ImageWriter

The ImageWriter is a product line of dot matrix printers formerly manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc., and designed then to be compatible with their entire line of computers. There were three different models introduced over time, which were popular among Apple II and Mac owners.

The first ImageWriter is a serial-based dot matrix printer introduced by Apple Computer in late 1983.

The printer was essentially a re-packaged 9-pin dot matrix printer from C. Itoh Electronics (model C. Itoh 8510, with a modified ROM and pinout), released the same year. It was introduced as a replacement for the earlier parallel-based Apple Dot Matrix Printer/DMP (also a C. Itoh model) and, while primarily intended for the Apple II, worked across Apple's entire computer product line. The ImageWriter could produce images as well as text, up to a resolution of 144 DPI and a speed of about 120 CPS (characters per second). In text mode, the printer was logic-seeking, meaning it would print with the head moving in both directions while it would print only in one direction for graphics and Near Letter Quality. The ImageWriter was also supported by the original Macintosh computer, the Macintosh 128K. Apple wanted a graphical printer for the Mac, and had introduced the ImageWriter primarily to support the new machine. 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 and, later, desktop publishing. The ImageWriter could be supported by Microsoft Windows-based PC's by using the included C. Itoh 8510 compatible driver.

The ImageWriter was succeeded by the ImageWriter II in late 1985.

A wider version of the ImageWriter, sold as ImageWriter 15", was introduced in January 1984. It allowed printing to 12" wide as well as to 15" wide paper. This version of ImageWriter remained in production for more than a year after the ImageWriter II was introduced. Production was eventually discontinued in January 1987.

In 1984 Thunderware introduced the ThunderScan, an optical scanner that was installed in place of the ImageWriter ribbon cartridge. With support for the Apple II and the Mac, the ThunderScan provided low cost grayscale scanning with moderate resolution and speed.

The ImageWriter II is a serial based dot matrix printer that was manufactured by Apple Computer, which supported its entire computer product line when it was released in September 1985. It had several optional add-ons available, including: a plug-in network card, buffer memory card, and motorized sheet feeder. It also supported color printing with an appropriate ribbon. The codename for the ImageWriter II was "Express"

Compute! reported in 1989 that many believed that the ImageWriter II was inferior to its predecessor. The magazine stated that the first ImageWriter was sturdier, handled paper better, and had better print in most cases.