Configuring dvips

Dvips is a program which converts a typeset .dvi file to postscript format. Once converted, you can view and print the postscript file with GSView. This tutorial will show you how to configure dvips for your computer.

Dvips should have been installed by default when you installed MiKTeX. You only need to open the file config.ps in a text editor (like Notebook) and make a couple of changes. The exact location of the file will depend on where you installed the texmf folder when installing
MiKTex, but in any case should be in the folder texmfdvipsconfig. Before making the changes, it would be a good idea to save a copy of the original file.

Set available memory
Set printer resolution
Set printer type
Set paper size

Change #1:

At the top of the file is the line
% Memory available. Download the three-line PostScript file:
%   %! Hey, we're PostScript
%   /Times-Roman findfont 30 scalefont setfont 144 432 moveto
%   vmstatus exch sub 40 string cvs show pop showpage
% to determine this number. (It will be the only thing printed.)
m 3500000
Change 3500000 to match the memory available in your printer (3500000
is approximately 3.5 MB). If you don’t know how much memory is available,
try leaving this setting alone and see if it works. If this doesn’t work,
try changing to 1000000.

Change #2:

Soon below this is the line:

% Default resolution of this device, in dots per inch.
D 600
X 600
Y 600

Change the 600’s to match the resolution of your printer, for instance, change
to 300’s for a deskjet that prints at 300 dpi

Change #3:

Below the resolution change, change ljfour in:

% Metafont mode. (This is completely different from the -M command-line
% option, which controls whether MakeTeXPK is invoked.) Get
% @url{ftp://ftp.tug.org/tex/modes.mf} for a list of mode names. This mode
% and the D number above must agree, or MakeTeXPK will get confused.
M ljfour

to whatever is suitable for your printer. ljfour works with many 600
dpi laserjet printers. If you have a deskjet printer, try replacing ljfour
with deskjet. You can see all the printer modes by looking at the file
texmfmetafontmiscmodes.mf in your MiKTeX installation.

Change #4:

Finally, to make letter your default paper size, put semi-colons in front
of the lines

@ A4size 210mm 297mm
@+ %%Papersize: A4

and uncomment (remove the semi-colon) from the next line:

;@ letterSize 8.5in 11in

When you’ve finished making the changes, save the file.