line. It can be measured in degrees or mm/mm ....
design incorporated into the case allowed the stylish lines to form-fit around the interior mechanism, keeping it small and sleek.
It was also the first peripheral to use the LocalTalk
LocalTalk
LocalTalk is a particular implementation of the physical layer of the AppleTalk networking system from Apple Computer. LocalTalk specifies a system of shielded twisted pair cabling, plugged into self-terminating transceivers, running at a rate of 230.4 kbit/s...
connector and Apple’s unified AppleTalk Connector Family, designed by Brad Bissell of Frogdesign using Rick Meadows’ Apple Icon Family designs. The connector’s design was used on all of Apple’s peripherals and cable connectors for the next 15 years and influenced the connectors used throughout the industry as a whole.