Very nice guide. I like it. 
Although I would add something, remember if you want to have a bigger background for more sights etc, up your screen size. You'll be amazed at what a little screen size upping can do!
seconded.
*runs off to try.
Allodoxaphobia is the fear of opinions.
Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth. MARCUS AURELIUS (121-180 AD)
Excellent guide thanks
For those who are keen to get into graphics but can't afford Photoshop, apparently THIS is a really good alternative and totally free.
Thelonious Monk
An undoubted strength of CoX is the ability to make your character truly your own, due to the extensive use of characterisation options via the tailor.
)
This, to my mind, helps players 'bond' with your avater, so why not have a bash at letting your character into the big wide world, maybe residing as a desktop picture, a poster on your wall, the options are as endless as the costumes
Preliminaries: first things first, if you are purely taking a non action based screenshot, go into settings and turn the resolution as high as you can, ditto with graphical effects etc. You may wish to turn down Bloom and particle effects if they are distracting to how you want your character to be portrayed, ie glows added from doing bank missions and gaining temporary powers etc.
Speaking of which, a lot of powers will give an aura to your character, decide if you will want this in your final picture, turn off those toggles before taking the shot.
Bind a key to take a screenshot, default is Prt Sc (printscreen) funnily enough, personally I found it easier to take rapid shots with another key, ease of use depends on your own keyboard.
Saved screenshots are in your CoH folder> Screenshots
Location: lighting levels are variable, and this will effect the contrast/hue/saturation etc of your shot, mid-day generally gives the most neuteral light and clearest definition, you may have to wait a bit to get this right, or pop into a shop with neon lights
If your intention is to isolate your character from the background for use in an art package, have a look for a neuteral coloured wall or similar, this will make the use of magic wand type tools in art packages MUCH easier to use. Try and avoid lots of lines/shapes/tones as part of your background.
If you want part of Paragon City as the background, try and pick somewhere that has again a plain neuteral section, as this will make your character stand out more, and a bit of time spent sight-seeing will pay dividends here, do bear in mind that most of the recognisable Sights are fairly huge in comparison to player characters, if you want Atlas to be recognisable, it may mean your character won't be!
I second that Emotion: there's a wide range of emotes available, so use them! Once again, time spent deciding how you want your character to be seen will give a much better result, once you have chosen your emote you may find it useful to bind it to a key, ie
/bind l flypose2
This makes it easy to trigger the chosen emote and capture the chosen frame, rather than typing it or using the chat box tool.
compare these two images...
http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/8...iehoverdl9.jpg
http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/7207/queeniemi4.jpg
Camera: experiment with different angles, zoom in and out, and mix and match with emotes or use of powers.
Summary so far: Lights, Camera, Action!
Now the bit that is fun and frustrating in equal measure. (well not for the people with actual talent of course, but if you are one of them you won't need this guide
I refer to taking your character, and bringing them to life through use of an art package.
The examples here were all done with a trial version of Painter, although I would imagine that Photoshop or similar will give just as good results.
Screenshot: http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/6...2214065qt5.jpg
Portrait: http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5562/pw3mw5.jpg
Screenshot: http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/8...2022413kq0.jpg
Portrait: http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/1856/taotetzuqv5.jpg
The FINAL version, well for now:
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/6678/pw3oy0.jpg
It is beyond the scope of this guide to go into detail of how they were transformed, but basically through experimentation, my advice woul dbe to try it and see, you'll be amazed at what can be done with simply playing around
The last stage, is to pop over to the Creative section of these forums and let us all have a look at your handywork!
Feedback and addendums to this guide very welcome, I'm sure i've missed out some useful tips
PWR
Currently mostly playing:
Indiana Ford: PB, Lady Izza Tramp: Ice/Ice Tank, Stanley Orange: PB, Pu Wu Rad, Storm Troller.
Tao Te Tzu, Stalker.