gsftopk and gsftopkk

gsftopk is a program that uses Ghostscript to render PostScript^TM fonts (including mock-ups of the ``built-in'' 35; e.g., Times-Roman) and convert the bitmaps to .pk format for use with xdvi or other .dvi viewers. Contrary to what its name may suggest, gsftopk can handle all types of fonts acceptable to Ghostscript, including .pfa, .pfb, and .ttf (TrueType^TM) files.

gsftopkk is the same basic program, modified to work with Karl Berry's Kpathsea path-searching library.

The two programs, gsftopk and gsftopkk, are released in tandem, and usually have the same version number.

Important notice regarding Ghostscript versions 7.00 and higher

Since version 7.00, ghostscript has had some bugs that affect gsftopk. To ensure that gsftopk works, there are three possibilities.

• Don't upgrade Ghostscript yet. Either refrain from upgrading Ghostscript, or (if you're using a really old version and want a slightly less ancient version) upgrade to Ghostscript version 6.50 or 6.51. At least one of the bugs affecting gsftopk is present in Ghostscript version 6.63, but neither bug is present in 6.50.
• Get a newer version of Ghostscript. Versions 7.02 and 7.20 of Ghostscript have been released, and fix two of the three bugs. The third bug occurs only in 1-2% of all .pfb files. It can be fixed by applying a patch for Ghostscript. You can also get the most current version of Ghostscript via anonymous cvs from SourceForge. In getting the most recent version, though, you run the risk of encountering new bugs.
• Patch gsftopk. A patch for gsftopk is available, providing a workaround for two of the three bugs (the same two as mentioned above). Apply it to the file .../texmf/dvips/gsftopk/render.ps. You do not need to recompile gsftopk to apply this patch. We are not incorporating this patch into any new release(s) of gsftopk, because it works around a problem that is only temporary.

For further details on the bugs, click here.

Current released version

The current version is version 1.19. It is available from CTAN sites in the files tex-archive/fonts/utilities/gsftopk/gsftopk.tar.gz and tex-archive/fonts/utilities/gsftopk/gsftopkk.tar.gz.

Version 1.19 makes the following change from the previous released version.

• Upgraded to make it work with versions 5.99 (and higher) of Ghostscript on the Win32 platform. No changes for Unix.

gsftopk and gsftopkk are distributed under the terms of the X Consortium copyright statement, and therefore qualify as Open Source^TM.

Latest beta release

The lastest beta release is version 1.19.2. Version 1.19.2 does the following:

• Made the usage of environment variables compatible with the kpathsea standards.

CTAN

The Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (CTAN) is a cooperating group of network sites. Each holds all the publicly available TeX software, fonts, macros, and documentation. The primary hosts are:

United States

ctan.tug.org

England

ftp.tex.ac.uk

Germany

ftp.dante.de

Many other hosts mirror the CTAN collection; to get a current list, type ``finger ctan@ftp.tug.org'', ``finger ctan@ftp.tex.ac.uk'', or ``finger ctan@ftp.dante.de.'' Please use the host closest to you.

A Web-based search site is also available.