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From: David Chappell <David.Chappell@mail.trincoll.edu> Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2001 12:25:03 -0500 Subject: Re: PPR: Re: updating mfmodes.conf <!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> "kyle.silfer" wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE>>The problem is that the HP 5000 PPD file does not have a <br>>"*DefaultResolution:" line.&nbsp; If someone knows the correct mfmode for this <br>>printer I can add a line for it to mfmodes.conf. <p>The Default Resolution should be 600dpi. <p>But what is "mfmode" anyhow? I have been trying to figure that out.</blockquote> I am putting this answer in the FAQ. <p>The "mfmode" is a set of settings used by Donald Knuth's MetaFont. MetaFont is a program which takes font outlines (in MetaFont format) and converts them to bitmaps. MetaFont is generally used with Donald Knuth's typesetting TeX. <p>A MetaFont mode is a description of the physical characteristics of a certain printers print engine. MetaFont needs to know these physical characteristics in order to produce highly legible bitmaps. Basically this physical information is the number of dot positions per inch and a series of numbers which describe how big the dots are how they smear. Remember that a 600 DPI printer will likely produce dots larger than 1/600th of an inch. The dots overlap. <p>One K. Berry maintains a list of MetaFont settings for a large number of printers. This list is incorporated in distributions of TeX and MetaFont. This list assign a name to the set of settings for each printer. These are the MetaFont mode names. <p>Some of PPR's filters call DVIPS to convert TeX DVI files to PostScript. These include the "dvi", "tex", and "texinfo" filters. Since DVIPS calls MetaFont, PPR has to tell DVIPS what MetaFont mode to use for the printer. PPR figures out the MetaFont mode to use for a given printer by opening the printer's PPD file, reading out the resolution and the printer "model name" and "product". These are then looked up in mfmodes.conf. If a matching MetaFont mode is found, it is used as the value of "mfmode=" in the default filter options. <p>If PPR can't find a match in mfmodes.conf, it will leave the "mfmode=" setting out of the default filter options. DVIPS will use some default of its own. The results are difficult to predice, but this has sometimes resulted in nearly blank pages. <br> </html>