The ImageWriter II is a dot matrix printer produced by Apple beginning in 1985. It was a redesign of the ImageWriter. The ImageWriter II would set you back about $600 in 1985. It was the mainstay of Apple printing in the late 1980’s. It remained so until PostScript and cheap inkjet printers like the StyleWriter hit the market in the early 1990’s. In the 1980’s, PostScript printers were laser printer like the Apple LaserWriter. They were great, but incredibly expensive at around $7000. PostScript allows computers to print out fonts the same way they render on the screen. The ImageWriter II uses QuickDraw to render screen images and built in character sets for fonts.
The maximum resolution is 144 dots per inch. It prints in two modes, draft mode and best mode. Best mode produces about 2 pages per minute while draft mode can churn out about 5 pages per minute. The printer makes quite a racket as it hammers out pages.
This printer is built like a tank. It is shockingly heavy at about 20 pounds. Dot matrix printers like the ImageWriter II use an impact drum to strike a ribbon that is saturated with ink against a sheet of paper. The boldness of the resulting characters depends on the two factors: the force of the strike and the amount of ink left in the ribbon. Ribbons have a long life. I have been using the same ribbon for about 2 years but I don’t use it very often. Ribbon life depends on the amount of fade that is acceptable by the owner. The ImageWriter II has the capability to produce 7 colors. Printing in color requires a color ribbon.
The ImageWriter II uses track paper that is fed through a slit on the back. It has the ability to feed regular sheets of papers, but this requires a special feeder attachment. It can also print labels and envelopes. The ability to tractor feed paper makes the ImageWriter II an excellent banner maker. BannerMania, a 68K Mac program, makes great use of the feature. I have used it to make banners on a Classic II, SE, and LC III. This program demonstrates the power of QuickDraw.
The ImageWriter II is compatible with any Mac with an RS-422/423 (serial) printer port. The printer can be added to an AppleTalk network, but must have the card installed. ImageWriters did not ship with the card by default. It was an upgrade option.
It is also compatible with any Apple II, provided the computer has a compatible printer card. I use the ImageWriter II with my Platinum Apple IIe. My Platinum IIe has a Super Serial Card in slot 1 (PR#1). The RS-232 to 7-pin cable that works with this configuration is very hard to find. I was lucky to get it from the seller.
You can print out your Applesoft BASIC program code directly from the command prompt. First, you must load a program into RAM with the following command, where PROGRAM is the name of your program:
LOAD PROGRAM
Or for testing purposes, you can write a simple program and save it to RAM by typing the following and pressing enter:
100 PRINT “HELLO”
As I stated earlier, the Super Serial Card is installed in slot 1 on the Apple IIe motherboard. To access that slot, you have to use the PR#1 command. Type the following:
PR#1
The command prompt will disappear from the screen. That is because all the output is now going to the printer but the ImageWriter II is not printing yet. It is still waiting for you to type a print command. Type the following command and press enter:
LIST
You won’t be able to see on the screen what you are typing. If you misspell the command word and press enter, you will hear a beep denoting a syntax error. At that point, you can try again. Once you get the correct command typed and press enter, the Apple IIe will “list” the program code, but instead of going to the screen, it will go to the printer. You could also type:
RUN
This would cause the output of your program to output to the printer.
The ImageWriter II has a test mode that can be accessed by performing the following steps:
- Turn the ImageWriter II off by pressing the On/Off switch.
- To start the self-test, press the Form Feed button and hold it down while you press the On/Off switch. Release both buttons simultaneously. As soon as the print head moves to the left margin, the printer will begin printing. The self-test should then begin printing.
The self-test lists some useful information like the ROM version and DIP switch settings.
I purchased my ImageWriter II from a seller on eBay a few years ago. It is in fair condition for its age. The price was only $14 but it came to $25 with shipping. An ImageWriter II will probably cost you more to ship than it does to buy because it weighs so much. It is a great addition to the Vectronic collection.