MetaPost on the Web

This page has a list of links related to MetaPost, a powerful tool for creating graphics in scalable PostScript. It was written by John Hobby, based on Metafont by Donald Knuth.

Please email webmaster@tug.org with suggestions or corrections.

Basics

• What is MetaPost?
• MetaPost-related TeX FAQ entries.
• The current release is available from CTAN, in source form.
• Precompiled binaries for many platforms are available as part of TeX Live and MiKTeX.
• The metapost project at supelec.fr is the active development site.
• John Hobby's original MetaPost web site gives some history, downloads of original material, and more.

MetaPost mailing lists

• metapost@tug.org (archive) for general mpost discussion, bug reports, feature requests, etc.
• MetaPost discussion also takes place on the ntg-context list (archive).

Manuals

The basic manuals were all written by John Hobby and originally published as AT&T technical reports. They continue to be updated and maintained as part of the MetaPost distribution.

• A User's Manual for MetaPost.
• Drawing Graphs with MetaPost.
• Drawing Boxes with MetaPost.

The above links are for the documentation of the last released version. You can also read the documentation in the development sources.

Tutorials

• FAQ entry for Metafont and MetaPost tutorials.
• A beginner's guide to MetaPost for creating high-quality graphics by Troy Henderson.
• A tutorial focusing on the unique features of MetaPost, such as solving linear equations, by Klaus Höppner.
• A very brief tutorial by example, by Urs Oswald.
• Practical introduction to MetaPost, by Clément Hurlin, in English, French, and Italian.
• Tutorial, from André Heck.
• Petite propagande pour MetaPost tutorial (in English), by Anthony Phan.
• Metapost, une introduction by Laurent Chéno (in French).
• MetaPost tutorial by Robert Spalek (in Czech).

Additional documentation

• MétaPost exemples, dozens of examples showing source and output side by side, from simple to complex.
• Examples and tips from L. Nobre G.
• Puzzling graphics in MetaPost, by Hans Hagen.
• Marc's MetaPost Pages from Marc van Dongen.
• http://www.loria.fr/~roegel/metapost.html from Denis Roegel (in French). Includes animated examples taken from his 3D package.
• Swelled rules and MetaPost, by Steve Peter, an introduction to MetaPost in ConTeXt.

MetaPost programming and projects

• MetaPost previewer, an interactive form to allow online viewing of MetaPost figures, by Troy Henderson.
• Animations from Denis Barbier (in French). Application of 3D package.
• asymptote, a modern MetaPost replacement with a C++-like syntax and floating-point numerics, by Andy Hammerlindl, John Bowman, and Tom Prince.
• cm_arrows from Tommy Ekola.
• MetaGraf by Santiago Muelas.
• MetaType1, a font development system using MetaPost, by Bogusław Jackowski, Janus M. Nowacki, Piotr Strzelczyk.
• mf2pt1 for conversion of Metafont fonts to PostScript Type 1 using MetaPost, by Scott Pakin.
• scherer-src from Andreas Scherer. Curves.
• GNU 3DLDF by Laurence Finston, an independent implementation for 3d drawing with MetaPost syntax.

Macros and contributions (most on CTAN)

• MetaPost and MetaFun by Hans Hagen; MetaFun is essentially a format for MetaPost, and Hans' ConTeXt format for TeX has integrated support for MetaPost.
• MPtoPDF by Hans Hagen is a tool to convert MetaPost output into standalone PDF files.
• MPtoSVG from Troy Henderson, an online tool for converting MetaPost to SVG.
• Mpattern package from Piotr Bolek for filling patterns.
• 3D animations in MetaPost from Denis Roegel.
• CTAN:/graphics/metapost/contrib/

TUGboat articles

• MetaPost 2 project goals, Hans Hagen and Taco Hoekwater (v.30,n.3).
• Introduction to MetaPost, Klaus Höppner (v.30,n.2).
• Supporting layout routines in MetaPost, Wentao Zheng (v.30,n.1).
• MetaPost macros for drawing Chinese and Japanese abaci, Denis Roegel (v.30,n.1).
• Spheres, great circles and parallels, Denis Roegel (v.30,n.1).
• An introduction to nomography: Garrigues' nomogram for the computation of Easter, Denis Roegel (v.30,n.1).
• The MetaPost library and LuaTeX, Hans Hagen (v.29,n.3).
• MetaPost development: MPlib project report, Taco Hoekwater (v.29,n.3).
• Kanji-Sudokus: Integrating Chinese and graphics, Denis Roegel (v.29,n.2).
• MPlib: MetaPost as a reusable component, Taco Hoekwater (v.28,n.3).
• A beginner's guide to MetaPost for creating high-quality graphics, Troy Henderson (v.28,n.1).
• MetaPost developments—autumn 2006, Taco Hoekwater. New features in MetaPost 0.99 and future plans (v.27,n.1).
• MP2GL: prototyping 3D objects with MetaPost and OpenGL, Denis Roegel (EuroTeX 2005 proceedings).
• Embedding fonts in MetaPost output, Troy Henderson (v.26,n.3).
• Swelled rules and MetaPost (introduction to using MetaPost in ConTeXt), Steve Peter (v.26,n.3).
• Qin notation generator, Candy L.K. Yiu and Jim Binkley (v.26,n.2).
• Converting Metafont sources to outline fonts using MetaPost, Karel Píška (v.26,n.2).
• Kissing circles: A French romance in MetaPost, Denis Roegel (v.26,n.1).
• FEATPOST and a review of 3D MetaPost packages, Luís Gonçalves (TUG 2004 preprints).
• Programming PostScript Type 1 fonts using MetaType1: Auditing, enhancing, creating, Bogusław Jackowski, Janusz Nowacki, Piotr Strzelczyk (v.24,n.3).
• Floating point numbers and Metafont, MetaPost, TeX, and PostScript Type1 fonts, Claudio Beccari (v.23,n.3-4).
• Space geometry with MetaPost, Denis Roegel (v.22,n.4).
• Drawing graphs with MetaPost, John Hobby (v.22,n.1-2).
• The Calculator Demo: Integrating TeX, MetaPost, JavaScript and PDF, Hans Hagen (v.19,n.3).
• MetaPost and patterns, Piotr Bolek (v.19,n.3).
• Creating 3D animations with MetaPost, Denis Roegel (v.18,n.4).
• Graphics and TeX: A reappraisal of MF/MetaPost/PS, Kees van der Laan (v.17,n.3).
• Introducing MetaPost, Alan Hoenig (v.16,n.1).

MAPS articles

• Aligning MetaPost graphs in ConTeXt, Karel Wesseling (n.29).
• Practical MetaPost, Fabrice Popineau (n.28).
• A letterhead in ConTeXt, Karel Wesseling (n.28).
• Shifted bullets in graphs with MetaPost, Frans Goddijn, Karel Wesseling (n.28).
• Meta-Euro, Patrick Gundlach (n.28).
• The euro symbol, Hans Hagen (n.27).
• Reintroducing Type 3 fonts to the world of TeX, Wlodek Byzl (n.26).
• MetaType1: a MetaPost-based engine for generating Type 1 fonts, Bogusław Jackowski, Janusz M. Nowacki, Piotr Strzelczyk (n.26).
• Special fonts, Bogusław Jackowski, Krzysztof Leszczyński (n.26).
• MetaFun, Chapter 3: Embedded graphics, Hans Hagen (n.25).
• A macro routine for writing text along a path in MetaPost, Santiago Muelas (n.25).
• Antykwa Półtawskiego: a parameterized outline font, Bogusław Jackowski, Janusz M. Nowacki, Piotr Strzelczyk (n.25).
• Making standalone MetaPost graphics, Hans Hagen (n.24).
• Toolbox, Maarten Gelderman (n.24).
• Typesetting flow charts - let TeX and MetaPost do the job, Hans Hagen (n.23).
• Pretty printing TeX, MetaPost, Perl and JavaScript, Hans Hagen (n.20).
• Stars around 2 -- what a little math can do, Kees van der Laan (n.18).
• Stars around 1 -- PostScript straightaway, Kees van der Laan (n.18).
• Using fonts in MetaPost, Hans Hagen (n.18).

More contributions are welcome, please email webmaster@tug.org.