Harvard Graphics

Harvard Graphics was a pioneering presentation program developed for DOS and Microsoft Windows by Software Publishing Corporation (SPC). Harvard Graphics, Inc. released the first version in 1986 as Harvard Presentation Graphics.

Harvard Graphics was one of the first consumer application software programs that allowed users to incorporate text, information graphics, and charts into custom slideshow presentations. The original version could import data from Lotus 1-2-3 or Lotus Symphony, charts created in Symphony or PFS Graph, and ASCII text. It could export text and graphics to Computer Graphics Metafile and to Write, also manufactured by SPC. Its use of vector graphics produced mixed results on the CGA and EGA displays common at the time, but output was usually sent to a slide printer or a color plotter.

"Presentation" was dropped from the name for the second release, which came in 1987. Harvard Graphics 2.0 added the ability to import the latest Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet data before generating graphics, as well as drawing and annotations for graphs. Version 3.0 was not released until 1991, offering improved editing functions, but its graphics and export capabilities were being outperformed by competitors like Aldus Persuasion and Lotus Freelance.

The market leader through the late 1980s,...
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