Screencapture work

[larryfulkerson]

I've had a request for information about how to do screencaptures and how to build unit losses images etc. So I thought I'd put together a how-to about how I do it. This is not the only way to do it, just how I do it.

I use MSpaint for my horsing around with images because it came free with the operating system. There are other programs to use as well ( Photoshop Pro, etc. ) but MSpaint is free.

On my machine MSpaint.exe is found in the directory
c:\windows\system32
and it's easiest to use if you make a shortcut for it on your desktop. Here's my desktop with my shortcut showing:

[larryfulkerson]

When you first open MSpaint your screen may look something like this:

[larryfulkerson]

Now comes the hard part. I capture screenshots using the "print screen" key on my keyboard. My "print screen" key is near the number pad next to the "scroll lock" key. So when I have the image I like in TOAWIII, say the first part of the Axis losses report, I just hit the "print screen" key. Nothing will appear to have happened but the operating system puts a copy of the screen on the clipboard ( the area of RAM where stuff is stored when you do a cut and paste or a copy ). Then I go back to MSpaint and do a "paste" command ( hold down the control key and hit the V key ). And your image will appear in MSpaint like this:



Notice the Dotted lines around the image. That means that you can grab the image with the left mouse button and drag it to the position you want.

[larryfulkerson]

If the dotted lines aren't there for some reason you can create an area to be grabbed and moved by using the rectangle tool which is found in the upper left area in the tool pallette like this:

[larryfulkerson]

So if I wanted to use the grab tool to move the losses report to the upper left corner of the MSpaint window I'd start at the upper left corner of the image I wanted and move the mouse to the lower right corner holding the mouse button down during the move so as to define a grab area which shows with dotted lines around the area as I build it. Like this:

[larryfulkerson]

Then, when the grab area is defined then you can click and hold the left mouse button to move the area where you want it. Here I have moved it to the upper left of the MSpaint window:

[larryfulkerson]

Now we're ready to add the second page of the Axis losses to the image. To do that we're going to need a larger area to work in. You can change the attributes of your picture using the menu bar "image" and attributes from the pop-up menu. Fill in the values you want. I usually just add 2000 to whatever the height is already to give myself a work area to do copy and paste operations temporarily.

[larryfulkerson]

Go to TOAWIII and bring up the second page of the losses report and do a screen capture. Then go to MSpaint and scroll down to a clear area and do a paste. That's the image of the second page you wanted. Then create a grab area around the losses you want to add and move them to the upper part of your image and there you go. Do that over and over until you have all the losses you want to show and the last step is to save your work. I usually save as a GIF image since that's a smaller file.

[Curtis Lemay]

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

I usually save as a GIF image since that's a smaller file.

Larry, have you noticed that the "After Action Report" sub-forum now permits PNG files? Still reasonable sizes & much better looking than GIF. I used them for my Soviet Union 1941 AAR.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay
Larry, have you noticed that the "After Action Report" sub-forum now permits PNG files? Still reasonable sizes & much better looking than GIF. I used them for my Soviet Union 1941 AAR.

Whoa, thanks for the tip my friend, I'll start using PNG ASAP.

[cesteman]

Another program I use is King Kong capture. One of the admin guys here showed me where to find it! Nice and easy program to use. It's also free[:D]

[larryfulkerson]

Hey you guys:  I made a really crude video of the cutting and pasting operations describing how to do it, using MSPaint and posted it on You Tube and you can find it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DMD15KmYpA