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 progra ...
that converts the
Device Independent file format (DVI) output of
TeX 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), an ...
into a printable or otherwise presentable form. was written by
Tomas Rokicki to produce printable
PostScript
PostScript (PS) is a page description language in the electronic publishing and desktop publishing realm. It is a dynamically typed, concatenative programming language. It was created at Adobe Systems by John Warnock, Charles Geschke, ...
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
printers and lack information such as
font
In movable type, metal typesetting, a font is a particular #Characteristics, size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "Sort (typesetting), sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of ...
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 files, which have readers for most platforms. Given its importance, is a standard part of most TeX distributions, such as
teTeX, and
TeX Live.
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 fonts. 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
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