DVI2PS

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NAME

dvi2ps - convert a DVI file to PostScript
(PostScript is a trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc).

SYNOPSIS

dvi2ps [-a fontdir] [-c] [-d] [-f n] [-h] [-i file] [-m n] [-n n] [-o str] [-p] [-q] [-r] [-s] [-t n] [-F fontdir] dvifile[.dvi]

DESCRIPTION

dvi2ps Converts a DVI file to PostScript, and writes the result to standard output. DVI files are usually produced by the TeX or LaTeX text formatting systems. The result requires a small amount of PostScript source to precede it to the printer, before it can be successfully printed. (By default, that PostScript code is prepended to the output).

-a fontdir or -F fontdir: Specify different directory for font files. Specifying "-a fontdir" causes directory "fontdir" to be searched for all font files, in addition to the default directory.
-c: Create an output file in the spool directory. This is fairly Apollo-specific, and may be disabled at other sites. When given, the output is directed to a file with a unique name, created in a spool directory.
-d: Select debugging output (you probably don't want to).
-f n: Specify a starting page number. (this is a TeX page number -- \count0).
-h: Do not copy the standard header file. This option prevents the standard PostScript header file being prepended to the output.
-i file: Copy the named file to the output The contents of the file named will be copied to the output after the standard header file has been copied, but before the DVI file is translated.
-m0 | -mh | -m1 | -m2 | -m3 | -m4: Specify a magstep to use to print the document. This overrides whatever might be in the DVI file.
-m n: Specify a magnification to use to print the document. This should probably be one of the magic numbers 1000, 1095, 1200, 1440, 1728, but no checking is done. Note: if your site does not have the complete set of 300 dpi fonts, this option might be disabled.
-n n: Specify the number of copies to print
-o str: Specify a printing option. valid options are "letter", "note", "legal", "landscape" and "manualfeed" (without the quotes). This argument may be repeated several times.
-p: Do not preload font information. Occasionally there may be insufficient memory to hold the information about all of the fonts in the system. Portions of the document may be converted by including the -p option on the command line. This will prevent the preloading of all fonts into the system and instead use demand loading of the font tables.
-q: Be quiet. Don't chatter about pages converted, etc.
-r: Stack pages in reverse order. Normally, the DVI pages are processed in reverse order, with the result that they are stacked in the correct order in the output tray. This option reverses that.
-s: Turn on printing of statistics. Some versions of dvi2ps will optionally print statistics about font usage and some other information that is generally only interesting to developers. On these systems, -s turns on the statistics printing.
-t n: Specify an ending page number.
-w: Don't print out warnings.

NOTES

This is a `bare bones' DVI-to-PostScript program. Minimal error checking is done.

No attempt is made to use the fonts native to the Postscript device. All fonts needed are included in the Postscript code at explicit bitmaps. This leads to very large Postscript files.

Font files are are assumed to exist somewhere on the font path. The font path is made up of all the font directories listed on the command line, all the directories listed in the TEXFONTS environment variable, and the default font directory, in that order. If a font file is not available (on the font path) in the resolution needed to display on the laser printer dvi2ps will attempt a font substitution. If a ``good match'' is found, then a font substitution is made and logged. When no font can be substituted for a missing font, dvi2ps will continue to process the DVI file, and and will log a warning message. Gaps will appear in the document where the missing characters should have been.

It can take up to 60 seconds for the first page to be output. After a head of steam has been built up, it can roll along at 5-10 seconds per page.

TeX \\special command:

This program supports use of the "\special" command in TeX to include special PostScript code for graphics, etc. Specifying "\special{psfile=foo.ps}" in the TeX source will result in the contents of file "foo.ps" (assumed to contain PostScript code) being copied into the output at that point. For most included graphics, the users (0,0) point will be set to the point of the \special command with x and y coordinates increasing up and to the right and in units of PostScript points (72/inch) -- thus you must explicitly leave space above the \special command for most graphics. For graphics produced by Apple Macintoshes (i.e., MacDraw, MacPaint, etc.), the top left corner of the drawing will be at the point of the \special command; in this case you must leave the required space below the \special.

The \special string can contain any number of the following "keyword=value" pairs, separated by blanks:

   Keyword   Value Type
   -------   ----------
   psfile    string      - A PostScript file to include
   hsize     dimension   - Maximum horizontal size
                              (for clipping)
   vsize     dimension   - Maximum vertical size
                              (for clipping)
   hoffset   dimension   - Amount to shift right
   voffset   dimension   - Amount to shift up
                              (or down, for MacDraw'ings)
   hscale    number      - A scale factor in x-dimension
   vscale    number      - A scale factor in y-dimension

dimensions are given in inches.

THUS: \special{psfile=foo.ps hoffset=1 hscale=0.9 vscale=0.9} will shift the graphics produced by file "foo.ps" right by 1", and will draw it at 0.9 normal size.

hsize and vsize are given relative to the (0,0) point of the drawing and are unaffected by offsets and scales.

hoffset and voffset are given relative to the point of the \special command, and are unaffected by scales.

If Macintosh drawings are to be included, the proper laserprep file must be downloaded to the printer, either permanently or as another header file in addition to the standard "tex.ps" header file.

ENVIRONMENT

TEXFONTS Holds the default font path.

FILES

*.dvi TeX DeVice Independent output file. /usr/local/lib/tex/fonts/gf300 TeX default GF font rasters. /usr/local/lib/tex/tex.ps PostScript support code.

BUGS

There is likely a limit to the size of documents that can be printed (at least, on the Apple LaserWriter). If you get VMerrors reported when printing, use the '-f' and '-t' options, to select a range of pages. The exact limit is unknown, but is probably well in excess of 50 pages for "normal" documents, decreasing with number of different fonts used, size of fonts, etc.

AUTHORS

Mark Senn wrote the early versions of this program for the BBN BitGraph. Stephan Bechtolsheim, Bob Brown, Richard Furuta, James Schaad and Robert Wells improved it. Norm Hutchinson ported the program to the Sun. Neal Holtz ported it to the Apollo, and then to produce PostScript. Modified for better GF format fonts, font paths, and better font substitution by Peter Damron, University of Washington.

This document was created by man2html, using the manual pages.
Time: 01:44:02 GMT, February 01, 2023