dvisvgm

dvisvgm − converts DVI files to Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)

dvisvgm [options] file[.dvi]

The program dvisvgm generates an SVG file from a given DVI file. DVI is the device independent output format produced by TeX. Output from groff can be converted to DVI using grodvi.

The recent version of dvisvgm provides basic conversion functionality. Currently only one page can be converted even if the DVI file is made up of multiple pages. You can select the page to be processed with option −p. dvisvgm should properly convert all pages that are made up of fonts and rules only. \special commands are ignored by the current version.

As SVG is a vector based graphics format dvisvgm tries to convert the glyph outlines of all used fonts into scalable path descriptions. The fastest way to do that is extracting the path information from PFB (PostScript Type 1) files. So if dvisvgm is able to find a PFB file for a used font it will read the necessary information from it.

Because TeX’s main source for font descriptions is Metafont which produces bitmap output, not all obtainable TeX fonts are available in PFB format. In these cases dvisvgm tries to vectorize Metafont’s output by tracing the glyph bitmaps. The results are not as perfect as most (manually optimized) PFB outlines but are nonetheless really nice in most cases (thanks to the potrace library).

−b, −−bbox-format=fmt

Sets the bounding box of the generated graphic to the specified format. The argument fmt is argument a case-insensitive string that denotes the paper size. Following size names are supported:

International DIN/ISO paper sizes:

An, Bn, Cn, Dn, where n is a non-negative integer, e.g. A4 or a4 for DIN/ISO A4 format (210mm × 297mm).

North American paper sizes:

invoice, executive, legal, letter, ledger

Special bounding box sizes:

dvi − the page size stored in the DVI file will be used

min − the minimal bounding box will be computed and assigned

none − no bounding box will be assigned

The default page orientation for DIN/ISO and American paper sizes is portrait, i.e. width < height. Appending −landscape or simply −l to the format string switches to landscape mode (width > height). For symmetry reasons you can also explicitly add −portrait or −p to indicate the default portrait format. Note that these suffixes are part of the size string and not separate options. Thus they must directly follow the above mentioned size specifiers without additional blanks. Furthermore, the orientation suffixes can’t be used with dvi, min and none.

This option only affects the bounding box and doesn’t transform the page content. Hence if you choose a landscape format the page won’t be rotated.

−c, −−scale=sx[,sy]

Scales page content horizontally by sx and vertically by sy. This option is equivalent to −TSsx,sy.

−m, −−map-file=file

Sets the map file that is used to look up renamed fonts. dvisvgm doesn’t provide its own map file but tries to read dvipdfm.map instead (see dvipdfm manual for further information). Use option −m to select a different file.

−M, −−mag=factor

Sets the maginfication factor used for Metafont calls prior tracing the glyphs. The larger this value the better the tracing results. Nevertheless large magnification values can cause Metafont arithmetic errors due to number overflows. So use this option with care. The default setting usually produces nice results.

−n, −−no-mktexmf

Suppresses the generation of missing font files. If dvisvgm can’t find a font file through the kpathsea lookup mechanism, it calls the external tools mktextfm or mktexmf by default. Option −n disables these calls.

−o, −−output=file

Sets name of output file.

−p, −−page=number

With this option you can choose the page to be processed. Please consider that the parameter of this option denotes the actual page count and not the number printed on that page. This is because the latter can be ambiguous, i.e. different pages may have the same page number (e.g. in cases where multiple DVI files have been merged). If this option is omitted, the first page will be selected.

−r, −−rotate=angle

Rotates page content clockwise by angle degrees around the page center. This option is equivalent to −TRangle.

−s, −−stdout

Don’t write output to a file but redirect it to stdout.

−S −−specials

Enable processing of \special commands. The recent version of dvisvgm doesn’t evaluate \specials so the default behavior is to ignore them. Option −S was implemented for debugging purposes. It forces the processing of \special commands which will merely lead to warning messages.

−t, −−translate=tx[,ty]

Translates (moves) page content in direction of vector (tx,ty). This option is equivalent to −TTtx,ty.

−T, −−transform=commands

Applies a sequence of transformations to the SVG content. Each transformation is described by a command that begins with a capital letter followed by a list of comma-separated parameters. Following transformation commands are supported:

T tx[,ty]

Translates (moves) page in direction of vector (tx,ty). If ty is omitted, ty=0 is assumed. The expected unit length of tx and ty are TeX points (1pt = 1/72.27in). However, there are several constants defined to simplify the unit conversion (see below).

S sx[,sy]

Scales page horizontally by sx and vertically by sy. If sy is omitted sy = sx is assumed.

R angle[,x,y]

Rotates page clockwise by angle degrees around point (x,y). If the optional arguments x and y are omitted the page will be rotated around its center depending on the chosen page format. When option -bnone is given, the rotation center is origin (0,0).

KX angle

Skews page along the x-axis by angle degrees. Argument angle can take any value except 90+180k, where k is an integer.

KY angle

Skews page along the y-axis by angle degrees. Argument angle can take any value except 90+180k, where k is an integer.

FH [y]

Mirrors (flips) page at the horizontal line through point (0,y). Omitting the optional argument leads to y=h/2, where h denotes the page height (see pre-defined constants below).

FV [x]

Mirrors (flips) page at the vertical line through point (x,0). Omitting the optional argument leads to x=w/2, where w denotes the page width (see pre-defined constants below).

M m1,...,m6

Applies a transformation described by the 3×3 matrix ((m1,m2,m3),(m4,m5,m6),(0,0,1)), where the inner triples denote the rows.

All commands are "executed" in the order of their appearance. Multiple commands can optionally be separated by spaces. In this case the whole transformation string has to be enclosed in double quotes. All parameters are expressions of floating point type. You can either give plain numbers or arithmetic terms combined by the operators + (addition), − (substraction), * (multiplication), / (division) or % (modulo) with common associativity and precedence rules. Parentheses may be used as well.

Additionally, some pre-defined constants are provided:

ux − horizontal position of upper left page corner in TeX point units

uy − vertical position of upper left page corner in TeX point units

h − page height in TeX point units (0 in case of -bnone)

w − page width in TeX point units (0 in case of -bnone)

Furthermore, you can use the length constants pt, mm, cm and in, e.g. 2cm or 1.6in. Thus, option -TT1in,0R45 moves the page content 1 inch to the right and rotates it by 45 degrees around the page center afterwards.

For single transformations you can also use options −c, −t and −r. Note that the order in which these options are given is not significant, i.e. you can’t use them to describe transformation sequences. They are simply independent shorthand options for common transformations.

−v, −−verbosity=level

Controls the type of messages printed during a dvisvgm run:

0 − no message output

1 − informal output only

2 − warning messages only

4 − error messages only

By adding these values you can combine the categories. The default level is 7, i.e. all messages are printed.

−z, −−zip[=level]

Creates a compressed SVG file with suffix .svgz. The optional argument specifies the compression level. Valid values are in the range of 1 to 9 (default is 9). Larger values cause better compression results but take more computation time. If −f is given in conjunction with −z the font file will be compressed too.

This option cannot be combined with −s or −−stdout, respectively.

dvisvgm file

Converts first page of file.dvi to file.svg.

dvisvgm −z file

Converts first page of file.dvi to file.svgz with default compression level 9.

dvisvgm −p5 −z3 −ba4−l −onewfile file

Converts fifth page of file.dvi to newfile.svgz with compression level 3. The bounding box is set to DIN/ISO A4 in landscape format.

dvisvgm −−transform="R20,w/3,2h/5 T1cm,1cm S2,3" file

Converts first page of file.dvi to file.svg where three transformations are applied.

dvisvgm uses the kpathsea library for locating the files that it opens. Hence, the environment variables described in the library’s documentation influence the converter.

The location of the following files is determined by the kpathsea library. To check the actual kpathsea configuration you can use the kpsewhich utility.

*.map

Font map files

*.mf

Metafont input files

*.pfb

PostScript Type 1 font files

*.tfm

TeX font metric files

*.ttf

TrueType font files

*.vf

Virtual font files

tex(1), mf(1), mktexmf(1), grodvi(1), potrace(1), and the "kpathsea library" info documentation.

0.5

Martin Gieseking <martin.gieseking@uos.de>