pktype(1) General Commands Manual pktype(1)
NAME
pktype - verify and translate a packed font (pk) bitmap file to plain
text
SYNOPSIS
pktype pk_file[pk]
DESCRIPTION
The pktype program translates a packed font file (pk) output by, for
example, gftopk(1), to a file that humans can read. It also serves as a
pk file-validating program (i.e., if pktype can read it, it's correct)
and as an example of a pk-reading program for other software that wants
to read pk files.
The input pk_file on the command line may omit the suffix "pk". The
plain text translation is always written to standard output.
The output file gives a compact encoding of the packed encoding, using
conventions described in the source code. Run lengths of black pixels
alternate with parenthesized run lengths of white pixels, and brackets
are used to indicate when a row should be repeated.
OPTIONS
See tex(1) for details of command-line parsing.
The standard -help and -version options are supported.
ENVIRONMENT
The program looks for pk_file using the environment variables PKFONTS,
TEXPKS, GLYPHFONTS, and TEXFONTS, in that order. If none are set, it
uses the system default. See the Kpathsea manual at
https://tug.org/kpathsea for the details of the searching.
SEE ALSO
dvitype(1), gftopk(1), gftype(1).
Donald E. Knuth et al., Metafontware.
AUTHORS
Tomas Rokicki wrote the program. Donald E. Knuth originally ported it
to Unix. Pierre MacKay originally adapted it for compilation with
Web2c.
Public discussion list and bug reports: https://lists.tug.org/tex-k
Web2C 2026 25 January 2026 pktype(1)
texlive-bin 2026.78235 - Generated Thu Mar 5 16:04:19 CST 2026