Paper coordinates
An understanding of the coordinate system used by to view
(and print) a DVI page would be useful.
's internal units are called ``paper pixels''.
The resolution parameters in a configuration file define the
number of paper pixels per inch;
the viewing_resolution is only used when viewing a DVI file
and the printing_resolution is only used when printing
a DVI file on a non-PostScript printer
(for a PostScript printer, dvips uses the resolution specified in
config.ps).
uses a coordinate scheme in which the paper pixel at (0,0) is
exactly one inch in from the top and left edges of the paper.
This position is referred to as the ``TEX origin'' because it is also
the origin of the coordinate system used in DVI files.
Every character, rule or \special has a specific location
defined by a pair of paper pixels (h,v).
Vertical coordinates increase down the paper and
horizontal coordinates increase to the right.
If the view window is frontmost then the cursor is changed to a cross
whenever it moves over the contents region. The current position of the
cross is shown (in paper coordinates) in a box at the lower left corner
of the view window. You can click in this box to change units
(set the units to px to see paper pixel values).