Q: How can I preview my document before printing?

Answer

You can use the 'xdvi' previewer to look at your LaTeX .dvi files without printing them. To use it, type:

xdvi filename.dvi &

This will bring up a window with your document in it. To move to the next page, type n; similarly, to move to the previous page, type p. If you want to see a magnified view of a part of the page, you can move the cursor to that area and then press a mouse button; the left button will bring up a small window and the right button a larger window. To exit the previewer, type q.

There are many other features that the previewer has; if you want to find out more about them, type:

man xdvi

Some things, such as postscript pictures, fonts, rotated text, and other graphics, may not show up correctly in xdvi. To get a more accurate rendition, you may wish to use the ghostview postscript previewer instead:

dvips filename.dvi -o filename.ps
athena gv filename.ps

More information on xdvi and latex is available in the document LaTeX on Athena - Basics