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> Does anyone#004# take screen captures and place them in
> Word for the Mac (or some other wp or dtp package)? If so:
> 1. What software do you use?
> Are you happy with it / Would you recommend it?
> Where can I get a copy?
If you are creating and staying on the Mac, you can use Image Grabber
(and I don't know where it's from), or the built-in Mac snapshot device,
whereby you press <command><shift>3, which results in a MacPaint image
of the entire screen being pasted onto the Clipboard. You then must go
retrieve it into some program - a paint program, if you want to save it
separately, or directly into your word processing program, if you want to
save it as part of the wp file.
> 3. Do you have to go through any intermediary, such as a
> paint package, before it looks *right* in the finished file?
Depends on the results you want, and what else was on the screen at the
time. I often use a paint program to doctor the data, given that I'm
usually working with alpha or earlier software and the data is bogus.
> Part II
> Does anyone#004# take screen captures from a Windows application and
> transfer them to the Mac? If so:
> 1 - 3 above, plus:
HotShot, HiJaak Pro (for Windows), HiJaak (f0r DOS). HotShot has been
around forever, don't know who makes it. HiJaak comes from Inset Systems,
71 Commerce Drive, Brookfield, CT 06804-9935. No filters necessary. HiJaak
offers you many file format options, and in addition lets you (1) save the
entire screen, (2) save the active window, or (3) save what you define with
a rectangle drawing tool. You can use the results immediately, or doctor
the data with any paint program (even Paintbrush!).
> 4. What file formats work best?
> If you save to a PC file format such as .pcs or .bmp, do
> you have to use file translation software, such as MacLink,
> in order to read the files from a Mac translation?
I use .bmp because most programs will recognize them. The Mac reads
virtually any graphics file for which a filter is available; so does the
PC. The one problem is filename length: remember that PC's need filenames
of 8 characters or fewer, but Macs have no such restrictions. PC filenames
translate just fine into Mac file structure; Mac filenames more than 8
characters in length cause grievous problems on the PC. You don't need
the dot and the three-character file extension to go from Mac to PC, but
many graphics filters require both as a means of identifying the file
format.
> 5. Does the resolution of the picture lessen as a result of
> translating the file from a PC to a Mac format?
We have encountered NO problems going in either direction as long as the
filter and filename conventions were observed.
Elna Tymes
President, Los Trancos Systems
(under multiple-person contract to Syntex)
