[OS X TeX] TeXShop doesn't open dvi-files

[Felix Grasser]

On 20.10.2005, at 20:47, Maarten Sneep wrote:

>> Now according to your reply, it
>> seems that we can change in the above preference option from
>> "Ghostscript" to "Apple Distiller"? Is this interpretation correct?
>> What's the benefits of doing this?
>>
>
> No additional package to install, the Apple Installer is actually  
> the Adobe distiller,
> and _supposedly_ generates superior quality pdf. It is also a bit  
> slower in my
> experience. It will also include fonts that are available to the  
> GUI, meaning that
> it will find different fonts, and depending on how you generate a  
> certain figure,
> ghostscript may be able to convert a figure that the Apple  
> distiller can't and vice
> versa.

An additional difference seems to be the handling of transparency in  
a given .eps file.

Both the Adobe Distiller and Apple's pstopdf converter do not  
preserve transparent figure backgrounds - the resulting .pdf file is  
rendered with a white background. The Ghostscript distiller preserves  
transparency.

For handling tex-related material (i.e. printed on white paper) this  
is hardly an issue. However, when converting figures to be included  
on non-white backgrounds (posters, transparencies), it is a crucial  
difference.

Felix
------------------------- Info --------------------------
Mac-TeX Website: http://www.esm.psu.edu/mac-tex/
          & FAQ: http://latex.yauh.de/faq/
TeX FAQ: http://www.tex.ac.uk/faq
List Archive: http://tug.org/pipermail/macostex-archives/