Minus signs don't print - problem solved

[William R. Smith]

> William R. Smith wrote:

[snip]

> A quote on paper size from the pdftex manual (next version, to be
> release as soon as sebastian approves of the english):
> 
> \subsection[cfg]{The \PDFTEX\ configuration file}
> 
> One has to keep in mind that, opposite to \DVI\ output, there is no
> postprocessing stage. This has several rather fundamental
> consequences, like one||pass graphic and font inclusion. When \TEX\
> builds a page, the macro package used quite certain has a concept of
> page dimensions, which is not the same as paper dimensions. The
> reference point of the page is the top||left corner.
> 
> Most \DVI\ postprocessors enable the user to specify the papersize,
> which often defaults to ``A4'' or ``letter''. In most cases it does
> not harm that much to mix the two, because one will seldom put too
> small paper in the printer. And, if one does, one certainly not does
> do it a second time. In \PDF\ the paper size is part of the
> definition. This means that everything that is off page, is clipped
> off, it simply disappears. Even worse, just like in a \POSTSCRIPT\
> file, the reference point is in the lower corner, which is opposite
> to \DVI's reference point.


It's a much more important issue than just putting the right sized 
paper in the printer.  The thread on the "minus signs problem" was 
based on the fact that minus signs "disappeared" in the printed 
version (on some, but not all, printers) of a .pdf file that 
displayed correctly on the screen.  This caused considerable 
and fundamental problems for us here, and for the original poster.  
>From the original poster's comments, it seemed obvious that he/she 
would be telling the entire mathematics community to "forget about 
PDFTeX for mathematics".  And we certainly don't want that, do we?  
:-)


Maybe it would help if a sentence were added to the manual as 
follows: (after the following)

> In most cases it does not harm that much to mix the two, because one 
> will seldom put too small paper in the printer. And, if one does, one 
> certainly not does do it a second time.

In other cases, however (such as for mathematical documents), setting 
the page-size correctly (letter or A4) is absolutely crucial; for 
example, even tho documents display correctly on the computer, they 
may not print correctly.