GFTODVI(1)

💅 GFTODVI(1) — bestie's guide to making proof sheets from generic font bitmap files

okay so real talk, this is gftodvi, a General Commands Manual icon in the Web2C 2026 era, and she makes proof sheets from generic font bitmap files. let's get into it 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

gftodvi — make proof sheets from generic font bitmap files. that's it. that's the whole gig. 🫶

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

gftodvi [-overflow-label-offset=real] [-verbose] gf_file[gf]

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so gftodvi converts a generic font (gf) bitmap file — which is, like, typically output by mf(1) — into a device independent (DVI) file. and then you can typeset that DVI using the same software that's already been written for TeX. iconic behaviour honestly. 👑

the characters in the gf file will appear one per page, with labels, titles, and annotations as specified in Appendix H (Hardcopy Proofs) of The Metafontbook. periodt. 📖

so here's the thing — gftodvi uses other fonts in addition to the main gf file. allow me to introduce the cast:

• a `gray' font is used to typeset the pixels that actually make up the character. (and like, we wouldn't want all the pixels to be simply black, since then labels, key points, and other information would be lost. obviously. 💀)
• a `title' font is used for the information at the top of the page.
• a `label' font is used for the labels on key points of the figure.
• a `slant' font is used to typeset diagonal lines, which otherwise have to be simulated using horizontal and vertical rules.

the defaults?? the default gray, title, and label fonts are gray, cmr8, and cmtt10, respectively. and there is no default slant font. she's mysterious like that. 🙈

to change the default fonts, you can give special commands in your Metafont source file, or you can change the fonts online. an online dialog ensues if you end the gf_file with a /. for example:

gftodvi cmr10.300gf/
Special font substitution: grayfont black
OK; any more? grayfontarea /home/art/don/
OK; any more? slantfont /home/fonts/slantimagen6
OK; any more? <RET>

this will use /home/art/don/black as the gray' font and /home/fonts/slantimagen6as theslant' font. (this name indicates a font for lines with slope 1/6 at the resolution of an Imagen printer. iykyk ✨)

oh and the gf_file on the command line must include the resolution, but can omit the suffix "gf". the output dvi file has the same base name as gf_file, and it is placed in the current working directory with the dvi suffix replacing gf. for example, the input file /some/directory/cmr10.2602gf would become cmr10.dvi. slay. 💅

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🔥 OPTIONS 🔥

see tex(1) for details of command-line parsing. (yes, the classic. we love a shared parser moment.)

• -overflow-label-offset=real — the argument specifies the distance from the right edge of the character bounding box at which the overflow equations (if any) are typeset. the value is given in TeX points. and the default is a little over two inches. 📏
• -verbose — by default, gftodvi operates silently. 🤫 but with this option, a banner and progress report are printed on stdout. we're being loud and proud now.
• -help — standard, also supported.
• -version — standard, also supported.

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🌈 ENVIRONMENT 🌈

the program looks for gf_file using the environment variables GFFONTS, GLYPHFONTS, and TEXFONTS, in that order. if none are set, it uses the system default. see the Kpathsea manual at https://tug.org/kpathsea for the details of the searching. 🔍

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🍓 FILES 🍓

• {gray.tfm,slant.tfm,black.tfm,...} — the default fonts. yes, the whole little set of them.
• {gray.mf,slant.mf,black.mf,...} — the Metafont sources. 💖

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⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

• tex(1), mf(1).
• Donald E. Knuth, The Metafontbook (Volume C of Computers & Typesetting).
• Donald E. Knuth et al., Metafontware.

and the links, because we link:

• Package page on CTAN: https://ctan.org/pkg/gftodvi
• Section in the Web2c manual: https://tug.org/texinfohtml/web2c.html#gftodvi-invocation
• Typeset source code, including file format descriptions: https://ctan.org/pkg/knuth-pdf

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👑 AUTHORS 👑

Donald E. Knuth wrote and still maintains the program. it was published as part of the Metafontware technical report. Paul Richards originally ported it to Unix. absolute legends, no cap. 🌟

public discussion list and bug reports: https://lists.tug.org/tex-k — go say hi, they're lovely. 🫶

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okay that's the whole page, bestie. go make some proof sheets and remember: pixels deserve a gray font, not just black. 💅✨

Web2C 2026 · 25 January 2026 — written by your girl, signed sealed delivered, muah. 🎀🦋💜