Capturing fly-outs

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jhobbs
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Joined: Sat Apr 23, 2005 2:18 am

Capturing fly-outs

Unread post by jhobbs »

Some software has hints or commands that appear immediately after some mouse action, and disappear upon most keyboard usage. Can Impict help me capture these hints?

Just for information, I can capture these images using Snagit, because it allows me to map the PrtScrn key to "capture the area". When using PrtScrn the screen stays static, complete with fly-out, while I adjust the capture area.

I'm hoping Impict has a similar capability- I prefer Impict.
Jack.
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Tim Green
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Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Jack,

This is always a little tricky because you need to keep the mouse pointer "active" to trigger the tooltips and use it to control the capture utility. With the Impict or H&M capture utility (the utility accessible in H&M has a lot more features, by the way) the best way to do this is with the "Fixed size region" option:

Just define a region large enough to accommodate everything you want to include in your screenshot. Then you can activate the tooltips with the mouse and they will capture with the rest of the image.

After this you will need to crop your captured image. If you're using Impict it's easiest to do this in an external graphics program and then copy back to Impict to go on editing. To crop in Impict you need to use the Lens object:
  1. Select the Lens object and drag a rectangle roughly (don't be accurate yet) around the area you want to crop.
  2. When you release the mouse button choose "Single size", 0, 0 and uncheck "Origin is absolute" in the Lens Object dialog.
  3. Click OK and now adjust the Lens object frame around the area you want to crop. (Use the cursor keys and SHIFT+Cursor Keys to adjust precisely.)
  4. Leaving the Lens object selected in the image select "Flatten Objects" in the Object menu. Select "Repaint objects on a new background" and deselect "Transparent background".
  5. Click on OK. Now you have a cropped image object that you can manipulate in any way you like.
You might also want to look at TNT, EC Software's stand-alone screen capture program that integrates graphics editing, 3D effects, cropping and a lot of other features. I use it in combination with Impict for almost all my help screenshots and graphics:

http://www.ec-software.com/tnt.htm
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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jhobbs
Posts: 56
Joined: Sat Apr 23, 2005 2:18 am

Unread post by jhobbs »

Many thanks. TNT can be set the same as Snagit, and is perhaps easier to use.
- Can I add a "TNT" Icon to an H&M toolbar?
- Can TNT add the captured object directly into my H&M Topic, without requiring Insert, etc?

I appreciate the Lens Object tutorial, and I see how it works in larger captures. I was trying to use the Lens Object with smaller captures, and getting frustrated.

When I click another Window or press the Alt key, the fly-out in the Window I'm trying to capture disappears.
- Is there a way to capture a screen using Impict, without using the mouse?
Jack.
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Tim Green
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Unread post by Tim Green »

Jack,

At the moment you cannot put an icon for TNT in the H&M toolbar and auto-inserting to your H&M project is also not supported. However, as I said the integrated screen capture in H&M itself is actually a light version of TNT and it does both these things. It is also much more powerful than the simple capture feature in Impict (just click on the [Extended >>] button while capturing to see the extra options. The best way to test TNT is just download and install the free trial.
When I click another Window or press the Alt key, the fly-out in the Window I'm trying to capture disappears. Is there a way to capture a screen using Impict, without using the mouse?
The trick is that the mouse is actually active and can be used normally while you are capturing, so what you do is activate the flyout during the capture process, not before. (Again, the capture feature in H&M is better than the one in Impict.)
  1. Select the Capture button and then select "Fixed size region" and set the size of the region to be captured.
  2. Click [Start Capture] and use the mouse normally to select the window you want to capture and to activate the flyout (just pretend the red capture frame isn't there for the moment).
  3. When the flyout appears press and hold Ctrl, move the mouse if you want and then click to make the capture. You must do this quite quickly because many flyouts disappear again after a second or so.
Note that this may not work with all popup window -- it depends how they are generated -- but it does work with most tooltips and What'sThis? help popups.
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

Private support:
Please do not email or PM me with private support requests -- post to the forum directly.
jhobbs
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Joined: Sat Apr 23, 2005 2:18 am

Unread post by jhobbs »

Tim Green wrote:The best way to test TNT is just download and install the free trial.
Done, TNT is purchased and very useful.
The trick is that the mouse is actually active and can be used normally while you are capturing, so what you do is activate the flyout during the capture process, not before. (Again, the capture feature in H&M is better than the one in Impict.)
  1. Select the Capture button and then select "Fixed size region" and set the size of the region to be captured.
  2. Click [Start Capture] and use the mouse normally to select the window you want to capture and to activate the flyout (just pretend the red capture frame isn't there for the moment).
  3. When the flyout appears press and hold Ctrl, move the mouse if you want and then click to make the capture. You must do this quite quickly because many flyouts disappear again after a second or so.
Note that this may not work with all popup window -- it depends how they are generated -- but it does work with most tooltips and What'sThis? help popups.
Thanks again. Yes, it does work fine for my purposes.
Jack.
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