The Print Shop on a Commodore 1526: four routes, one easy fix

If you want to run The Print Shop on a Commodore 1526 or MPS-802, you've got four ways to get there. Three of them are a project. One is a chip.

Sooner or later every 1526 owner runs into the same wall: you load The Print Shop, pick a banner, hit print—and nothing usable comes out. Ask around and the standard answer is some version of "yeah, the 1526 can't do graphics, just get a different printer." That's true out of the box, and it's also not the whole story. There are actually four ways to end up printing Print Shop graphics from a 1526, and they're not equal in effort. Here's the honest rundown, cheapest-in-hassle last.

Route 1: Buy a different Commodore printer

The 1525, MPS-801, and MPS-803 understand the Commodore graphics commands The Print Shop sends natively—no modification needed. So one option is simply to set the 1526 aside and hunt down one of its graphics-capable siblings.

It works, but it's a swap, not a fix: you're now shopping for a 40-year-old printer in working condition, and then shopping again for its ribbon (the MPS-801's cartridge is its own scavenger hunt). If you don't care which printer sits on the desk, this is fine. If you specifically own a 1526 and want it to work, you haven't solved anything—you've just bought a second printer.

Route 2: Add a printer interface

The other classic answer is a graphics printer interface—a Xetec Super Graphics, a Cardco +G, that family of boxes. These sit between the C64 and a standard Centronics printer and translate Commodore graphics into Epson-style commands, which lets you drive almost any nine-pin Epson-compatible printer with Print Shop, Print Master, and the rest.

This is genuinely the most flexible route, and if your goal is "use a big modern-ish dot-matrix or even a laser with Epson emulation," an interface is the right tool—I won't pretend otherwise. The trade is that you're adding another box and another cable to the chain, sourcing a vintage interface that's often pricier than the printer, and again, your actual 1526 is still sitting there not doing graphics. You've routed around it, not repaired it.

Route 3: Burn the ROM yourself

Here's the part most people never hear: the 1526's limitation was always firmware, not hardware. Back in 1980s Germany there was a commercial upgrade called Grafik ROM II—it adds the MPS-801 graphics command set the printer was missing, which is exactly the language Print Shop speaks. A Lemon64 member named marcelv dumped his chip years ago and shared it, so the ROM image survives.

So if you've got an EPROM programmer and you're comfortable inside vintage hardware, you can absolutely do this yourself: find marcelv's dump, burn it onto an M2764A, open the printer, pull the old ROM at U8, set the J1–J4 jumpers for the EPROM, and you're printing. It's the most satisfying route if you like that sort of thing. It's also the one with the most ways to spend an afternoon chasing a dead link, a mis-set jumper, or a bad burn.

Route 4: Drop in a chip that's already done

This is the one I make. It's Route 3 with the project taken out: one M2764A, already burned with marcelv's Grafik ROM II dump, and already run through an actual printer self-test before it ships—every chip arrives with a section of its own test printout, matched to its tracking number, so you know that specific chip printed graphics before it left the bench.

You still open the printer and swap the ROM at U8 (it's four screws and a socket, and the jumper settings come with it), but there's no programmer to own, no ROM image to track down, no guessing whether the burn took. Your real 1526 keeps its place on the desk, no extra box in the chain, no second printer to store—and it prints the banner. I proved it the honest way before selling it: a full "CHICAGOLAND RETRO TECH" banner off a real breadbin C64.

So which one's for you?

If you want maximum printer choice and don't mind an extra box, get an interface—that's the honest answer, and I'd tell you the same in person. If you love the burn-and-bench process, Route 3 is right there and marcelv's dump is the same one I use. But if you've got a 1526 or MPS-802, you want to keep it, and you'd rather skip the programmer, the dead links, and the trial-and-error: that's exactly what the chip is for.

Commodore 1526 / MPS-802 Graphics EPROM Upgrade →

Frequently asked

How can you print Print Shop graphics on a Commodore 1526 or MPS-802?
There are four routes: buy a graphics-capable Commodore printer (1525, MPS-801, or MPS-803), add a graphics printer interface such as a Xetec Super Graphics or Cardco +G, burn the Grafik ROM II firmware yourself onto an M2764A, or drop in a pre-programmed, printer-tested Grafik ROM II chip.

Which Commodore printers print Print Shop graphics without modification?
The 1525, MPS-801, and MPS-803 understand the Commodore graphics commands The Print Shop sends natively, with no modification. The 1526 and MPS-802 are the ones whose stock firmware can't, which is what the Grafik ROM II upgrade addresses.

What does a graphics printer interface do for a Commodore printer?
An interface such as a Xetec Super Graphics or Cardco +G sits between the C64 and a standard Centronics printer and translates Commodore graphics into Epson-style commands, letting you drive almost any nine-pin Epson-compatible printer. It's the most flexible route, but it adds a box and a cable and leaves the 1526 itself still not doing graphics.

What do you need to burn the Grafik ROM II yourself?
An EPROM programmer, marcelv's Grafik ROM II dump burned onto an M2764A, and comfort inside vintage hardware—open the printer, pull the old ROM at U8, and set the J1–J4 jumpers for the EPROM.

Further reading

• Why a Commodore 1526 can't print graphics—and the ROM swap that fixes it—the companion explainer, with the full install and command-set detail
• I printed a Print Shop banner on a Commodore 1526—the proof, start to finish on real hardware
• marcelv's Grafik ROM II dump and install thread—Lemon64
• MPS-802—C64-Wiki (documents the Grafik ROM II command set and the printer's history)

I'm Jeffrey Mays. Bench Notes is where I write up the actual workshop work—burns, builds, repairs, and the occasional 1985 banner printed on a printer that was never supposed to do it. Honest caveat, every route: the 1526 is a slow graphics printer no matter how you get there—that's the mechanism, not the firmware. What the chip changes is whether your 1526 can do it at all.