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Subject:Re: Screen Captures with Stamps and Shadows From:linda_sims -at- vanguard -dot- com To:Jim Barrow <vrfour -at- verizon -dot- net> Date:Fri, 6 Oct 2006 07:44:56 -0400
Jim Barrow wrote on 10/05/2006 09:22:23 PM:
> >>Roger Bell wrote:
> >Linda Sims said:
>
> >>[]Has anyone given much thought, completed any research, conducted
> >>usability tests, or adopted a standard regarding applying stamps,
> >>such as a tear effect, and shadows to screen captures in technical
> >>documentation?
>
> >[]Nor would I use add drop shadows to a graphic,
> >as I find that it clutters the screen.
>
> I am really intrigued by this. Personally, I have a difficult time
> in trying to describe drop shadows as 'cluttered'. It definitely
> makes documentation look richer though (IMHO).
I should say that I don't like using drop shadows on callout boxes,
especially if the callouts are layered on the image. I don't use them
around an entire image because, IMHO, it rarely if ever adds useful
information to the graphic. If I want to be certain that the graphic
doesn't "bleed off" into surrounding text, I'll add a very thin border
line. I used to like drop shadows for the gee-whizzness of it all, but
I've gone off them of late.
> So I went to Apple thinking that they, above all others, would use
> drop shadows in their manuals. They do, but not in the way you may
think.
>
> First, they keep all landing screens flat (no tears or drop
> shadows). What is shadowed are any pop-up windows that appear on
> those landing screens.
>
> What *really* caught my eye was their use of callouts. Ay
> carumba...I can't stand callouts. Now *those* make a page looked
> cluttered :^)
>
> <http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/Welcome_to_Mac_OS_X_v10.4_Tiger.pdf>
Sometimes there is just no substitute for pointing at something and saying
"this is what it is". The Mac manual you linked is actually pretty clean.
No callout boxes, no drop shadows, no circles and arrows with a paragraph
on the back . . . err, sorry, mind wandering . . . What I mean is, the
callouts use the bare minimum graphic to get the point across, and it
looks as if Apple did its best to minimize the number of callouts per
screen shot. I've seen far worse. I've created far worse a time or two, to
my very great shame, but I'm trying to get over it. :D
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