The Print Shop
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| Original author(s) | David Balsam Martin Kahn |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Brøderbund Software MacKiev (OS X) |
| Initial release | 1984 |
| Stable release |
23 / 2009
|
| Operating system | Windows, Mac OS X discontinued: Apple II, Atari 8-bit, MS-DOS, C64 |
| License | Proprietary software |
| Website |
www www |
The Print Shop is a basic desktop publishing software package originally published in 1984 by Brøderbund. It was unique in that it provided libraries of clip-art and templates through a simple interface to build signs, posters and banners with household dot-matrix printers. Over the years the software has been updated to accommodate changing file formats and printer technologies.
The original version was for the Apple II and created signs, cards, banners, and letterheads. Designed by David Balsam and programmed by Martin Kahn, it became one of the most popular Apple II titles of all time. Versions for MS-DOS, Commodore 64, and the Atari 8-bit family followed, as did a variant for the Apple IIGS. These versions were published in Europe by Ariolasoft.
As of 2017, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is offering The Print Shop brand as a licensing opportunity on its website.
The Print Shop was very successful. In 1985 it and Ghostbusters were reportedly the two most widely pirated Commodore 64 programs.II Computing listed it seventh on the magazine's list of top Apple II non-game, non-educational software as of late 1985, based on sales and market-share data. In 1988 Brøderbund announced that the company had sold more than one million copies, and that sales of the software comprised 4% of the entire United States software market in 1987. The series comprised 29% of Brøderbund revenue in fiscal year 1992.
Ahoy!'s reviewer called the Commodore 64 version of The Print Shop "one of the best thought out, easiest to use packages I've come across", reporting that he did not need to use the manual to produce his first greeting cards. He predicted that the software "is destined to become one of the most popular packages for the Commodore 64".II Computing criticized the Apple II version's inflexible layout options and lack of print preview, but concluded that it "is truly 'a graphics utility for the rest of us', encouraging creativity and self-expression ... you'll want to use this program over and over again".
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