Re: [Groff] *roff for desktop publishing - is it feasible?

[Ted Harding]

On 23-Oct-2016 18:52:41 Gerard Lally wrote:
> Is it possible to lay out a page, as in the attached sample file,
> using *roff? I'm about to commit myself to learning troff and friends
> more thoroughly. Before I start I'd like to have a broad idea of its
> limitations.
> 
> I don't need a how-to, detailed or otherwise, showing the steps you'd
> take to produce this page in *roff. Just an idea whether or not the
> wizards among you on this list would consider tackling such a project
> with your favourite document formatter.

Since you seek a short answer, it is "Yes"! This includes fancy
things like the circular layout of the starts of lines below
"Personal Characteristics". Basically, in troff, you can define
what objects you want to put on the page, and tell troff exactly
where to put them. As for the graphic elements, so long as each
is available in EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) format, it is easy
to place them where desired and with the desired size.[**]

However, some of the details of achieving the layout in your example
could be intricate in troff, and also it looks as though the fonts
you have used are not those available by default in troff, and would
need to be installed (which itself is a somewhat finicky process).

Hoping this helps!
Ted.
[**] In illustration of the latter point, I attach a frivolous little
piece of scientific writing I composed a while ago ...
Attached PDF: gravity_levityC.pdf

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E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <address@hidden>
Date: 23-Oct-2016  Time: 21:28:19
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gravity_levityC.pdf
Description: gravity_levityC.pdf