Aldus
Encyclopedia
Aldus Corporation, named after the 15th-century Venetian
printer Aldus Manutius
, was the inventor of the groundbreaking PageMaker
software, a program that is generally credited with creating the desktop publishing
(DTP) field. The company was founded by Jeremy Jaech, Mark Sundstrom, Mike Templeman, Dave
Walter, and chairman Paul Brainerd
. Aldus Corporation was based in Seattle, Washington.
PageMaker was released in July 1985, and relied on Adobe
's PostScript
page description language. For output, it used the Apple LaserWriter, a PostScript laser printer
. PageMaker for the PC
was released in 1986, but by then the Mac was already the de facto DTP platform, with Adobe Illustrator
(released in 1987) and Adobe Photoshop
(released in 1990) completing the suite of graphic design
software.
Aldus went on to offer its Illustrator-like program, FreeHand
, licensed from Altsys
(who also developed Fontographer
). FreeHand and Illustrator competed with each other for years, through multiple releases. This rivalry continued even after the Aldus acquisition, because FreeHand was not included, but Adobe eventually acquired Freehand in 2005 with its acquisition of then-owner Macromedia
. It is no longer supported nor updated.
In early 1990, Aldus bought Silicon Beach Software
, acquiring a number of consumer titles for the Macintosh, including SuperPaint
, Digital Darkroom
, SuperCard
, Super3D, and Personal Press (later renamed Adobe Home Publisher). Silicon Beach was located in San Diego, California, and became the Aldus Consumer Division.
In 1993, Aldus bought After Hours Software and incorporated its products, TouchBase Pro and DateBook Pro, into the Aldus Consumer Division.
During the 1990s QuarkXPress
steadily won ground from PageMaker, and it seemed increasingly odd that Adobe — who had created PostScript, so vital to the working of DTP — still did not offer its own page layout application. This was resolved in September 1994 when Aldus merged with Adobe. Today, Adobe's competition to QuarkXPress is Adobe InDesign
. PageMaker remains available but is no longer marketed; existing PageMaker customers are now urged to switch to InDesign.
Aldus developed the TIFF
and OPI industry standards. The three founders of Visio Corporation
left Aldus in 1990 to create the product that later became known as Microsoft Office Visio
.
and After Hours Software)
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
printer Aldus Manutius
Aldus Manutius
Aldus Pius Manutius , the Latinised name of Aldo Manuzio —sometimes called Aldus Manutius, the Elder to distinguish him from his grandson, Aldus Manutius, the Younger—was an Italian humanist who became a printer and publisher when he founded the Aldine Press at Venice.His publishing legacy includes...
, was the inventor of the groundbreaking PageMaker
Adobe PageMaker
PageMaker was one of the first desktop publishing programs, introduced in 1985 by Aldus Corporation, initially for the then-new Apple Macintosh and in 1987 for PCs running Windows 1.0....
software, a program that is generally credited with creating the desktop publishing
Desktop publishing
Desktop publishing is the creation of documents using page layout software on a personal computer.The term has been used for publishing at all levels, from small-circulation documents such as local newsletters to books, magazines and newspapers...
(DTP) field. The company was founded by Jeremy Jaech, Mark Sundstrom, Mike Templeman, Dave
Walter, and chairman Paul Brainerd
Paul Brainerd
Paul Brainerd is a pioneer in the field of computer-aided editing, design and publishing. Born in Medford, Oregon, to Phil and VerNatta Brainerd, Paul Brainerd attended the University of Oregon where he was the editor for the school's paper, the Oregon Daily Emerald...
. Aldus Corporation was based in Seattle, Washington.
PageMaker was released in July 1985, and relied on Adobe
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
's PostScript
PostScript
PostScript is a dynamically typed concatenative programming language created by John Warnock and Charles Geschke in 1982. It is best known for its use as a page description language in the electronic and desktop publishing areas. Adobe PostScript 3 is also the worldwide printing and imaging...
page description language. For output, it used the Apple LaserWriter, a PostScript laser printer
Laser printer
A laser printer is a common type of computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. As with digital photocopiers and multifunction printers , laser printers employ a xerographic printing process, but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced...
. PageMaker for the PC
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
was released in 1986, but by then the Mac was already the de facto DTP platform, with Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor developed and marketed by Adobe Systems. Illustrator is similar in scope, intended market, and functionality to its competitors, CorelDraw, Xara Designer Pro and Macromedia FreeHand....
(released in 1987) and Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated.Adobe's 2003 "Creative Suite" rebranding led to Adobe Photoshop 8's renaming to Adobe Photoshop CS. Thus, Adobe Photoshop CS5 is the 12th major release of Adobe Photoshop...
(released in 1990) completing the suite of graphic design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
software.
Aldus went on to offer its Illustrator-like program, FreeHand
Macromedia FreeHand
Macromedia FreeHand is a computer application for creating two-dimensional vector graphics that are oriented primarily to professional illustration, desktop publishing and content creation for the Web. FreeHand is similar in scope, intended market, and functionality to Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw...
, licensed from Altsys
Altsys
Altsys Corporation was a Texas-based software company founded by James R Von Ehr II. It was an early Apple Macintosh developer and publisher.Three major products from Altsys for PC / Macintosh and NeXT were:*Fontographer for Windows and Mac OS - font editor...
(who also developed Fontographer
Fontographer
Fontographer , is a software application used to create digital fonts, available for both Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh platforms. It was originally developed by Altsys but is now owned by FontLab Ltd.-Fontastic:...
). FreeHand and Illustrator competed with each other for years, through multiple releases. This rivalry continued even after the Aldus acquisition, because FreeHand was not included, but Adobe eventually acquired Freehand in 2005 with its acquisition of then-owner Macromedia
Macromedia
Macromedia was an American graphics and web development software company headquartered in San Francisco, California that produced such products as Flash and Dreamweaver. Its rival, Adobe Systems, acquired Macromedia on December 3, 2005 and controls the line of Macromedia...
. It is no longer supported nor updated.
In early 1990, Aldus bought Silicon Beach Software
Silicon Beach Software
Silicon Beach Software was an early developer of software products for the Macintosh personal computer. It was founded in San Diego, California by Charlie Jackson and his wife Hallie. Jackson later co-founded FutureWave Software with Jonathan Gay, the company that produced the first version of...
, acquiring a number of consumer titles for the Macintosh, including SuperPaint
SuperPaint (Macintosh)
SuperPaint was a graphics program capable of both bitmap painting and vector drawing simultaneously. It was originally written by William Snyder, published by Silicon Beach Software and originally released in 1986 for the Apple Macintosh. William Snyder wrote and designed the program from his house...
, Digital Darkroom
Digital Darkroom
Digital Darkroom was an innovative, award-winning Apple Macintosh graphics program for editing gray-scale photos. It was published by Silicon Beach Software in 1987. It was programmed by Ed Bomke and Don Cone....
, SuperCard
SuperCard
SuperCard is a high-level development environment that runs on Macintosh computers, under OS 8 and 9, and OS X. It is inspired by HyperCard, but includes a richer language, a full GUI toolkit, and native color .The programming language used by SuperCard is called SuperTalk, and is largely based on...
, Super3D, and Personal Press (later renamed Adobe Home Publisher). Silicon Beach was located in San Diego, California, and became the Aldus Consumer Division.
In 1993, Aldus bought After Hours Software and incorporated its products, TouchBase Pro and DateBook Pro, into the Aldus Consumer Division.
During the 1990s QuarkXPress
QuarkXPress
QuarkXPress is a computer application for creating and editing complex page layouts in a WYSIWYG environment. It runs on Mac OS X and Windows. It was first released by Quark, Inc...
steadily won ground from PageMaker, and it seemed increasingly odd that Adobe — who had created PostScript, so vital to the working of DTP — still did not offer its own page layout application. This was resolved in September 1994 when Aldus merged with Adobe. Today, Adobe's competition to QuarkXPress is Adobe InDesign
Adobe InDesign
Adobe InDesign is a software application produced by Adobe Systems. It can be used to create works such as posters, flyers, brochures, magazines, newspapers and books. In conjunction with Adobe Digital Publishing Suite InDesign can publish content suitable for tablet devices...
. PageMaker remains available but is no longer marketed; existing PageMaker customers are now urged to switch to InDesign.
Aldus developed the TIFF
Tagged Image File Format
TIFF is a file format for storing images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and both amateur and professional photographers in general. As of 2009, it is under the control of Adobe Systems...
and OPI industry standards. The three founders of Visio Corporation
Visio Corporation
Visio Corporation was a software company based in Seattle, Washington. Its principal product was a diagramming application software of the same name. It was acquired by Microsoft and is now in a division of that company, which continues to develop the application under the name Microsoft...
left Aldus in 1990 to create the product that later became known as Microsoft Office Visio
Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Visio , formerly known as Microsoft Office Visio, is a commercial diagramming program for Microsoft Windows that uses vector graphics to create diagrams.- Features :...
.
Prepress
- ColorCentral — An OPI server
- PressWiseAdobe PressWisePressWise was digital imposition software to quickly and easily impose most any variety of flat and folding layouts. It was acquired by the Aldus Prepress Group affectionately known in the print and publishing industry as the Aldus WiseGuys in August 1991 from Emulation Technologies Inc. of...
— A digital imposition program - PrintCentral — A print output spooler
- TrapWiseAdobe TrapWiseTrapWise is digital trapping software. It was originally developed by startup Graphic Edge as RipPrep, subsequently acquired by Aldus which re-released it as TrapWise 1.0 in 1993...
— A digital trapping program
Graphics
- FreeHandMacromedia FreeHandMacromedia FreeHand is a computer application for creating two-dimensional vector graphics that are oriented primarily to professional illustration, desktop publishing and content creation for the Web. FreeHand is similar in scope, intended market, and functionality to Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw...
— A vector drawing program - Gallery Effects
- PersuasionAdobe PersuasionAdobe Persuasion was a presentation program developed for the Macintosh platform by Aldus Corporation. After it was acquired by Adobe Systems in 1994, when the two companies merged, a Microsoft Windows version was released...
— A presentation program - PhotoStylerPhotoStylerAldus PhotoStyler was developed by the Taiwanese company Ulead. The Aldus Prepress group identified the product as a potential acquisition for Aldus since they did not have an imaging product that could compete with Adobe Photoshop. The acquisition was completed in 1992 and Aldus PhotoStyler was...
— A bitmap image editor - TextureMaker — A program for creating textures/patterns
- SuperPaint (Macintosh)SuperPaint (Macintosh)SuperPaint was a graphics program capable of both bitmap painting and vector drawing simultaneously. It was originally written by William Snyder, published by Silicon Beach Software and originally released in 1986 for the Apple Macintosh. William Snyder wrote and designed the program from his house...
— Painting program - Intellidraw — A powerful yet simple drawing program
Aldus Interactive Publishing/CoSA
- After EffectsAdobe After EffectsAdobe After Effects is a digital motion graphics and compositing software published by Adobe Systems, used in the post-production process of filmmaking and television production. Its main uses are the origination of 2D and 2.5D animation, visual effects compositing and finishing...
— A digital motion graphics and compositing program - Hitchcock — A professional non-linear video editor, with titling and A/V transitions
- Fetch — A multimedia database
Aldus Consumer Division
(formerly Silicon Beach SoftwareSilicon Beach Software
Silicon Beach Software was an early developer of software products for the Macintosh personal computer. It was founded in San Diego, California by Charlie Jackson and his wife Hallie. Jackson later co-founded FutureWave Software with Jonathan Gay, the company that produced the first version of...
and After Hours Software)
- Digital DarkroomDigital DarkroomDigital Darkroom was an innovative, award-winning Apple Macintosh graphics program for editing gray-scale photos. It was published by Silicon Beach Software in 1987. It was programmed by Ed Bomke and Don Cone....
photo enhancement software - Personal Press consumer desktop publishing software
- DateBook Pro — Calendar management software
- IntelliDraw — A vector drawing program
- Super3D — 3D modeling software
- SuperCardSuperCardSuperCard is a high-level development environment that runs on Macintosh computers, under OS 8 and 9, and OS X. It is inspired by HyperCard, but includes a richer language, a full GUI toolkit, and native color .The programming language used by SuperCard is called SuperTalk, and is largely based on...
multimedia authoring environment - TouchBase Pro — Contact management software
External links
- Adobe website
- Seybold Report on the merger with Adobe
- The Vintage Mac Museum: Aldus FreeHand
- Logo of Aldus Corporation. From Wikipedia in German language.
