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(dvips.info)Dynamic creation of graphics

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Dynamic creation of PostScript graphics files
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  PostScript is an excellent page description language--but it does tend
to be rather verbose.  Compressing PostScript graphics files can reduce
them by factor of five or more.  For this reason, if the name of an
included PostScript file ends with `.Z' or `.gz', Dvips automatically
runs `gzip -d'.  For example:

     \epsffile[72 72 540 720]{foo.ps.gz}

Since the results of such a command are not accessible to TeX, if you
use this facility with the `epsf' macros, you need to supply the
bounding box parameter yourself, as shown.

  More generally, if the filename parameter to one of the graphics
inclusion techniques starts with a left quote (``'), the parameter is
instead interpreted as a command to execute that will send the actual
file to standard output.  For example:

     \special{psfile="`gnuplot foo"}

to include the file `foo'.  Of course, the command to be executed can
be anything, including using a file conversion utility such as `tek2ps'
or whatever is appropriate.  This feature can be disabled with the `-R'
command-line option or `R' configuration option.