dvipng: Introduction
1 Introduction
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This program makes PNG and/or GIF graphics from DVI files as obtained
from TeX and its relatives.
If GIF support is enabled, GIF output is chosen by using the 'dvigif'
binary or with the '--gif' option.
It is intended to produce anti-aliased screen-resolution images as
fast as is possible. The target audience is people who need to generate
and regenerate many images again and again. The primary target is the
preview-latex (X)Emacs package, a package to preview formulas from
within (X)Emacs. Yes, you get to see your formulas in the (X)Emacs
buffer, see <http://www.gnu.org/software/auctex/preview-latex.html>.
Another example is WeBWorK, an internet-based method for delivering
homework problems to students over the internet, giving students instant
feedback as to whether or not their answers are correct, see
<http://webwork.math.rochester.edu>.
A more recent addition to the dvipng-using applications out there is
MediaWiki, the software behind Wikipedia and many other wikis out there.
Dvipng is used to render mathematical formulae from version 1.8.0 of
MediaWiki, see <http://www.mediawiki.org>.
Other applications may also benefit, like web applications as
latex2html and WYSIWYG editors like LyX.
The benefits of 'dvipng'/'dvigif' include
* Speed. It is a very fast bitmap-rendering code for DVI files,
which makes it suitable for generating large amounts of images
on-the-fly, as needed in preview-latex, WeBWorK and others.
* It does not read the postamble, so it can be started before TeX
finishes. There is a '--follow' switch that makes dvipng wait at
end-of-file for further output, unless it finds the POST marker
that indicates the end of the DVI.
* Interactive query of options. dvipng can read options
interactively through stdin, and all options are usable. It is
even possible to change the input file through this interface.
* Supports PK, VF, PostScript Type1, and TrueType fonts, subfonts
(i.e., as used in CJK-LaTeX), color specials, and inclusion of
PostScript, PNG, JPEG or GIF images.
* and more...
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