<s>
dvips	B-Language
is	O
a	O
computer	B-Application
program	I-Application
that	O
converts	O
the	O
Device	B-Application
Independent	I-Application
file	I-Application
format	I-Application
(	O
DVI	B-Application
)	O
output	O
of	O
TeX	B-Application
typography	B-Application
into	O
a	O
printable	O
or	O
otherwise	O
presentable	O
form	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
was	O
written	O
by	O
Tomas	O
Rokicki	O
to	O
produce	O
printable	O
PostScript	B-Language
files	O
from	O
DVI	B-Application
input	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
now	O
commonly	O
used	O
for	O
general	O
DVI	B-Application
conversion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
TeX	B-Application
typesetting	O
system	O
outputs	O
DVI	B-Application
files	O
which	O
are	O
intended	O
to	O
be	O
independent	B-Operating_System
of	I-Operating_System
the	I-Operating_System
output	I-Operating_System
device	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
,	O
a	O
converter	O
(	O
i.e.	O
,	O
a	O
backend	B-Architecture
)	O
is	O
needed	O
to	O
translate	O
from	O
a	O
DVI	B-Application
file	O
to	O
a	O
printer	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
other	O
DVI	B-Application
backends	B-Architecture
such	O
as	O
dvilj	O
exist	O
,	O
is	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
common	O
ways	O
of	O
printing	O
DVI	B-Application
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
,	O
more	O
recent	O
solution	O
is	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
pdfTeX	B-Language
to	O
directly	O
generate	O
PDF	B-Application
files	I-Application
,	O
which	O
have	O
readers	O
for	O
most	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Given	O
its	O
importance	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
standard	O
part	O
of	O
most	O
TeX	B-Application
distributions	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
teTeX	B-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
TeX	B-General_Concept
Live	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
using	O
TeX	B-Application
\special	O
commands	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
possible	O
to	O
directly	O
insert	O
"	O
literal	O
PostScript	B-Language
"	O
into	O
the	O
DVI	B-Application
file	O
and	O
have	O
such	O
snippets	O
of	O
PostScript	B-Language
appear	O
in	O
the	O
final	O
file	O
generated	O
by	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
flexibility	O
allows	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
include	O
,	O
say	O
,	O
watermarks	O
on	O
his	O
document	O
(	O
especially	O
via	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
proper	O
packages	O
)	O
or	O
further	O
postprocess	O
the	O
PostScript	B-Language
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
producing	O
postscript	B-Language
files	O
,	O
dvips	B-Language
embeds	O
fonts	O
inside	O
the	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
substitute	O
raster	O
for	O
scalable	O
fonts	O
in	O
a	O
postscript	B-Language
file	O
in	O
a	O
situation	O
where	O
the	O
original	O
dvi	B-Application
file	O
is	O
unavailable	O
use	O
a	O
utility	O
called	O
pkfix	B-Application
.	O
</s>
