# Improve screenshot function



## Gamer01 (Mar 15, 2021)

Hey guys.
Can you make a better screenshot function? The currently look like a kid pushed the print screen button and pasted in to paint and cut out. 
I mean you see the backgound at right and left sideways and bottom. And why saved in GIF ? Should save in jpg form. This is the most common type.

Sorry for my bad english.


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## W1zzard (Mar 15, 2021)

JPG has bad compression artifacts, PNG is too big.

The size of the screenshot is the actual window bounds, Windows 10 just hacks them to give you a nice look.






This is what seems to be needed to get the actual bounds


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## Naki (Mar 16, 2021)

Suggestion -- be able to specify screenshots file/image type, choosing between GIF and PNG.  (Any why not -- TIFF and BMP options too?)
JPG not useful as you noted, too blurred/mangled fonts it often creates.
IF there is no space in current Settings, General tab for this new choice, then move things around a bit - add 1-2 more tabs to Settings screen.


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## TheLostSwede (Mar 16, 2021)

W1zzard said:


> JPG has bad compression artifacts, PNG is too big.
> 
> The size of the screenshot is the actual window bounds, Windows 10 just hacks them to give you a nice look.
> 
> ...


8-bit PNG should be good enough and is higher quality than GIF, while being smaller.

As for the screenshots, is there a way to emulate Alt+Prt Scr, as that would give you just the active window and not backgrounds etc.
Like so.


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## W1zzard (Mar 16, 2021)

TheLostSwede said:


> 8-bit PNG should be good enough and is higher quality than GIF.


Both are lossless, both are 8-bit, they are the same, unless you use a different color quantizing algorithm


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## TheLostSwede (Mar 16, 2021)

W1zzard said:


> Both are lossless, both are 8-bit, they are the same, unless you use a different color quantizing algorithm


Seems like the PNG is smaller too me, although I guess it could have something to do with it not having the desktop frame.
I would also say it looks better, it has no distortion behind the Nvidia logo for example.
Your call boss, you're the developer, just throwing out some ideas. I know how to take screenshots manually, so I have never used the built in feature.


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## Naki (Mar 16, 2021)

Question -- how about HEIC format? Does it blur/mangle fonts same way JPG does, or is it (slightly?) better?


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## W1zzard (Mar 16, 2021)

Naki said:


> Question -- how about HEIC format? Does it blur/mangle fonts same way JPG does, or is it (slightly?) better?


We want people to be able to look at their screenshots? Nothing supports HEIC. Windows XP support?



TheLostSwede said:


> I would also say it looks better, it has no distortion behind the Nvidia logo for example.


Pick a better color quantizer for the GIF, I attached an example GIF based on your PNG. But yeah, looks like there's some small space savings from going PNG-8


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## Naki (Mar 16, 2021)

* It works on Windows 10 with a small plugin available in Windows Store (for free). Thus it should likely work on Windows 8/8.1 too as they have the Windows Store too, but I did not check.
The free Irfanview image viewer will easily show HEIC images, I assume on WinXP too (and Windows Vista and 7):




__





						IrfanView - Official Homepage - One of the Most Popular Viewers Worldwide
					

IrfanView ... one of the most popular viewers worldwide.




					www.irfanview.com
				




* IF you add a choice to choose between GIF, PNG and HEIC for screenshots to Settings, then those that cannot use that will simply choose one of the other options.


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## xkm1948 (Mar 16, 2021)

No HEIC, pls, I hate that format...


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## Naki (Mar 17, 2021)

xkm1948 said:


> No HEIC, pls, I hate that format...


This is why I suggest to make it optional, and not mandatory for everyone.


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## Thuban (Mar 19, 2021)

I am fine with what we have. HEIC needs plugins and a microsoft account to get the free extension, basically, a bit of a hassle. But whatever


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## Naki (Mar 19, 2021)

No, Windows Store works even without logging into any account, at least for free downloads:








						How to use the Microsoft Store in Windows without a Microsoft account
					

How to use the Microsoft Store without a Microsoft account. How to download apps from the Store with a local offline account.




					www.digitalcitizen.life
				




Also, Irfanview works without needing the Store.


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## Toothless (Mar 20, 2021)

Naki said:


> No, Windows Store works even without logging into any account, at least for free downloads:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


No one with a sane mind uses the microsoft store. No one will use that file type so adding it as an option will be a waste of resources.


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## Naki (Mar 20, 2021)

I use Windows Store all the time to get easy & seamless app updates in one place, without having to update those app versions separately from inside each app.
Not many of my apps there, but some vital ones I use a lot for work & personal use are -- iTunes, Slack, Evernote, MS OneDrive, Spotify, Facebook Messenger, Telegram Desktop, for example.
(Some great free & paid PC games are only there too, as well as apps I use rarely -- Cinebench, CrystalDiskInfo... )

Okay, just add PNG, BMP, TIFF/etc lossless file types options then.


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## Gamer01 (Mar 20, 2021)

The JPG format is the best i think. The quality is not the most important this is not a nature picture. If a bit blurry peoples don't care.
And you can change the compression of the JPG format, if you get a 100kb jpg file, who cares? Daily computers have lot of space, so this doesn't matter.


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## Toothless (Mar 20, 2021)

Gamer01 said:


> The JPG format is the best i think. The quality is not the most important this is not a nature picture. If a bit blurry peoples don't care.
> And you can change the compression of the JPG format, if you get a 100kb jpg file, who cares? Daily computers have lot of space, so this doesn't matter.


Some people just don't like the low quality of jpegs. Just because you have your opinion doesn't mean you can speak for everyone. It would be preferred to have the option for different file types, but that is the choice of the one having to code it all.


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## R-T-B (Mar 20, 2021)

Gamer01 said:


> The JPG format is the best i think. The quality is not the most important this is not a nature picture. If a bit blurry peoples don't care.
> And you can change the compression of the JPG format, if you get a 100kb jpg file, who cares? Daily computers have lot of space, so this doesn't matter.


JPG is lossy where GIF and PNG are lossless.  The only reason it looks bad at all is the 8bit side of it.

I'd prefer lossless for computer graphics.  Plus it'll likely compress better anyways.  JPG is meant for gradients, which computers don't use in GUIs.


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## Hardcore Games (Mar 28, 2021)

Lossless PNG is the best best option for better color quality etc


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## Gamer01 (Apr 3, 2021)

Hardcore Games said:


> Lossless PNG is the best best option for better color quality etc


They said png size is too big, i think they want to save to a floppy disk. (just kidding)


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## Naki (Apr 3, 2021)

Gamer01 said:


> They said png size is too big, i think they want to save to a floppy disk.


Yep, a 360 KB one.


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## Night (Apr 3, 2021)

+1 for built-in file type selection.
Edit: It seems the screenshot isn't captured precisely, at least for me.


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## Hardcore Games (Apr 3, 2021)

Naki said:


> Yep, a 360 KB one.



Who uses 360K floppies anymore. Even the old 8088 machines can use 1.44 floppies with a bracket for the old chassis. 13" mini towers had room for a 1.44 floppy and a 3.5" hard disk.


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## R-T-B (Apr 4, 2021)

Who said anything about floppies?

He's hosting all these images, so file size is a valid concern for w1zzard


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## Vendor (Apr 4, 2021)

just use snipping tool, that's what i do but yeah the inbuilt ss feature is mediocre at best as it shows weird edges and only supports gif, i mean it's not in motion and just a normal photo so that format doesn't make any sense


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## Naki (Apr 4, 2021)

R-T-B said:


> Who said anything about floppies?
> 
> He's hosting all these images, so file size is a valid concern for w1zzard



This is *incorrect. *Please note when you take a screenshot in GPU-Z it asks if you want to save it locally OR upload to image hosting.
So, I don't quite know how many of the GPU-Z screenshots taken get uploaded online, but it is not 100% of them. 

For the record, I prefer taking screenshots via the Dropbox screenshot function - for easy sharing/embedding in online forums - and for those screenshots I need to edit (blur/delete parts, add arrows, lines, text, rectangles/ovals, numbered dots/etc) I use the OLD Cloud.Mail.Ru Windows client - it does this excellently and automatically uploads all screenshots taken to the Mail.Ru Cloud (25 GB free storage).


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## R-T-B (Apr 4, 2021)

Naki said:


> This is *incorrect. *Please note when you take a screenshot in GPU-Z it asks if you want to save it locally OR upload to image hosting.
> So, I don't quite know how many of the GPU-Z screenshots taken get uploaded online, but it is not 100% of them.
> 
> For the record, I prefer taking screenshots via the Dropbox screenshot function - for easy sharing/embedding in online forums - and for those screenshots I need to edit (blur/delete parts, add arrows, lines, text, rectangles/ovals, numbered dots/etc) I use the OLD Cloud.Mail.Ru Windows client - it does this excellently and automatically uploads all screenshots taken to the Mail.Ru Cloud (25 GB free storage).


You are right.  Still file size is a factor for the hosting option.


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## Gamer01 (May 11, 2021)

2.39.0 version screenshot looks good now.


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