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Capturing Image Snapshots

  • Artikel

Tim Heuer's post on SnagIt and PNGOut got me thinking about my own convoluted snapshot process (and also got me investigating PNGOut). Currently, if I want a high quality screen capture I do the following:

  • PrtScr or Alt-PrtScr depending on whether I want the full screen or the current window
  • Start Paint.NET
  • File -> New (Paint.Net automatically sets the new image size to clipboard image size)
  • Ctrl-V (paste to Paint.NET)
  • Ctrl-R (re-size if required - to 600px width typically)
  • Ctrl-A, Ctrl-C (copy image to clipboard)
  • Start PowerPoint
  • Ctrl-V (paste to PowerPoint)
  • Picture Tools -> Format -> Change Picture Style to desired effect (eg dropshadow)
  • Right-click image and "Save as Picture"
  • Start Live Writer
  • Ctrl-L (Insert Picture)
  • Image Properties -> Advanced -> Image Size = Original
  • Image Properties -> Image -> Borders = None
  • Tadah!

And now I feel I should add an additional step to "compress with PNGOut" as the image in the last post was 30% smaller after I ran it through PNGOut (ie about 81kb reduction).

That's a pretty convoluted process (though it looks worse when you write it down - it only takes a few seconds to do but it involves a lot of steps). I know there are tools out there that would make this easier but I have a in-built reluctance to install any more "stuff" on my machine and I can guarantee it wont be on machine x or y when I need it and I'll have to fall back to my old process anyway.

I keep thinking I should do something to optimise my process and, TBH, one of the most annoying parts is Live Writer which shrinks and adds a border to my image when I don't want it to - at least all the other steps add some value (in my mind at least).

So two obvious things to do would be to create something that can re-size the clipboard image on the fly or paste an image into Live Writer at its original size and with no borders. Unless of course there's a setting in Live Writer that allows me to control this behaviour...

Technorati Tags: Live Writer,Paint.NET,PNGOut

Comments

  • Anonymous
    June 04, 2008
    Get IrfanView, install the PNGout plugin, then use Options > Capture option from the menu. Problem solved with a simple shortcut.

  • Anonymous
    June 04, 2008
    Hi Mikeif you are uesing the latest version of live writer then in the right pane these is an option for borders and on the advanced tab of the pane there is an option for original size.

  • Anonymous
    June 04, 2008
    marius - sure, I like IrfanView but I've found that Paint.NET is better suited for me (work related) needs and I really don't want to install both. And that only really solves the compression problem - I'm looking to optimise my other steps! Steve - yes, that's what I do. But I want a way to set the defaults for those options such that each time I insert an image it's set to border:none and size:original. If I could find a way to set the defaults I'd be happy! Mike

  • Anonymous
    June 04, 2008
    Mike, at the bottom of the Picture Properties pane, in the latest CTP, there's a Save settings as default, link button. This will let you change & save both the border and size defaults... It's on the first tab of the Pictures Properties pane, at the bottom.

  • Anonymous
    June 04, 2008
    Good (free) alternative to SnagIt.. and you can create addins and modify the code to your desire. http://www.codeplex.com/cropper http://www.codeplex.com/cropperplugins

  • Anonymous
    June 04, 2008
    Thanks Greg - I'm still running the RTM version but maybe it's time for me to check out the CTP given what you've said :-). Mike

  • Anonymous
    June 04, 2008
    Ooh - I'll take a look at cropper Sean thanks. Mike

  • Anonymous
    June 04, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    June 04, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    June 05, 2008
    The best snapshot app I've seen yet is WinSnap, by www.ntwind.com.  It's cheap and VERY feature rich, including shadows, overlays, rotating, borders, resizing, automatic clipboard copies, email integration, hotkeys out the wazoo (including capture region, a must!)

  • Anonymous
    June 05, 2008
    I'd like to apologise to Steve and Greg because I've just noticed (and I'd never spotted this before) that there is a "Save Settings as Default" option on the Image Properties tab in current RTM version of Live Writer... It's not terribly obvious but how I haven't spotted it before I don't know. I now have a Cropper plug-in that will do auto-resize. I'll post some results as the quality's not quite as good as Paint.NET which uses a custom algorithm. Mike

  • Anonymous
    June 05, 2008
    Having talked about the pain of capturing image snapshots , someone mentioned Cropper and its plug-in