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Every so often, I see statements like this on the list:
". . . I get great results using Corel PhotoPaint (similar to PhotoShop)
to resample and resize screen caps, then export them to jpgs or gifs."
This is not a rhetorical question: I really want to know. *Why* do
people use JPGs for screen captures?
In my experience, the JPG format invariably blurs screen captures even
if the image is not resized. (Maybe you can get around the blurriness by
setting the image to "maximum quality"--i.e., practically turning off
all compression--but then you have a big file.) The JPG format is
designed for photographs and other images with subtle gradations of
color.
The GIF format uses a form of compression that is much kinder to images
with sharp edges, large fields of one color, and text--and every screen
capture I've ever seen has those attributes. Screen caps are perfect
candidates for the GIF format. If you use a decent image manipulation
program like Photoshop--not the freebie MS Paint--you can easily produce
flawless screen captures in GIF format.
I've posted "GIFs-not-JPGs" monologues a bunch of times over the last
few years, and I keep wondering if I'm missing something. Those of you
who use JPGs for screen captures, would you mind explaining why you
choose that format? Eva? Others?
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