Bug#508528: texlive-base-bin: dvips without -j0 causes missing characters in output

[Ralf Stubner <ralf.stubner@web.de>]

Hi Mark,

thnaks for your report.

On Thu, Dec 11, 2008 at 21:31 -0500, Mark T.B. Carroll wrote:
> Package: texlive-base-bin
> Version: 2007.dfsg.2-4
> Severity: normal
> 
> Note minimal input file and other files below.
> 
> My texlive-latex-base version is 2007.dfsg.1-4
> My ghostscript version is 8.62.dfsg.1-3.1
> 
> I do: ps2epsi graphics.ps 
> to make graphics.epsi
> 
> Then I do: latex problem.tex
> to make problem.dvi
> 
> Now, if I do: dvips problem.dvi
> and look at the result with gv,
> there are missing characters, as at http://imagebin.org/33420
> 
> But, if I do: dvips -j0 problem.dvi
> and look at the result with gv,
> everything is fine, as at http://imagebin.org/33421

I cannot reproduce your problem here, but I have a suspicion where it
might come from. What is the output of the following commands:

kpsewhich --format='web2c files' updmap.cfg
egrep dvipsDownloadBase35  $(kpsewhich --format='web2c files' updmap.cfg)


I suspect that dvipsDownloadBase35 is set to true, which is not the
default value. But it can cause problems like the one your are
describing: Both the main document as well as the included image uses
one of the 35 PostScript base fonts (Times Roman in this case). Since
every PostScript interpreter is expected to have these fonts, they are
typically not included in PS files like your image. If, however, you
tell dvips to embed this font into the resulting PS files, it will
only download those glyphs, that are used in the DVI file. Not those
used in the image. But a PS interpreter rendering the resulting
document will only use the embedded partial version of Times Roman, so
that glyphs like P and S that are present in the image but not in the
DVI file are missing. The option -j0 tells dvips to download the
complete font, so that all glyphs are present even if they are not
used in the document.

As I said, dvipsDownloadBase35 is set to flase by default. If I am
right and you have set it to true, why did you do so?

cheerio
ralf