dvips is a
computer program
A computer program is a sequence or set of instructions in a programming language for a computer to execute. Computer programs are one component of software, which also includes documentation and other intangible components.
A computer program ...
that converts the
Device Independent file format (DVI) output of
TeX
Tex may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tex (nickname), a list of people and fictional characters with the nickname
* Joe Tex (1933–1982), stage name of American soul singer Joseph Arrington Jr.
Entertainment
* ''Tex'', the Italian ...
typography
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), ...
into a printable or otherwise presentable form. was written by
Tomas Rokicki to produce printable
PostScript files from DVI input, and is now commonly used for general DVI conversion.
The TeX typesetting system outputs DVI files which are intended to be
independent of the output device. In particular, they are not understood by
printer
Printer may refer to:
Technology
* Printer (publishing), a person or a company
* Printer (computing), a hardware device
* Optical printer for motion picture films
People
* Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist
* James ...
s and lack information such as
font shapes. Thus, a converter (i.e., a
backend) is needed to translate from a DVI file to a printer language. Although other DVI backends such as
dvilj exist, is one of the most common ways of printing DVI files. Another, more recent solution is the use of
pdfTeX
__NOTOC__
The computer program pdfTeX is an extension of Knuth's typesetting program TeX, and was originally written and developed into a publicly usable product by Hàn Thế Thành as a part of the work for his PhD thesis at the Faculty of In ...
to directly generate
PDF files, which have readers for most platforms. Given its importance, is a standard part of most TeX distributions, such as
teTeX
teTeX (stylised as ) was a TeX distribution for Unix-like systems. As of May 2006, teTeX is no longer actively maintained and its former maintainer Thomas Esser recommended TeX Live as the replacement. , and
TeX Live
TeX Live is a cross-platform, free software distribution for the TeX typesetting system that includes major TeX-related programs, macro packages, and fonts. It is the replacement of its no-longer supported counterpart teTeX.
It is now the def ...
.
By using TeX
\special commands, it is possible to directly insert "literal PostScript" into the DVI file and have such snippets of PostScript appear in the final file generated by . This flexibility allows the user to include, say, watermarks on his document (especially via the use of proper packages
) or further postprocess the PostScript file.
When producing postscript files, dvips embeds fonts inside the file. Most recent distributions will normally embed scalable fonts, also known as
Type 1 font
PostScript fonts are font files encoded in outline font specifications developed by Adobe Systems for professional digital typesetting. This system uses PostScript file format to encode font information.
"PostScript fonts" may also separately be ...
s. Files generated with older distributions, however, may embed raster fonts. To substitute raster for scalable fonts in a postscript file in a situation where the original dvi file is unavailable use a utility called
pkfix.
References
External links
Official website
PostScript
Free TeX software
{{Digital-typography-stub