TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Noelle, list friends,
this is based on what I'm doing when using screen captures in manuals
(we're printing in b/w):
1. Capture the screen (as you already are doing).
The resolution will be rather low (72 dpi from a 14 inch MAC screen).
2. Change the size:
Open the file in Photoshop and resample to the size(es) you need. For the
on-line version you may leave the dpi to "as is" (72 dpi). For the paper
version, set the dpi setting to 300 (or the resolution of your printer).
3. Change to b/w (the paper version only):
Change the mode from color to grayscale. May be you need to adjust the
brightness and/or the contrast at this time. Then change the mode to bitmap
(black and white), -use the Diffusion Dither option.
4. Save the file.
Use a new filename and save the on-line version and the paper version in
two separate folders.
For use on the MAC, I found that EPS with prewiev is the best format. For
files to be used in FrameMaker on a PC, I think bmp is OK for the paper
version and maybe TIF for the online version of the file.
TECHWR-L List Information
To send a message about technical communication to 2500+ list readers,
E-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send administrative commands
ALL other questions or problems concerning the list
should go to the listowner, Eric Ray, at ejray -at- ionet -dot- net -dot-
