1) Macintosh Plus, Macintosh SE, and prior models support only the eight colors
that are available in the original QuickDraw. All Macintosh II computers
and the Macintosh SE/30 support Color QuickDraw, which provides 256 colors.
Therefore, using original QuickDraw (Macintosh Plus, Macintosh SE, and
earlier) provides eight colors; while using Color QuickDraw (Macintosh II
family and Macintosh SE/30) provides 256 colors. However, please note the
third-party issues below.
2) There is a limit of eight colors as supported by the ROMs in the Macintosh
SE. However, please note the third-party issues below.
Some third parties have devised methods to work around the limits imposed by
the Macintosh ROMs. Some third-party film recorders (slidemakers) do not
work with the Macintosh SE/30 under Color QuickDraw, but work on the
Macintosh SE/30 by assigning colors to be equal to certain black and white
patterns. (This also may be supported on the Macintosh SE and Macintosh
Plus.)
Other third-party products can print Macintosh II 8-bit color images
from a Macintosh SE/30 without any changes. Without knowing which 35mm film
recorder is in use, we cannot tell you the limits the product imposes on the
Macintosh. To understand these limits, check the film recorder
documentation.