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Info Node: (texinfo)PDF Output

(texinfo)PDF Output


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PDF Output
==========

  You can generate a PDF output file from Texinfo source by using the
`pdftex' program to process your file instead of plain `tex'.  Just run
`pdftex foo.texi' instead of `tex foo.texi', or give the `--pdf' option
to `texi2dvi'.

  "PDF" stands for `Portable Document Format'. It was invented by Adobe
Systems some years ago for document interchange, based on their
PostScript language.  A PDF reader (http://www.foolabs.com/xpdf/) for
the X window system is freely available, as is the definition of the
file format (http://partners.adobe.com/asn/developer/technotes/).
Since PDF is a binary format, there are no `@ifpdf' or `@pdf' commands
as with the other output formats.

  Despite the `portable' in the name, PDF files are nowhere near as
portable in practice as the plain ASCII formats (Info, HTML) that
Texinfo supports (DVI portability is arguable).  They also tend to be
much larger and do not support the bitmap fonts used by TeX (by
default) very well.  Nevertheless, a PDF file does preserve an actual
printed document on a screen as faithfully as possible, so it has its
place.

  PDF support in Texinfo is fairly rudimentary.


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