RE: Screen captures and sizing
Hi all, [from a lurker on daily digest, sorry if this is late] Here is the current comment from a client: Generally, I would like to keep high quality of screen captures. The comment that I have from the client is what I have - nothing specific about fuzziness, or anything else. Tammy, if that is the only comment you have about graphics from the customer, when taken literally, it is a compliment. You don't say whether you're new to this customer's documentation, so I can't tell if it's a reflection of your past work or a veiled request on your future work. Either way, you have what I would consider a solid process for getting sharp screen shots into the docs. As others have pointed out, there are probably some things that can happen after that, but it's just a matter of a few settings. For reference, my screen-shot process is generally similar, but I have a few refinements I haven't seen mentioned here. I'm running FM 8 on Vista. I use the MS Snipping Tool that comes with Vista, and save directly to PNG. I always draw and clip a rectangle box and give myself about 10 pixels around the actual GUI item I want. From there, I open the image in Gimp, a free photo editor that has some handy features for working with PNGs. For example, I mostly work at 150 dpi in Frame, so I have that set up as my default save option. Once the dpi is in the PNG, FM automatically takes that as the default (I learned that on this list a few months ago). I like to zoom to 400% and see every pixel in my screenshot, so I can crop it just right. Cropping is easy because you can draw the box and then move each border independently to get what you want. In my docs, I generally try to have screenshots at only 3 different DPIs: - 96 for small icons and such that usually go inline (this makes easy to see because they are about the same size as in the GUI when viewed at 100% in PDF) - 150 for most dialogs and screens, which keeps all text easily readable. - 200 or 300 if I have to present a full screen layout. (Although I've been basing that on the 600 dpi of most laser printers; I like Ian's suggestion to optimize for PDF viewing in Acrobat.) 90% of my screenshots are at the 150 dpi setting, which I like to think keeps the perspective consistent for the reader. However, when editing the capture, I take some liberties with the actual screen contents. I always make my window as small as possible before the screenshot, but the GUI is still often too large. For example, if a dialog box has a lot of white-space somewhere, especially vertically, I copy-paste the border to cover up some of the extra space, then recrop the box. Or if the screen is too wide, I move some of the fields and elements closer together. The idea is that the reader needs to see something that looks like the product, not the exact pixels. With the image editor, I can also fix bugs in the GUI, even typos in the labels, so I don't have to wait for engineering to generate the fix and I dont' have to set up the screenshot again. It's a bit of an art, and sometimes a bit complicated to move the dialog elements, especially if they're on a gradient background, but as long as the end result keeps the general relative dimensions of the actual GUI, the reader gets the needed info in a clearer way. Anyways, thanks to all who contribute regularly here, I've learned a lot reading this list. Andy ak...@jaspersoft.com ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: Screen captures and sizing
Could you explain a bit more about what the problem is? Here is the current comment from a client: Generally, I would like to keep high quality of screen captures. isn't explaining, at least to me, what's wrong... IF (a WAG), they're complaining about fuzziness of screen shots in a PDF, you need to make sure that the job options you're using to create the PDF are not compressing or downsampling the graphics. Also, you don't mention what format you're saving the screen snaps in, which can have a big impact on quality. Art Art Campbell art.campb...@gmail.com ... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 Vincent and a redheaded girl. -- Richard Thompson No disclaimers apply. DoD 358 On Mon, May 18, 2009 at 12:16 PM, Spectrum Writing spectrumwrit...@q.com wrote: All, I know that there are many graphics gurus on this list and I will be the first to admit - I am NOT a graphics guru and it is my weakest point. That said, I have never had any comments from clients until now about what I do for screen captures, and I wanted either confirmation or some additional insight on improvements for taking screen captures. Here is the current comment from a client: Generally, I would like to keep high quality of screen captures. Would like to suggest using a tool that can downscale the images with a smoothing function to keep high quality appearance. (as appear here, this is just sub-sampling with no smoothing.) I use SnagIt as my capture tool. I use the region option and capture either the relevant portion that I need or if required, I take a capture of the whole screen. I then save the capture as a .png, and use the import file function to bring the capture into my Framemaker file. Obviously, the default dpi is set to the fictitious Windows 96 dpi. I change the capture to 150 dpi and import. If this works for size and clarity, then I am done; if not, I right-click on the picture and adjust the dpi until I get the size that works for the page layout and what I am trying to show. (After much reading on this list, and advice from another colleague, I have learned that what I was initially taught at a long ago gig - to set the dpi to 300 and then use the manual sizing handles - is NOT the way to go). Can any of you graphics gurus give me some insight as to what else I should be doing/changing or if I am doing it the right way - and if you want to lecture me off list about dpis and stuff, that is fine with me too. I will gladly take whatever information I can glean so that I can reply professionally and non-emotionally to this client about why the pictures are just fine for PDFs. Thanks so much, TVB Tammy Van Boening Owner/Principal Spectrum Writing, LLC www.spectrumwritingllc.com http://www.spectrumwritingllc.com/ ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as art.campb...@gmail.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/art.campbell%40gmail.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
RE: Screen captures and sizing
Hi All, I just completed a large project - about 240 screen captures - that were captured in SnagIt and imported by reference into the FrameMaker files. I agree with the last comment, to import at a setting that best accepts the size of your image, and as stated, do not use the corner handles to manually adjust your images. I used SnagIt with two options: the region (static images) and the time delayed (drop-down menus). We decided to run test samples, since our screens varied in size. The decision was to use a range of DPI settings depending on the size of the screen capture. Basically, I used a DPI range of 72 to 144 from the small (like the error message box size) to the very large, (like the capture of a database screen). From that point, once I got a good DPI size, if further adjustments were needed, I used the FMKR scale tool and adjusted by percentage to maintain the smoothing and aspect ratio. Results: The training staff liked the improved images. This process was adapted from info I gathered from this users group, so I hope sharing the results helps. Good Luck, Sue From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com on behalf of Spectrum Writing Sent: Mon 5/18/2009 9:16 AM To: Framers List Subject: Screen captures and sizing All, I know that there are many graphics gurus on this list and I will be the first to admit - I am NOT a graphics guru and it is my weakest point. That said, I have never had any comments from clients until now about what I do for screen captures, and I wanted either confirmation or some additional insight on improvements for taking screen captures. Here is the current comment from a client: Generally, I would like to keep high quality of screen captures. Would like to suggest using a tool that can downscale the images with a smoothing function to keep high quality appearance. (as appear here, this is just sub-sampling with no smoothing.) I use SnagIt as my capture tool. I use the region option and capture either the relevant portion that I need or if required, I take a capture of the whole screen. I then save the capture as a .png, and use the import file function to bring the capture into my Framemaker file. Obviously, the default dpi is set to the fictitious Windows 96 dpi. I change the capture to 150 dpi and import. If this works for size and clarity, then I am done; if not, I right-click on the picture and adjust the dpi until I get the size that works for the page layout and what I am trying to show. (After much reading on this list, and advice from another colleague, I have learned that what I was initially taught at a long ago gig - to set the dpi to 300 and then use the manual sizing handles - is NOT the way to go). Can any of you graphics gurus give me some insight as to what else I should be doing/changing or if I am doing it the right way - and if you want to lecture me off list about dpis and stuff, that is fine with me too. I will gladly take whatever information I can glean so that I can reply professionally and non-emotionally to this client about why the pictures are just fine for PDFs. Thanks so much, TVB Tammy Van Boening Owner/Principal Spectrum Writing, LLC www.spectrumwritingllc.com http://www.spectrumwritingllc.com/ ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as susa...@vmc.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/susancu%40vmc.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
RE: Screen captures and sizing
Hi All, I forgot to mention, that I am using FrameMaker 7.0, Adobe Distiller 5.0, and SnagIt 9 on Vista Enterprise. I also use the distiller to create the PDF, not Save As a PDF. Remember, even if your Frame image looks a little 'out of focus' they are always better in PDF. You might want to run a quick PDF just so you can see they will be okay, if you are having problems with a few 'difficult' images. Sue From: Susan Curtzwiler Sent: Mon 5/18/2009 9:45 AM To: Spectrum Writing ; Framers List Cc: Susan Curtzwiler Subject: RE: Screen captures and sizing Hi All, I just completed a large project - about 240 screen captures - that were captured in SnagIt and imported by reference into the FrameMaker files. I agree with the last comment, to import at a setting that best accepts the size of your image, and as stated, do not use the corner handles to manually adjust your images. I used SnagIt with two options: the region (static images) and the time delayed (drop-down menus). We decided to run test samples, since our screens varied in size. The decision was to use a range of DPI settings depending on the size of the screen capture. Basically, I used a DPI range of 72 to 144 from the small (like the error message box size) to the very large, (like the capture of a database screen). From that point, once I got a good DPI size, if further adjustments were needed, I used the FMKR scale tool and adjusted by percentage to maintain the smoothing and aspect ratio. Results: The training staff liked the improved images. This process was adapted from info I gathered from this users group, so I hope sharing the results helps. Good Luck, Sue From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com on behalf of Spectrum Writing Sent: Mon 5/18/2009 9:16 AM To: Framers List Subject: Screen captures and sizing All, I know that there are many graphics gurus on this list and I will be the first to admit - I am NOT a graphics guru and it is my weakest point. That said, I have never had any comments from clients until now about what I do for screen captures, and I wanted either confirmation or some additional insight on improvements for taking screen captures. Here is the current comment from a client: Generally, I would like to keep high quality of screen captures. Would like to suggest using a tool that can downscale the images with a smoothing function to keep high quality appearance. (as appear here, this is just sub-sampling with no smoothing.) I use SnagIt as my capture tool. I use the region option and capture either the relevant portion that I need or if required, I take a capture of the whole screen. I then save the capture as a .png, and use the import file function to bring the capture into my Framemaker file. Obviously, the default dpi is set to the fictitious Windows 96 dpi. I change the capture to 150 dpi and import. If this works for size and clarity, then I am done; if not, I right-click on the picture and adjust the dpi until I get the size that works for the page layout and what I am trying to show. (After much reading on this list, and advice from another colleague, I have learned that what I was initially taught at a long ago gig - to set the dpi to 300 and then use the manual sizing handles - is NOT the way to go). Can any of you graphics gurus give me some insight as to what else I should be doing/changing or if I am doing it the right way - and if you want to lecture me off list about dpis and stuff, that is fine with me too. I will gladly take whatever information I can glean so that I can reply professionally and non-emotionally to this client about why the pictures are just fine for PDFs. Thanks so much, TVB Tammy Van Boening Owner/Principal Spectrum Writing, LLC www.spectrumwritingllc.com http://www.spectrumwritingllc.com/ ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as susa...@vmc.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/susancu%40vmc.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: Screen captures and sizing
Short answer? Capturing with SnagIt, saving as PNG, and importing by reference are all good practices. When you import into FrameMaker, use one of the following DPI settings, depending on the size of the image: 72 96 120 144 192 Longer answer? To get the best results when viewing a screen capture in a PDF, the image should display at full size. That is, every dot (pixel) in the image should correspond to a single pixel on the computer monitor. Acrobat and Adobe Reader use some default values for displaying images. For the most part, they assume that the monitor displays 96 pixels/inch. Yes, this is fictional as you point out, but it's still important. If I create a screen capture, import it into FrameMaker at 96 DPI, create a PDF, and display it in Adobe Reader at 100% zoom, the image will be perfect. It will be the same size as the original screen capture, and there will be no loss of quality. At any other zoom level the image will be degraded because there is no way to match the image pixels perfectly with monitor pixels. When the original image is too large, you have to use a higher DPI. If you choose one of the values in the list above, you increase the chances that users will be able to find the right zoom level. 72 DPI matches a zoom level of 75%. 96 DPI matches 100%. 120 DPI matches 125%. 144 DPI matches 150%. 192 DPI matches 200%. There are some caveats for this advice. Users can change their operating system defaults or Adobe Reader defaults so that 96 DPI is no longer the default value for displaying images. Most don't, though, so you can set up your PDFs for the majority. HTH, Ian Spectrum Writing wrote: All, I know that there are many graphics gurus on this list and I will be the first to admit - I am NOT a graphics guru and it is my weakest point. That said, I have never had any comments from clients until now about what I do for screen captures, and I wanted either confirmation or some additional insight on improvements for taking screen captures. Here is the current comment from a client: Generally, I would like to keep high quality of screen captures. Would like to suggest using a tool that can downscale the images with a smoothing function to keep high quality appearance. (as appear here, this is just sub-sampling with no smoothing.) I use SnagIt as my capture tool. I use the region option and capture either the relevant portion that I need or if required, I take a capture of the whole screen. I then save the capture as a .png, and use the import file function to bring the capture into my Framemaker file. Obviously, the default dpi is set to the fictitious Windows 96 dpi. I change the capture to 150 dpi and import. If this works for size and clarity, then I am done; if not, I right-click on the picture and adjust the dpi until I get the size that works for the page layout and what I am trying to show. (After much reading on this list, and advice from another colleague, I have learned that what I was initially taught at a long ago gig - to set the dpi to 300 and then use the manual sizing handles - is NOT the way to go). Can any of you graphics gurus give me some insight as to what else I should be doing/changing or if I am doing it the right way - and if you want to lecture me off list about dpis and stuff, that is fine with me too. I will gladly take whatever information I can glean so that I can reply professionally and non-emotionally to this client about why the pictures are just fine for PDFs. Thanks so much, TVB Tammy Van Boening Owner/Principal Spectrum Writing, LLC www.spectrumwritingllc.com http://www.spectrumwritingllc.com/ ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as ihawk...@sundorne.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/ihawkins%40sundorne.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: Screen captures and sizing
Can any of you graphics gurus give me some insight as to what else I should be doing/changing or if I am doing it the right way - and if you want to lecture me off list about dpis and stuff, that is fine with me too. I will gladly take whatever information I can glean so that I can reply professionally and non-emotionally to this client about why the pictures are just fine for PDFs. Here's a link to a message from Dov Isaacs of Adobe about screen capture best practices: http://www.freeframers.org/archive/01/msg00554.html Mike Wickham ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
RE: Screen captures and sizing
Thank you one and all. I truly appreciate all of the online and offlist responses and I have gained some valuable advice and knowledge and now know how I need to go forth and tweak a few things. Thanks again, TVB Tammy Van Boening Owner/Principal Spectrum Writing, LLC www.spectrumwritingllc.com -Original Message- From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Mike Wickham Sent: Monday, May 18, 2009 12:08 PM To: Spectrum Writing ; Frame Users Subject: Re: Screen captures and sizing Can any of you graphics gurus give me some insight as to what else I should be doing/changing or if I am doing it the right way - and if you want to lecture me off list about dpis and stuff, that is fine with me too. I will gladly take whatever information I can glean so that I can reply professionally and non-emotionally to this client about why the pictures are just fine for PDFs. Here's a link to a message from Dov Isaacs of Adobe about screen capture best practices: http://www.freeframers.org/archive/01/msg00554.html Mike Wickham ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as spectrumwrit...@q.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/spectrumwriting%40q.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
RE: Screen captures and sizing
That was posted almost exactly 8 years ago. I wonder if it is still the best practice? -Original Message- From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Mike Wickham Sent: Monday, May 18, 2009 2:08 PM To: Spectrum Writing ; Frame Users Subject: Re: Screen captures and sizing Can any of you graphics gurus give me some insight as to what else I should be doing/changing or if I am doing it the right way - and if you want to lecture me off list about dpis and stuff, that is fine with me too. I will gladly take whatever information I can glean so that I can reply professionally and non-emotionally to this client about why the pictures are just fine for PDFs. Here's a link to a message from Dov Isaacs of Adobe about screen capture best practices: http://www.freeframers.org/archive/01/msg00554.html Mike Wickham ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as jsgamm...@imprivata.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/jsgammato%40imprivat a.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.