1. Forum
  2. FidoNet
  3. CBM

  • Color version of "The Print Shop" for Commodore machines?

    From Brandon Taylor@3:770/3 to All on Fri Jan 10 16:12:07 2020
    I had an Apple //e growing up, but looking back on things from today, sometimes
    I wish it were a Commodore 64.

    My Apple //e had a nice app called "The Print Shop" that could print to my ImageWriter II which had a CMYK ribbon. I have a few questions:

    1. Was there ever a color version of "The Print Shop" available for the Commodore 8-bit family of computers?
    2. Or was everything printed in monochrome?
    3. Are there any .D64 images of "The Print Shop" graphics disks which are compatible with the Commodore 8-bit family of computers?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)
  • From Ron Lauzon@1:275/89 to Brandon Taylor on Sun Jan 12 09:48:00 2020
    Brandon Taylor wrote to All <=-

    1. Was there ever a color version of "The Print Shop" available for the Commodore 8-bit family of computers?

    I don't believe so. I used to work for a Commodore reseller back in the day, and I don't recall there being a color printer option for the C64.

    There probably were color printers at the time, but they would have been priced far above what a C64 user could have paid.

    So there would have been no demand for a C64 color Print Shop.


    --- MultiMail/Linux v0.52
    * Origin: Diamond Mine Online BBS bbs.dmine.net:24 (1:275/89)
  • From Chicken Head to Ron Lauzon on Tue Jan 14 15:39:43 2020
    Re: Color version of "The Pri
    By: Ron Lauzon to Brandon Taylor on Sun Jan 12 2020 09:48 am

    Err...I hate to disagree but there certainly WAS a version of the Print Shop for the C64. I printed many things with that program on my crappy dot matrix AND Okimate.

    The AHK Gang! Live on Riot.im. When we feel like it.
  • From J.B. Wood@3:770/3 to Ron Lauzon on Fri Jan 17 12:22:16 2020
    On 1/11/20 3:48 PM, Ron Lauzon wrote:
    Brandon Taylor wrote to All <=-

    BT> 1. Was there ever a color version of "The Print Shop" available for the
    BT> Commodore 8-bit family of computers?

    I don't believe so. I used to work for a Commodore reseller back in the day, and I don't recall there being a color printer option for the C64.

    There probably were color printers at the time, but they would have been
    priced
    far above what a C64 user could have paid.

    So there would have been no demand for a C64 color Print Shop.




    Hello, and IIRC there was a C-64 color printer that used 4 ballpoint
    pens. Don't know what commercially-available apps might have been
    available that would use it, though. Sincerely,

    --
    J. B. Wood e-mail: arl_123234@hotmail.com

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)
  • From Computer Nerd Kev@3:770/3 to J.B. Wood on Sat Jan 18 00:49:44 2020
    J.B. Wood <arl_123234@hotmail.com> wrote:
    On 1/11/20 3:48 PM, Ron Lauzon wrote:
    Brandon Taylor wrote to All <=-

    BT> 1. Was there ever a color version of "The Print Shop" available for the
    BT> Commodore 8-bit family of computers?

    I don't believe so. I used to work for a Commodore reseller back in the day,
    and I don't recall there being a color printer option for the C64.

    There probably were color printers at the time, but they would have been priced
    far above what a C64 user could have paid.

    So there would have been no demand for a C64 color Print Shop.

    Hello, and IIRC there was a C-64 color printer that used 4 ballpoint
    pens. Don't know what commercially-available apps might have been
    available that would use it, though. Sincerely,

    The VIC-1520 plotter. Not the same as a conventional colour printer,
    but fun (possibly more fun) anyway: http://www.zimmers.net/cbmpics/peserial2.html

    Looking further through the printer listing on that site, a few
    other Commodore serial printers with colour support are described
    there:

    MPS-1224c:
    http://www.zimmers.net/cbmpics/plserial2.html

    MCS-810 (I've got one of these! But never had a ribbon for it and
    the head's worn out (probably from me printing on heat-sensitive
    paper as a solution to the ribbon problem)): http://www.zimmers.net/cbmpics/pmcs810.html
    - Rebadged Okimate 10 printers, so there's an entry point for
    researching colour printers from other manufacturers.

    MCS-801:
    http://www.zimmers.net/cbmpics/pmcs801.html

    --
    __ __
    #_ < |\| |< _#

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)
  • From Brandon Taylor@3:770/3 to All on Sat Jan 18 15:34:17 2020
    Yeah, well, as J.B. Wood just said, even if you had a color /printer,/ you couldn't really use it to its full potential on an 8-bit Commodore machine, as there wasn't any /software/ that printed in color. No, I think the best bet would have been an Apple
    II series machine, or else an "IBM-compatible" PC. On the other hand, a Commodore enthusiast would have to wait a little while for the Amiga series to show up. In that case, what was the best software for color printing on an Amiga?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)
  • From Simon Geddes to Brandon Taylor on Sun Jan 19 07:01:06 2020
    Re: Re: Color version of "The Pri
    By: Brandon Taylor to All on Sat Jan 18 2020 03:34 pm

    II series machine, or else an "IBM-compatible" PC. On the other hand, a Commodore
    enthusiast would have to wait a little while for the Amiga series to show up. In that
    case, what was the best software for color printing on an Amiga?

    TurboPrint, I think. There was also Studio II Professional. I know about the latter only because it is reviewed in this copy of Amiga User International I have next to me as I type...

    "That is why I stress from the start of this review that Studio II Professional is REALLY for professionals."
  • From Andreas Kohlbach@3:770/3 to Brandon Taylor on Sun Jan 19 12:52:54 2020
    On Sat, 18 Jan 2020 15:34:17 -0800 (PST), Brandon Taylor wrote:

    Yeah, well, as J.B. Wood just said, even if you had a color /printer,/
    you couldn't really use it to its full potential on an 8-bit Commodore machine, as there wasn't any /software/ that printed in color. No, I
    think the best bet would have been an Apple II series machine, or else
    an "IBM-compatible" PC. On the other hand, a Commodore enthusiast
    would have to wait a little while for the Amiga series to show up. In
    that case, what was the best software for color printing on an Amiga?

    IIRC we got :decent" results with Deluxe Paint. I cannot remember what
    printer it was. It was in the later 1980s and was a dot matrix machine
    with a colored ribbon.
    --
    Andreas

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)
  • From Silver Dream !@3:770/3 to J.B. Wood on Thu Oct 15 01:08:27 2020
    On 17/01/2020 18:22, J.B. Wood wrote:

    Hello, and IIRC there was a C-64 color printer that used 4 ballpoint
    pens.  Don't know what commercially-available apps might have been
    available that would use it, though.  Sincerely,

    It was marketed as "printer/plotter", which was true. From certain point
    of view :-)

    It was good for plotting line graphics and it had the ability to plot
    text, with a nice vector font...

    http://e4aws.silverdr.com/hacks/6500_1/

    You can find the font about mid-page down there.

    But I would not recommend to use the plotter to colour-fill any sizeable
    paper area. Or "print" longer BASIC listings (as I myself tried back in
    the days :-)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)
  • From rbernardo@iglou.com@3:770/3 to All on Thu Oct 15 14:11:32 2020
    FWIW, there was a color-printing version of Print Shop for the Apple II. It worked with the Apple Dot Matrix Printer. IIRC, graphics were printed out in 4 colors.
    It was great to see such color print-outs at the middle school.

    Truly,
    Robert Bernardo
    Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
    Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)