Paul Brainerd (1947-2026) and four partners founded Aldus Corporation in Seattle in 1984. The company’s 1985 release of PageMaker software for Apple Macintosh drastically changed the look of printed text and graphics that could be produced by individuals on personal computers. Before PageMaker, one would have to hire commercial typesetting and printing companies. Now, an individual or company could produce its own high-quality publications using the software and the new laser printers. PageMaker for PC computers was released in 1986. The company went public that year, making its investors very wealthy. In 1994 Adobe, a San Jose, CA software company, bought Aldus and combined its software with Adobe products.

Aldus’ first location was in Seattle’s Pioneer Square. Here, the brick-walled office is crammed with papers, cartons, and mismatched furniture. Paul Brainerd perches on a Leading Edge product carton and holds a Mac Plus computer and keyboard. An IBM Selectric II typewriter can be seen in the lower left, and a can of Coca-Cola Classic teeters nearby.

Caption information source: “Desk-top publishing is the Aldus Solution”, by Carol Smith Monkman, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 7, 1986, page B8.
Caption information source: “Extensive demand precedes offering of Aldus Corp. stock”, by Les Gapay, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 28, 1987, page B9.
Caption information source: “Aldus stock makes instant millionaires”, by Les Gapay, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 17, 1987, pages 1, 12.