ImageWriter

The ImageWriter was a dot matrix printer manufactured by Apple Inc. in the 1980s. Designed to work with the Apple II and Macintosh computers, it could produce images as well as text, up to a resolution of 144 DPI. This permitted it to produce WYSIWYG output from the screen of the computer, which was an important aspect for promoting the concept of the GUI. The ImageWriter II could also produce basic colour images using a colour ribbon, a feature that was supported by the original black and white version of QuickDraw that was used to create the screen and print images on the Mac. Quality was adequate rather than startling, and the ImageWriter LQ released in the late 1980s improved resolution to 216 dpi. It was a cheap and cheerful alternative to the vastly more expensive LaserWriter.

It came in two widths, the 10-inch size for 8.5-inch-wide tractor-fed paper, and the "Wide Carriage" 15-inch size for wider paper. When the Wide Carriage was introduced in late 1985 (or early 1986), the only Apple software that supported it was MacProject. Very few third-party applications supported it; most applications could print only as if there were 8.5-inch paper in the printer.

ImageWriter Printers

 * ImageWriter
 * ImageWriter II
 * ImageWriter LQ