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Subject:How do you handle screenshots? From:"Molly Bowling" <mbowling -at- statsoft -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com Date:Tue, 06 Jun 2000 16:00:37 -0500
This is a very basic question, but I need to justify why we do screenshots
the way we do in order to purchase the software we need to stay
legal. Also, we have no experienced tech writers, so the way we do things
may very well not be the easiest way. The archives were a lot of help in
terms of what programs different writers use, but I'd like to know more
about the process.
When I started, I was told to take a screenshot at 256 colors, copy it into
Paint Shop Pro, increase the color depth, decrease the size to 75%, then
increase the color depth. This seems reasonable enough to me, and results
in a slightly fuzzy but readable screenshot. Full-size screenshots are too
large and overwhelm the text, and the color reduction is necessary to
preserve the colors during reduction.
How do other writers reduce screenshots? Is there a reasonable way to do
so without using third-party software? I realize there will be no
consensus on what software is best for the reduction, but if you use fairly
inexpensive software and find it works for you, what is it?