TCUK 2013 - Matthew Ellison - Time saving tools and techniques for capturing screens
-
Upload
tcukconference -
Category
Technology
-
view
517 -
download
0
description
Transcript of TCUK 2013 - Matthew Ellison - Time saving tools and techniques for capturing screens
Matthew Ellison
Time-saving Tools and Techniques for Capturing Screens
Matthew Ellison
Consultant and trainer for User Assistance tools and technologies Technical Director of annual
UA Europe conference
What we’ll cover in this session
Recommendations on when and how to use screenshots in user assistance Potential pitfalls The basic procedure for capturing screens Image file formats Tips for capturing screens successfully How screen capture tools save work and
add value Survey of popular screen capture tools
When/why should I use screenshots?
Identify the appearance and/or location of a control Show and explain the layout of a screen Provide a visual instruction Show the result of an action Confirm that user has displayed the
correct dialog box or screen (in tutorials)
Show and explain the layout of a screen
Numbers clearly identify main regions of the screen
Provide a visual instruction
Image provides same instruction as text
Refer to a tool or button within text
Show the result of an action
Confirm that user has displayed correct dialog box
Screenshot confirms success or shows what
dialog box looks like (unnecessary for onscreen Help)
When screenshots can cause problems…
Developers make late changes to the screens The screens need to be localized for many
different countries Possible solutions: Blur or obscure the text Draw simplified version of screen
Example: Blurred text
Localized text is selectively blurred –
other dialog elements remain sharp
Original screen capture
Example: simplified screen
Another potential pitfall
Users may not notice scroll bar and assume they are seeing entire
topic
Instructions are out of view beneath screenshot
Possible solution: thumbnail
Another solution: DHTML dropdown
Capture a window
1. Press <ALT>+<Print Screen> 2. Paste the Clipboard contents into
an image editor 3. Optionally: resize the image (only
necessary for onscreen presentation)
4. Optionally: reduce the color depth to 256 colours
5. Save as a file Demo
Capture a control or region
1. Press <ALT>+<Print Screen> 2. Paste the Clipboard contents into an
image editor 3. Crop to the required region,
optionally applying edge effects 4. Optionally: Reduce the colour depth
to 256 colors 5. Save as a file
Capture a cascading menu
1. Press <Print Screen> 2. Paste the Clipboard contents into
an image editor 3. Crop to the cascading menu 4. Carefully remove the background 5. Reduce the colour depth to 256
colors 6. Save as a file
Resizing screenshots for on-screen presentation
Reasons to decrease the dimensions of a screenshot • Reduce screen space • Avoid confusion with real screen
For best quality of resulting image: • Use millions of colours (24- or
32-bit) before resizing • Use an anti-aliasing resize
method
Resized screenshots
Original Image
Smart Resize
Pixel Resize
Raster vs. Vector
Raster vs. Vector
Websafe vs. Non-Websafe
Annotated screenshots
1. Capture to a lossless raster format
2. Add annotations and captions using a
vector-based image editor 3. Store and edit combined image
in vector format
4. Use “Save As” to create raster format as required
.bmp
Windows BitMaP Typically uncompressed and therefore
very large Non-Web-Safe
.jpg
Joint Photographic (Experts) Group Lossy compression Great for photos, but not for screenshots Web-Safe
.gif
(Compuserve) Graphic Interchange Format Lossless compression Maximum of 256 colours Web-Safe
.tiff
Tagged Image Format A container format that supports many
types of compression, layers, and different colour modes including CMYK Popular for printed publications Non-Web-Safe
.png
Portable Network Graphics Lossless compression Alpha layer for transparency Does not support CMYK colour Web-Safe
Screen resolution at capture time
You are capturing pixels The number of pixels that make up a
screen element does not alter when you change the screen resolution
Size of windows and dialogs at capture time
If possible, reduce the size of a window or dialog as much as you can without: • losing vital information • making it unrecognizable to the user
Example: Resized window
Resized dialog shows all UI
elements
Original dialog
Capture only as much of the screen as the user needs to see
Always aim to minimize the dimensions of the screen capture Exclude screen clutter that will distract the
user from the main focus
What I look for in a screen capture tool: Minimum requirements
Include the cursor (or easily add it post-capture) Capture windows, objects,
cascading menus, and rectangular regions (with precision) Automatically add border or edge
effects Automatically use a specified file
format when saving file Add editable callouts and other
objects on a separate layer
What I look for in a screen capture tool: Nice to have
Re-capture a rectangular region Save capture to a file without user
intervention Capture individual buttons Convert to a specified image resolution
automatically Capture non-rectangular regions such as
ellipses and polygons Capture scrolling windows
Screen capture tools
Let’s look at: FullShot – Inbit Jing - TechSmith MadCap Capture – Madcap Software RoboScreenCapture – Adobe
(Bundled with Adobe RoboHelp) SnagIt – TechSmith
FullShot (Enterprise Edition)
FullShot’s capture method
Capture buttons automatically added to active window Each button activates a different
capture type (Window, Region, etc.) Hotkeys can be used as an alternative
FullShot's Capture Settings dialog
General settings
effecting all captures
Type-specific settings
FullShot summary
A popular tool with a good track record FullShot Standard Edition automates the
screen capture process very successfully Uses a different capture mechanism and
workflow from most of its competitors Interface is fairly complex Difficult to capture screen regions
precisely
FullShot summary
For: • ease of capture
(using title bar buttons) • wide range of capture shapes and effects • minimizes file sizes by optimizing the colour
palette Against:
• no magnified view of the pointer area for precise selection of capture regions
• does not enable you to set the colour depth of a captured image to a specific value
• no support for capturing buttons in the Standard Edition
Jing
Sharing button
Jing summary
A simple and fun to use utility It enables you quickly to capture and
share windows, objects, and regions of your computer screen It is available for both the Windows and
Mac OS
Jing summary
For: • free • support for sharing screen captures quickly
and easy through a hosted website • ease of access and use • support for simple video capture
Against: • basic • no edge effects available • no vector based annotations
MadCap Capture
Profiles Editor
MadCap Capture summary
A very interesting and innovative screen capture tool Focuses on streamlining the screen
capture workflow rather than necessarily competing on feature-count A compelling choice for users of MadCap
Flare
MadCap Capture summary
For: • integration with MadCap Flare, and support for
"single-sourcing" screen- and print-oriented image formats
• ability to reproduce the position and dimensions of previous region captures
• powerful and multi-layered vector-based image editor
Against: • reliance on Flare to exploit certain features fully • steeper learning curve than some of the other
tools • edge effects (such as torn edge) perhaps not quite
as well implemented as some of the other tools
RoboScreenCapture
Raster-based image editing tools
Complex but well-organized
UI
RoboScreenCapture Capture Settings dialog
Can be useful for capturing drop-
down menus and pop-ups
RoboScreenCapture summary
A well-designed package that enables easy and very precise capture of regions, buttons, and other screen elements Bundled with Adobe RoboHelp versions 7,
8, 9, 10 and has been well integrated with these products Not available for purchase as a standalone
product A little out-dated
RoboScreenCapture summary
For: • wide range of capture options including
capture of individual buttons and repeat last capture
• high level of control over color depth, resolution, and compression
• precise selection of capture region using arrow keys
Against: • no support for special edge effects • can’t save capture settings as named profiles • no support for true freehand region
SnagIt Each profile
contains a specific combination of
settings
Logical organization of controls
Easy-to-use Wizard for
creating new profiles
SnagIt Editor
SnagIt summary
A full-featured package with a logical workflow that is likely to address the needs of even the most demanding of user assistance developers
SnagIt summary
For: • exceptionally well-designed interface and
workflow • comprehensive options for capturing,
standardizing, and adding effects to images • bundled tools include powerful vector-based
image editor and file management utility • flexible All-in-One capture profile
(similar to Jing)
Against: • may offer more features than required by
some user assistance specialists • rather lame capture sound effect
Gift for TCUK 2013 attendees
Free download of all slides from UA Europe 2013 in Manchester Go to: uaconference.eu/TCUK …and enter your contact details to receive username and password
Matthew Ellison [email protected]
Questions?