[pdftex] pdflatex, itemize, textcomp

[Robin Fairbairns]

>th This is pdfTeX, Version 3.14159-13d (Web2C 7.3.1)

this is a really rather ancient pdftex

> [1[/var/lib/texmf/dvips/config/pdftex.map][/var/lib/texmf/pdftex/config/arial.pdftex.map][/var/lib/texmf/dvips/config/wadalab.map]]
> (test.aux) )<cmr12.pfb>
> Warning: pdflatex (file tcrm1200): Font tcrm1200 at 600 not found

textcomp tells latex to use the text companion (tc??nnnn) fonts.  in
your system, those fonts are only available as pk (bitmap) fonts; if
you had a more modern pdftex, it would use those fonts, and would
produce pdf that looked horrible (in parts) on screen.

what you should do:

1. upgrade your pdftex.  13d is so old that an upgrade would get rid
of some quite serious bugs, quite apart from dealing with this
misfeature.

2. consider acquiring the cm-super fonts from ctan.  this set contains
a whole bunch of fonts in type 1, that have been auto-traced from pk
originals: included are the tc fonts.  this would go a long way to
ridding you of the "horrible (in parts)" i mentioned, but it really
isn't actually _necessary_.