Screenshots in Framemaker - preferred tools?

[adrianaharper]

Hi all,

I'm using TCS2 on Windows 7-64 bit. I author in Frame and import by reference into Robohelp; end result is PDFs and online help.

To date, I've been using SnagIt to take screen shots, doctor them and add captions, arrows, etc (as necessary), then import by reference into FM docs. However, as anyone using TCS is aware, Photoshop comes with the suite and I am sure there is a reason why...

I am curious to know what other FM users do for their screen captures, and why. Snagit definitely has its pros and cons (both of which I am familiar with...) but I'm interested to know about Photoshop.

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

Adriana

[Ian Proudfoot]

Adriana,

As you are using TCS2, why not use RoboScreenCapture? It's available from the FrameMaker File menu. I find it works well enough that I have never considered using Photoshop for screen captures.

Regards

Ian

[Russ Ward]

Ian,

Great tip!  I don't use RoboHelp so I never really paid any attention to that menu. A very cool tool indeed!

Russ

[mandrill22]

Alt+Print Screen has always worked fine for me. I have never understood why people use an application for screen captures.

[Mike Wickham]

Alt+Print Screen has always worked fine for me. I have never understood

why people use an application for screen captures.

>

Alt+PrintScreen grabs the whole screen. If you only want a portion, you have

to edit the result. Programs like SnagIt let you decide if you want the

whole screen, a region, a window, etc. It can even grab the content of a

scrolling window, including content currently hidden from view and it can

grab text as text instead of as an image. It's much more powerful and more

efficient Alt-PrintScreen,, but not necessary if you rarely make screen

captures.

[mandrill22]

Mike,

Print Screen grabs the whole screen. Holding down Alt grabs only the active window, hence Alt+Print Screen.

Nadeem

[adrianaharper]

Thanks so much for all the comments everyone.

Ian - I use SnagIt because that is the tool I am the most familiar with and I found it does everything that I need, and quite nicely (especially Version 9). But that is good info to know about the RoboScreenCapture.

So far, no one has said a word about Photoshop, leading me to believe that it is not necessary... ??

[Russ Ward]

adrianaharper wrote:

Thanks so much for all the comments everyone.

Ian - I use SnagIt because that is the tool I am the most familiar with and I found it does everything that I need, and quite nicely (especially Version 9). But that is good info to know about the RoboScreenCapture.

So far, no one has said a word about Photoshop, leading me to believe that it is not necessary... ??

Adriana,

It just depends on whether the simpler tools can get the job done. Photoshop is the sledgehammer in the toolbox... if you need that much horsepower, use it. I personally use it when I have to fudge screenshots (you know, create software that doesn't exist and/or isn't working right yet). I also lean on it for its automation abilities (such as the "Actions" feature). I also use Visio frequently for things like numbering and callouts. So, the determination of whether it is necessary is entirely dependent upon your situation. You'll simply need to use the tools and find out which serves your needs.

Russ

[mandrill22]

Adriana,

I, mistakenly, left out Photoshop because to me it's part of my OS, it is always open!  So, yes, while I like the convenience of screenshots through the operating system, I use Photoshop for any editing I may have to do. I think all the comments above point to the fact that there is no one perfect and adequate tool--the needs of the project dictate what you should use.

If you do not need to edit dialog windows (cropping, annotating etc.), then the built-in Print Screen on your keyboard (along with an application like Paint to convert the clipboard contents to an image file) will be perfectly adequate and you do not need to invest in Photoshop or any similar application. However, if your needs run deeper, then use something else like the programs mentioned above by Mike and Ian.

I have been using Photoshop for so long that I can't imagine life without it.

Nadeem

[stman]

A few of my own screen capture tips to add:

The DPI resolution may be different depending on what you use to capture the screen. For example, if you Alt+Prt Scr and paste into a graphic program, the program may set its own DPI. Normal Windows resolution is 96 DPI. It shouldn't matter because either way you've got the same number of pixels captured, however, if you convert to PDF, this resolution information may be taken into account in the conversion settings (haven't tested).

Consistency: These days almost all screens are displaying 32 bit color. Make sure yous is, and if you do screen shots on other machines for the same document, make user the color depth is the same.

Again, if you capture on different machines and your images include any text, make sure the text smoothing feature is the same. (Windows: Control Panel > Display Settings > Appearance > Effects).

Personally, I use Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo for tweaking because it's not a resource intensive as Photo Shop. I also embed the images in FM, but that's a different discussion

[MichaelKazlow]

Personally, I use Captivate. Just a habit. Eons ago I used SnagIt. I've toyed with using RoboScreenCapture, but I must admit to being used to Captivate. Been using it since RoboDemo days.

[adrianaharper]

Hi everyone. Thanks for all the tips and information. It's nice to see that a variety of tools are/can be used for this purpose... I still think I will learn Photoshop... but I don't have an immediate need and it's nice to know I'm not going against any industry standards, etc.

Adriana