dvipdf

dvipdf [options] dvi-file [pdf-file]

-o
    Specify output PDF filename

-p
    Set page size, e.g., a4, letter, b5

-l
    Landscape orientation

-P
    Portrait orientation (default)

-f
    Use custom font mapping file

-F
    Add directory for TTF/OTF fonts

-m
    Set magnification factor

-q
    Quiet mode, suppress messages

-v
    Verbose output

-V
    Set PDF version (1.4, 1.5, etc.)

-d
    Debug level

--help
    Show usage summary

--version
    Display version information

dvipdf is a utility in the TeX ecosystem that converts DVI (Device Independent) files, typically produced by TeX or LaTeX compilers, into PDF documents. It uses the dvipdfmx engine under the hood, providing native PDF output without intermediate PostScript files, unlike the traditional dvips + ps2pdf workflow.

This command supports advanced PDF features such as embedded fonts, hyperlinks (via pdfmarks), color, and Japanese/Asian font handling, making it ideal for multilingual documents. It processes DVI files generated by pdfTeX, XeTeX, or LuaTeX when configured for DVI output.

dvipdf offers fine-grained control over paper size, margins, font mapping, and debugging. It's particularly useful in automated build systems like Makefiles for LaTeX projects requiring PDF output. Performance is efficient for large documents, with options to embed all fonts for portability.

Common workflow: Compile LaTeX to DVI with latex or platex, then run dvipdf input to get input.pdf. It respects TeX configuration files like pdftex.cfg and supports security features to prevent PDF exploits.

Requires DVI input; does not process TeX source directly. Font embedding may fail with unlicensed fonts. Large files with many images can be memory-intensive. Not all DVI specials (e.g., some from emTeX) are supported.

Uses dvipdfmx.cfg for defaults; override with -c configfile. Font maps in pdftex.map.

Handles html:, pdf:, and color specials for links and graphics.

Originated in 1998 as part of Asian TeX (pTeX) project by ASCII Corp. for Japanese typesetting. dvipdfm by Jin-Hwan Cho (2000), evolved to dvipdfmx (2002+) with PDF 1.5+ support. Integrated into TeX Live since 2004, now maintained by TeX user groups.

dvipdfmx(1), dvips(1), pdftex(1), xdvi(1), latex(1)