Re: Why use screen shots at all? [WAS Survey: "Screen shots"]
Why not get rid of the screen caps altogether?Screen captures may not be useful to everyone, but many people appreciate them. I do myself, because I often take a manual away from my computer to read. Without screen captures, this habit would be impractical.
In most printed doc I've seen the screen caps are just fluff, padding. ....
In short, my opinoin is that most screen caps are really there for aesthetic
and marketing reasons. "Make the book look thick ... don't scare the reader
with too much grey text ..."
As for the idea of not scaring the reader, what's wrong with that? If users won't open the documentation, it doesn't matter how good the text is; you've wasted your effort. Despite (or perhaps because of) all the technical change in our live, we live in a technophobic society, and anything that can take the edge of that fear off is worth doing.
But screen captures are definitely NOT to make the book "look thick." Printing costs are too high for that. Generally, I have to struggle for a budget for printing that allows me to put a few screen captures in.
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
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The angels leave on horseback, but the devils are all mine,
I knew I'd live forever, I was flying down the years
Till I heard the sound of morning, breaking glass around my ears."
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RE: Why use screen shots at all? [WAS Survey: "Screen shots"]: From: Jane Carnall
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