TeX PK Font file

Supported device
PK Font files for TeX.
Device type code
/TX
Default file names
pgplot.RESpk, pgplot.tfm where the RES is a default value of 300 but may be set to something else. If RES=300, then the default file names would be pgplot.300pk and pgplot.tfm. If more than 15 font characters are produced, then the file names become pgplot_2.300pk and pgplot_2.tfm, etc., for each set of 15 characters output (i.e., for each PK font produced).
Default view surface dimensions
2.8 x 2.8 inches. May be overridden by the environment variables PGPLOT_TX_YINCHES, and PGPLOT_TX_XINCHES
$DEFINE PGPLOT_TX_XINCHES "5.0"   
$DEFINE PGPLOT_TX_YINCHES "4.5"
would provide a view surface of 5.0 inches horizontally by 4.5 inches vertically.
Resolution
300 dots per inch. May be overridden by the logicals PGPLOT_TX_XRESOL and PGPLOT_TX_YRESOL:
$DEFINE PGPLOT_TX_XRESOL "78.0" 
$DEFINE PGPLOT_TX_YRESOL "78.0"
will produce a font at 78 dots per inch resolution. This would be good for a Vaxstation 2000 workstation. The default 300 dots per inch is good for a laser printer such as a QMS1200 LaserGrafix or an HP2000 LaserJet.
Color capability
Color indices 0 (erase, white) and 1 (black) are supported. It is not possible to change color representation.
Output Orientation
Portrait. (Can be overridden by setting the environment variable PGPLOT_TX_ORIENT = LANDSCAPE.)
Input capability
None.
File formats
TeX PK Font file format, and TeX TFM file format. The files are output as FORTRAN, DIRECT ACCESS, UNFORMATTED, 512 BYTE RECORDS so that we can have compatability with the VAX and our UNIX machine. A raw bitmap copy is also possible if you define the logical PGPLOT_TX_BITFILE:
$ DEFINE PGPLOT_TX_BITFILE "MINIMAL"
will produce a file copy of the portion of the bitmap which is within the minimal bounding box of the character.
$ DEFINE PGPLOT_TX_BITFILE "ALL" 
will produce a file copy of the complete bitmap of the graphics character.
Obtaining hardcopy
Use the command DUMP to view the output files, or run TeX and include the character of this new font and DVI the output and print the resulting binary file to the correct printer (with PASSALL, NOFEED, or whatever is required for printing binary output to your specific printer). Also, the PKTYPE and TFTOPL TeX debugging programs will allow you to view your output font characteristics.
TeX Example
Assume you have produced a graph into a PK Font and that the output file names are pgplot.300pk and pgplot.tfm then the following lines in your TeX code would include the graph corresponding to the letter A of the TeX PK font "PGPLOT" in the middle of your paper:
                                                                
      \font\myfntname=pgplot
       This is sentence one of the TeX file.
       Now I will include the character.
      \centerline{\myfntname A }
       This is the last sentence.
      \bye
The above example for LaTeX would be:
                                                    
    This is the first sentence.
    Now I will include the character as a figure.
    \begin{figure}
     \newfont{\myfntname}{pgplot}
     \centerline{\myfntname A}
     \caption{Letter A of PGPLOT font}
    \end{figure}
    This is the last sentence.
Of course, you must tell TeX and the DVI driver where to find your fonts. On our VAX, we have defined a search list so that if you define the logical TEX_USER_FONTS to be your directory where you keep your fonts, then TeX and the DVI driver will find the pgplot.tfm file and the pgplot.300pk file. So,
  $DEFINE TEX_USER_FONTS  SYS$USERDISK:[USERNAME.FONTS]
would cause TeX and the DVI driver to search the normal search path and also the directory SYS$USERDISK:[USERNAME.FONTS] for any fonts that you specified in your TeX file. (Here is an exception for UNIX. Our UNIX TeX and DVI programs will look in your current directory automatically for the fonts and then will check the system library if it cannot find the fonts in your directory.)
Notes
You must change the resolution for different output devices (our DVI driver, DVIHP, for our HP2000 LaserJet would use a resolution of 300 dots per inch; while our DVI driver for the Vaxstation 2000 workstation would need a resolution of 78 dots per inch. The pgplot.tfm file would of course be the same in both cases, but the DVI drivers would look for pgplot.300pk and pgplot.78pk respectively). If you produce an image which is too large (by defining logicals PGPLOT_TX_XINCHES and PGPLOT_TX_YINCHES) then some DVI drivers will leave the page blank where the graph of the character belongs (can sometimes use \hsize and \vsize to help with this). Finally, if your device driver only works with PXL files (like our PRINTRONIX DVI driver), then you may want to run the PKTOPX program to convert the PK Font into a PXL Font which your device driver needs.
Author
Bob Forrest, Electrical Engineering Dept., Texas A&M University; College Station,Texas 77843 (forrest@ee.tamu.edu).