7.2.1 Default preamble

By default, the LaTeX document that PP3 creates begins with

     01   \documentclass[10pt]{article}
     02   
     03   \nofiles\usepackage[dvips]{color}
     04   \usepackage{pstricks,pst-text}
     05   \newcommand*{\DP}{.}
     06   \newcommand*{\TicMark}[1]{#1}
     07   \newcommand*{\Label}[1]{#1}
     08   \newcommand*{\TextLabel}[1]{#1}
     09   \newcommand*{\FlexLabel}[1]{#1}
     10   \newcommand*{\Starname}[1]{#1}
     11   \newcommand*{\Messier}[1]{M\,#1}
     12   \newcommand*{\NGC}[1]{NGC\,#1}
     13   \newcommand*{\IC}[1]{IC\,#1}
     14   
     15   \usepackage{mathptmx}
     16   \usepackage{helvet}
     17   \AtBeginDocument{\sffamily}
     18   
     19   [optional input of user provided file]

The above is not provided by you, it is the LaTeX code that PP3 generates every time. If you don't look at its LaTeX output file, you never see it. But it may be helpful to know what happens here, so let's skim through it line by line:

Line 1

The 10pt in the first line defines the standard font size in points. You can change that with the input script parameter

          set fontsize 12
     

which changes it to 12pt. Possible values are 10, 11, and 12.

Lines 5–13

All the so-called hooks of PP3, see LaTeX hooks.

Lines 15–17

They set the standard font for PP3's maps: The Helvetica for all the Latin letters, and the Symbol for all the Greek ones.

Line 19

Here your own preamble is included, if you have provided one.