Previewing PostScript files, or dvi files.

[Max Hailperin]

In article <2748 at decuac.DEC.COM> avolio at decuac.dec.com (Frederick M. Avolio) writes:
>
>1. I believe that there is a bug in the dxpsview program, but I encourage 
>you to submit an SPR even though I have.  The more the merrier :-).  I see
>the same problem though.  If you edit the ps file and remove the letter
>command it ends up working fine.  I believe that anything that a PS
>printer can support, the previewer should.

This isn't a bug, it's a documented feature.  There's even a documented
way to override it, namely the "Use Fake Trays"  item in the Options menu.

Note, however, that (as I responded to the original poster) dvi2ps generates
nonstandard PostScript in other more subtle ways that are likely to get
you into trouble down the road.  Rokicki's dvips 4.0 generates 100% standard
PostScript, on the other hand, and has other advantages.  In particular, I
do use it succesfully with dxpsview.  I would recommend switching to it.
You can ftp it as pub/dvips40.tar.Z from labrea.stanford.edu.

>2. I use xdvi for rpeviewing dvi files and it works great.

Right, the only problem is with things like PostScript figures included
in your TeX document.  On the other hand, using dxpsview with a file
generated using the default 300dpi bitmapped computer-modern fonts looks
terrible on a 75dpi screen because dxpsview averages together 16 pixels
to get each one.  (Too bad there isn't a zoom mode, where you see all the
pixels but bigger than life.).  On yet a third hand, this problem goes
away if you tell dvips to generate output for a 75dpi device and give it
the appropriate fonts (which you already must have for xdvi, right?), and
then just regenerate the output seperately for printing.  Alternatively,
you can use the PostScript outline fonts, which dvips supports.