TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
I found a solution to a problem I had, so I thought I'd share it with everyone.
Problem: Needed to pull out certain items from a screen shot while maintaining
the resolution quality i.e. crop it!
Solution: See procedure below.
1. Open Microsoft Photo Editor
Start > Programs > Office 97 > Microsoft Photo Editor
2. Start a new page. It will ask you for the following [my settings are in
brackets]:
Image type: [Gray Scale (8 bit)]
Resolution: [600] dpi
Width: [2] inches (the width and height are not for the graphics, it's for the
workspace dimensions)
Height: [2] inches
Unit: [Inches]
3. Paste in the screen shot you want to crop.
4. Select the cropping tool button. It's on the tool bar?a black square with
white marks in the lines.
5. Draw a box around the area you want to SAVE.
6. Select Image > Crop. Choose the options you want. I just hit <OK>
7. Save your new graphic. It will be saved as a .gif file.
8. Open Visio or other graphics program
9. Paste your new .gif image in it.
10. Add whatever text, callouts, etc. you want.
11. Save as a .wmf file (or whatever other format you want)
11. Import into Frame. eh, viola!!! You have a new cropped screen shot with the
same screen quality as the original!!
