PostScript came to the desktop in 1985 with the Apple LaserWriter, and within a year or two several other companies had joined Adobe’s licensee list. HP was late — its own Adobe PostScript cartridge for the LaserJet II/III family didn’t ship until 1991. read more

We have recently dissected and dumped the Level 2 “Plus” version of HP’s PostScript cartridge series. This time, we will look at the earlier Level 1 “PostScript Cartridge”. read more

The HP LaserJet III laser printer from 1990 used the “Printer Command Language” PCL 5 by default, but could be upgraded with the “HP PostScript Cartridge Plus” cartridge, which contained 2 MB of ROM with Adobe’s PostScript Level 2 rasterizer. Let’s look at the ROM contents and some of its hidden gems. read more