Command linux dvi2ps: A Comprehensive Guide to Converting DVI to PostScript

For anyone working with TeX, LaTeX, or other typesetting systems, you've probably encountered the DVI format. DVI, short for Device Independent file format, is commonly used in the TeX typesetting system to represent documents in a device-independent way. However, in some cases, you may need to convert DVI files into other formats, like PostScript, for printing or further manipulation. This is where the command linux dvi2ps comes into play!

What is the Command linux dvi2ps?

The dvi2ps command in Linux is a simple yet powerful tool for converting DVI (Device Independent) files into PostScript (PS) files. PostScript is a page description language commonly used for printing documents, and it is widely supported by printers and printing software. Converting DVI files to PS is essential in many professional publishing and printing workflows.

When you run the dvi2ps command, it takes a DVI file as input and generates a PostScript file that retains the layout and formatting of the original DVI document. This command is particularly useful for users working with TeX-based systems, where DVI is the default output format but PostScript is often required for printing or publishing.

Why Use dvi2ps?

While the DVI format serves as a great intermediate format for TeX typesetting, many printing systems and workflows prefer PostScript files. This is because PostScript is more versatile and can be processed by many types of printers and imaging systems. By converting your DVI files to PostScript using dvi2ps, you can take full advantage of the robust printing capabilities and post-processing features that PostScript offers.

Installing dvi2ps on Linux

Before you can start using the dvi2ps command, you need to make sure it’s installed on your Linux system. In most Linux distributions, dvi2ps is part of the TeX Live distribution, which is a comprehensive collection of TeX-related tools.

If you have TeX Live already installed, chances are that dvi2ps is ready to use. However, if it's not installed, you can easily install it using your package manager. On a system using apt (like Ubuntu or Debian), simply run the following command:

sudo apt-get install texlive

If you're using a different Linux distribution, such as Fedora or Arch, use the corresponding package manager to install TeX Live. Once TeX Live is installed, you should be able to use dvi2ps without any issues!

Basic Usage of dvi2ps

Now that you have dvi2ps installed, let's take a look at how to use it to convert DVI files to PostScript files. The basic syntax of the dvi2ps command is as follows:

dvi2ps input.dvi output.ps

In this example:

• input.dvi is the name of the DVI file you want to convert.
• output.ps is the name of the PostScript file that will be created as the output.

Once you run this command, dvi2ps will process the DVI file and create the corresponding PostScript file. The output file can then be used for printing or further manipulation.

Commonly Used Options for dvi2ps

While the basic dvi2ps command is great for simple conversions, there are several options that you can use to customize the behavior of the command. These options give you more control over how the output PostScript file is generated. Let’s take a look at some of the most commonly used options:

1. Specifying the Page Range

If you only want to convert a specific range of pages from your DVI file, you can use the -p option followed by the page range. For example, to convert pages 1 through 5 of a DVI file, you would use the following command:

dvi2ps -p 1-5 input.dvi output.ps

This command tells dvi2ps to only process pages 1 through 5 of the DVI file and create a PostScript file with just those pages.

2. Setting the Output Paper Size

Sometimes, you may want to specify a custom paper size for your output PostScript file. You can do this using the -s option followed by the desired paper size. For example, if you want to output the PostScript file in A4 format, use the following command:

dvi2ps -s A4 input.dvi output.ps

This is particularly useful if you need to print your document on a specific size of paper, as it ensures the layout is correctly scaled to fit the paper size.

3. Converting to Landscape Mode

If you want to generate a PostScript file in landscape mode rather than portrait mode, you can use the -L option. For example:

dvi2ps -L input.dvi output.ps

This command rotates the output to landscape mode, which can be helpful when working with wide documents such as spreadsheets or large tables.

4. Including or Excluding Fonts

If you want to include or exclude fonts in the generated PostScript file, you can use the -P option. For instance, to exclude the fonts from the output, you can run:

dvi2ps -P input.dvi output.ps

Alternatively, if you want to ensure that the fonts are embedded in the PostScript file, simply leave this option out, and it will include the fonts by default.

Examples of Using dvi2ps

Let’s go through some practical examples of how you can use the dvi2ps command to convert DVI files into PostScript files in different scenarios.

Example 1: Basic Conversion

If you have a DVI file called document.dvi and you want to convert it to PostScript, you would use the following command:

dvi2ps document.dvi document.ps

dvi2ps -p 10-20 document.dvi document_part.ps

dvi2ps -s A4 document.dvi document_A4.ps