Screenshots in the Costume Designer
By
Aleusha,
Posted on: 2012-05-04 06:12 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Someone will undoubtedly come by to tell you about a feature Windows seems to have.
Personally, I like to use FRAPS to grab screenshots of things that can't be screenshotted. Generally speaking, FRAPS can be used to display framerate information, capture video and capture screenshots. It has a fully functional free version when it comes to screenshots, and the only limitation you'll face is for capturing videos - you're limited to 30-second clips with a FRAPS watermark on them.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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I use the Windows Clipper Tool, but it's slightly wonky.
Basically if you use it directly on the CoH app you end up with a grey screen. Instead I first need to open something else (a Folder window usually) then move it all the way to the left so you can see CoH behind it,
Then open the Clipper Tool and you can draw a box around the CoH screen without getting the grey screen. It's a weird workaround but it works
I play windowed, so I just print screen and copy it to paint and crop. I'm kind of sloppy that way.
http://www.virtueverse.net/wiki/Shadow_Mokadara
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Are you referring to the Snipping Tool that can be found on the Accessories menu?|
Originally Posted by Carnifax_NA
I use the Windows Clipper Tool, but it's slightly wonky.
Basically if you use it directly on the CoH app you end up with a grey screen. Instead I first need to open something else (a Folder window usually) then move it all the way to the left so you can see CoH behind it, Then open the Clipper Tool and you can draw a box around the CoH screen without getting the grey screen. It's a weird workaround but it works |
I've not seen a Windows Clipper Tool on any computer I've been on whether it was Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 or anything older than XP.
If you are referring to something else, Google can't seem to find it.
I've never had to open anything else when using the Snipping Tool built into Vista and 7.
If the game spit out 20 dollar bills people would complain that they weren't sequentially numbered. If they were sequentially numbered people would complain that they weren't random enough.
Black Pebble is my new hero.
I find using the PrtSc and then Ctrl-V in to good old Paint works every time 
Then you just crop as necessary 
Help Dirk Knightly the freelance detective solve a case in Arc ID:368097
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Oh cool I'm not alone! Rejoice for glorious paint!
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Originally Posted by Kallandra
I find using the PrtSc and then Ctrl-V in to good old Paint works every time
Then you just crop as necessary |
http://www.virtueverse.net/wiki/Shadow_Mokadara
I use Irfan View. PrtScrn, Ctrl+V and save. It lets me crop the picture too.
If you play in a window, print screen works, not in fullscreen. Not sure why.
The Snipping Tool is very useful of taking screenshots, but seem to be some lag between when you click capture until you actually get the image tho.
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Because the game is playing in the Hardware Overlay. This is a virtual "screen" in front of the main screen interface. Videos and the like play on the Overlay. You can't directly record this with built in Windows tools.|
Originally Posted by Sapphic_Neko
If you play in a window, print screen works, not in fullscreen. Not sure why.
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The game can dump REGULAR screenshots because it's producing them itself by dumping content from memory. But the interface screens like the costume creator appear to be special case screens that aren't included in the screenshot functionality of the game.
So you need something like the Snipping tool or other dedicated screen capture software (like FRAPS) to capture these screens.
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
Tips on taking screenshots
Okay, I've seen quite a few posts where people are having issues with taking screenshots, particularly within the costume creator. ParakonWiki does have an extensive write up on taking screenshots.
Vista* and Win7* users.
Vista and Win7 have a screen capture app called Snipping Tool, You will find it in the Accessories folder. It allws you to capture free-form, rectangles, windows, and full-screen.
*Vista/Win7 Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise.
Now, on occasion I have come across users that have the 'blank-screen' issue when trying to use 'prnt-scrn' in the Costume Creator. (I know I did until I was pointed towards the Snipping Tool.) I have a work-around that I have yet to see fail for anyone that tries it.
Blank screenshot workaround.
1. Bring up whatever art program you are going to use (MSPaint, GIMP, etc.) I recommend one that is less of a resource hog for these initial screenies.
2. Move said program so that only a small portion of it is visible like the Title bar down at the bottom of your screen. Be sure leave it in the foreground (on top of CoX.)
3. Hit PrintScreen.
4. Move your art app back into view.
5. Paste.
I would actually have two instances of MSPaint running, that way I could select a part of the full screen image, and paste in into the second window gathering a little collection of cropped screenies.
I hope this helps.
~Red
Just for the record - simply using Print Screen on Windows 7 does not work under normal circumstances. I've not tried this with the "moving windows" workaround, but under normal circumstances, this produces a blank screen. It's why I use FRAPS.
I have a question, though - we had anti-alising active in costume creation for a while. Why is this no longer the case? I mean, I have anti-alising turned on my graphics options, I see it in the game world, but NOT in the costume creator.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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It's been a few months since I've made any screen shots, but that worked just fine for me (print screen + paste into a P'shop window). Iirc.
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Just for the record - simply using Print Screen on Windows 7 does not work under normal circumstances.
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The Snipping Tool is fine, but Print Screen does work in Full Screen.|
Originally Posted by Sapphic_Neko
If you play in a window, print screen works, not in fullscreen. Not sure why.
The Snipping Tool is very useful of taking screenshots, but seem to be some lag between when you click capture until you actually get the image tho. |
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Just for the record - simply using Print Screen on Windows 7 does not work under normal circumstances. .
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I take plenty of screenshots using the Print Screen key and pasting it into either Paint or GIMP. It doesn't matter if it's regular ingame shots, in the costume editor or in the character selection screen. All of them work fine for me. The only problems I have at times are that I get things from the buffer instead of the current screen. That's a simple fix though, I just do File > New, don't Save, and then Print Screen and Paste again to get the right shot.
All of this is Full Screen, not in Windowed mode.
If the game spit out 20 dollar bills people would complain that they weren't sequentially numbered. If they were sequentially numbered people would complain that they weren't random enough.
Black Pebble is my new hero.
I would like to see a feature where we can take screenshots directly on the Costume Design interface. If it is possible, how can it be done?
Everytime I press "Print-Screen" I always get a black picture whenever I try to paste the picture onto Photoshop.
Since changed Global to @Huatar
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