How to capture screen shot

Julia · 15 May 2006

I am technologically hopeless so would be grateful if anyone could give me a SIMPLE way of doing a screen shot which can later be attached to an email or posted to a forum.

With thanks in advance
Julia

wayneL · 15 May 2006

Julia

i use http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen/

they have a free screencapture download

cheers

RichKid · 15 May 2006

Julia said:
I am technologically hopeless so would be grateful if anyone could give me a SIMPLE way of doing a screen shot which can later be attached to an email or posted to a forum.

With thanks in advance
Julia

Hi Julia,

The only way I know of to do it is:

1) Hit the 'PrtScn/SysRq' button near the top of your keyboard to capture what's on your screen at that moment.

2) Then paste it (hit 'Ctrl' and 'V' together) into a graphics editing program like MS Paint or get a free one like IrfanView (google it).
(OR just paste it into a MS Word document or other document).

3) You can then save that document/file and attach it to your message.

That's it. Hope that's what you were after. The others here may have a better way.

Rich

PS Try this thread for related info on attachments: https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1401&highlight=attachment

bullmarket · 16 May 2006

Hi Julia

I use the method the RichKid described.

The only thing I would add to what RK said is that when you save the image to save it as a .jpg or .jpeg file. JPEG is a widely used digital image format. There are other digital image formatls like GIF and TIFF which may or may not be suitable for this site....but JPEG definitely works....

good luck

bullmarket

RichKid · 16 May 2006

bullmarket said:
Hi Julia

I use the method the RichKid described.

The only thing I would add to what RK said is that when you save the image to save it as a .jpg or .jpeg file. JPEG is a widely used digital image format. There are other digital image formatls like GIF and TIFF which may or may not be suitable for this site....but JPEG definitely works....

good luck

bullmarket

Hi bm,
I used to use that format as well but GIF's are far smaller and not much of the resolution is lost and ASF accepts it, (.png format is also ok and has a small file size) see the discussion in the link I provided above.

anon · 17 May 2006

Julia said:
I am technologically hopeless so would be grateful if anyone could give me a SIMPLE way of doing a screen shot which can later be attached to an email or posted to a forum.

With thanks in advance
Julia

Julia,

Are you talking about capturing a text article, e.g a newspaper item, an announcement to the ASX, etc. or are you thinking of capturing a chart or other graphics data?

I do a lot of text capturing and can offer some advice. Don't know much about the graphics, though.

anon

dennisll · 17 May 2006

Hi Julia

Try ALT-PrntScrn to capture a shot of the active window (ex browser)
Try CTRL-PrntScrn to capture a shot of your desktop (captures everything you see on your desktop; especially good if you have multiple windows open)

Cheers,

Dennis

Julia · 18 May 2006

anon said:
Julia,

Are you talking about capturing a text article, e.g a newspaper item, an announcement to the ASX, etc. or are you thinking of capturing a chart or other graphics data?

I do a lot of text capturing and can offer some advice. Don't know much about the graphics, though.

anon

Hello anon,

All of the above if possible.
Thanks
Julia

Julia · 18 May 2006

Many thanks to you all for the assistance.

Dennis:

I've done what you suggested and saved it via Word which seems to have worked OK except that the image is rather small and blurry.

When I clicked on Save I didn't get the option of a JPG format etc.

Julia

I've just tried to attach the image using the "Manage Attachments" option below but it doesn't seem to be working. Can someone please rescue me before I go away and sulk?

Joe Blow · 18 May 2006

Julia said:
Many thanks to you all for the assistance.

Dennis:

I've done what you suggested and saved it via Word which seems to have worked OK except that the image is rather small and blurry.

When I clicked on Save I didn't get the option of a JPG format etc.

Julia

I've just tried to attach the image using the "Manage Attachments" option below but it doesn't seem to be working. Can someone please rescue me before I go away and sulk?

Hi Julia,

I would use something else other than Word to save your screenshots. The Wikipedia entry on screenshots says the following about using Word in this way:

Note: Do not paste your screenshot into a Word document. It will scale and blur the image. Also, people on computers without MS Word will not be able to view the image.

I use Photoshop to crop, optimise and save images for attachments but I know there are some free programs out there. Perhaps someone who uses one of these free programs can advise further regarding which one is the best for beginners to use.

professor_frink · 18 May 2006

julia when i want to post something on asf, this is what I do.
1. hit "printscreen" key(this will copy the entire screen).
2. paste it into paint.
3. cut out the area I want( use the select tool in the right hand corner-see attachment).
4. go to file-new(don't save the leftover from the screendump)
5. paste the cut out image
5. save it as a jpeg file.
6. post it onto the forum.

Staybaker · 18 May 2006

The best way to make screenshots is, usually, to:

set the object which you want to capture (e.g. chart/graph or whatever) to the right size before you capture it, so that you don't need to scale it afterwards (which always reduces clarity);
use a screen capture utility which allows you to specify exactly which part of the screen to capture, so that you don't need to crop it later;
save the image in PNG (preferably) or GIF format for charts and other graphics with a limited number of colours, and only use JPG format for photographs.

My preferred screen capture utility is Windows Snapshot Maker, available for free from http://www.ntwind.com/winsnap/.

Another good one is ScreenPrint32, available for free from http://www.provtech.co.uk/software/screenprint32.asp.

IrfanView also gets lots of recommendations, but I haven't tried it myself. It appears to do much more than just capture screens, so depending on your objective it may or may not suit. Go to http://www.irfanview.com/.

Note that the JPG format is a "lossy" format, that is, it compresses the graphical information in order to decrease the file size, and while doing so, it loses information. It works best on photo-realistic images (e.g. photos) and works least effectively on "graphics" such as charts which usually contain only a few colours. Most of the time, PNG and GIF work best. (PNG is a newer format than GIF, and is generally considered to be a better choice.) They also compress your image, but in such a way that information is not lost.

Hope this helps,

Cheers, Staybaker.

Julia · 20 May 2006

Thanks to all for your help.

OK, can now take the screen shot and save it. I have tried saving it in Paint in JPEG (?JPG) and GIF format.

In both cases when I have attempted to do a practice send onto the forum,
I have been advised the file is too large.

What have I done wrong? How can I fix this so I can attach a shot?

Thanks, fellas.

Julia

tech/a · 20 May 2006

Julia

I have just sent you by email the Shareware I have been using for years.
Print Key 2000.

Once installed Ill walk you through the next step/s

GreatPig · 21 May 2006

Julia,

I'd recommend using Irfanview for image capture and manipulation, and just MS Paint for editing if you need to. Irfanview is easy to use for basic things like capture, resize, and save.

The capture option is on the Options menu:

In the Capture Setup page, set the options as below, although the Capture Area setting will depend on exactly what you want to capture. For charts from a charting program, just the client area should be enough.

To crop the image, first select the area you want to keep. You do this by clicking on one corner (say top-left) then dragging the mouse down to the diagonally opposite corner (bottom-right). There's no tool or menu option for this, you just click and drag.

To crop, use the Crop Selection option on the Edit menu:

If you also want to resize the image, use the Resize/Resample option on the Image menu:

On the options page, set the size you want and ensure that the Preserve Aspect Ratio box is checked. Whether to choose Resize or Resample in the Size Method field is a matter of choice. Resizing preserves a sharper image but it can generate odd-looking highlights and wavy lines in some images. Resampling avoids that but tends to give a more diffused image (a little like soft focus). If posting stuff here, make sure both the width and height are less than 800 pixels.

Then just use File->Save As to save the image. For stock charts, GIF format is probably best. If saving JPEG images, a little box opens up to one side with some options. The quality is the main thing there, with lower quality giving smaller file sizes which are generally better for forums and emails. You'd need to save a file and then view it again to get a feel for what the quality settings are like.

Although I usually use Paint Shop Pro, all these screen shots in this message were captured and cropped using Irfanview, just to make sure it really did work!

Cheers,
GP

Julia · 23 May 2006

GP

Many thanks for such detailed assistance. It seems awfully complicated.
When I tried to download Irfanview I got the screen saying
"this page is presently unavailable".

From the various instructions kindly supplied by members I can now capture the screen shot OK. Where the problem seems to occur is the format in which I'm saving it as when I go to attach it via "Manage Attachments" I'm told the file size is too large.

Joe, is an option increasing the allowable file size?

When I go to Save as the options are as below:

24-bit Bitmap (bmp-dib)
Monochrome Bitmap "
16Color "
256 Color "
JPEG (*JPG, JPEGM JPEM JFIF)
GIF (*GIF)
TIF (TIF, TIFF)
PNG (PNG)

Any advice that will help will be much appreciated.

Julia

wayneL · 23 May 2006

Julia,

Sans any real 'puter experts, here's what I've been told. Photograph images are best saved as jpeg. Other images such as charts, are best saved as gif or png.

I'm sure someone else will add.

Cheers

GreatPig · 23 May 2006

Julia said:
It seems awfully complicated.

Unfortunately, capturing, cropping, and resizing doesn't get a lot easier than that

When I tried to download Irfanview I got the screen saying
"this page is presently unavailable".

Maybe just a temporary glitch. I tried it just now and had no problem. Here's a link to the download page. Just go to the Australia section and select one of the download sites (doesn't really matter which one).

From the various instructions kindly supplied by members I can now capture the screen shot OK.

If you're just capturing the whole screen, then it will indeed be too big to upload here. That's why you need to crop and/or resize. Increasing the upload size limit is not really a good option as the image will be too big to view, and for many people, require scrolling to see the whole image.

When I go to Save as the options are as below:

24-bit Bitmap (bmp-dib)
Monochrome Bitmap "
16Color "
256 Color "
JPEG (*JPG, JPEGM JPEM JFIF)
GIF (*GIF)
TIF (TIF, TIFF)
PNG (PNG)

For stock charts, GIF or PNG should be fine. For photos, JPEG. Don't use Bitmaps (BMP) as they are not compressed and the file size will likely be too large.

GP

Joe Blow · 23 May 2006

Julia said:
Joe, is an option increasing the allowable file size?

Hi Julia,

At the moment the file size limit for images is about 90K. With a little optimisation there is no reason why any image should be any more than that. With the large amount of attachments on ASF unfortunately I have to draw the line somewhere and 90K seemed like more than enough for most purposes.

Feel free to email me any images that you can't get below 90K and I will optimise them for you and email them back. It takes me no more than a minute and I would happy to do this for any ASF member.

Julia · 23 May 2006

Thanks again for all the assistance. It is truly appreciated. Sorry I'm so hopeless at this stuff.

Joe, I think I admit defeat so will happily accept your kind offer to assist in resizing if I want to post anything in future. Thank you.

Julia

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