dvips is a
computer program
A computer program is a sequence or set of instructions in a programming language for a computer to Execution (computing), execute. It is one component of software, which also includes software documentation, documentation and other intangibl ...
that converts the
Device Independent file format (DVI) output of
TeX
Tex, TeX, TEX, may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tex (nickname), a list of people and fictional characters with the nickname
* Tex Earnhardt (1930–2020), U.S. businessman
* Joe Tex (1933–1982), stage name of American soul singer ...
typography
Typography is the art and technique of Typesetting, arranging type to make written language legibility, legible, readability, readable and beauty, appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, Point (typogra ...
into a printable or otherwise presentable form. was written by
Tomas Rokicki to produce printable
PostScript
PostScript (PS) is a page description language and dynamically typed, stack-based programming language. It is most commonly used in the electronic publishing and desktop publishing realm, but as a Turing complete programming language, it c ...
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
* Printer (computing), a hardware device
* Optical printer for motion picture films
People
* Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist
* James Printer (1640 ...
s and lack information such as
font
In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design.
For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...
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 to directly generate
PDF
Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...
files, which have readers for most platforms. Given its importance, is a standard part of most TeX distributions, such as
teTeX, and
TeX Live
TeX Live is a cross-platform, free software, 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 ...
.
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 ...
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