Argh! Question about screen captures

[Geoff Hart]

Pro TechWriter wondered: <<I am getting comments that the screen  
captures don't match (they don't--the developer used two or three  
different physical servers to do the captures on, and one of them  
even had Windows Classic window styling).>>

Although consistency of appearance is highly desirable, it's probably  
one of those things that can be sacrificed if other more important  
issues must still be solved. The most important point is that the  
images must be accurate (i.e., they must match what the users will  
see in terms of their content). After all, unless you're publishing  
in color (which it seems you aren't), they'll all be in black and  
white and won't exactly match the screen display anyway. So some  
level of difference is always acceptable in a pinch.

Time permitting, you should still redo the screen caps on a single  
computer, and ideally use the same platform that most of the users  
will be using. Visual consistency is sufficiently important that it's  
worth striving for.

<<Someone else created some older captures that I was given to use,  
that were already annotated with big, thick red circles. I don't  
normally use red for annotations due to the (1) printing in black and  
white, it fades away and (2) to avoid problems for people who are  
color blind.  I don't use circles either; I use a rectangle to  
highlight buttons and text fields, and use arrows with notes (if the  
window is complicated) to get my point across.>>

Sounds like a reasonable approach, but with a caveat about (2):  
"colorblindness" refers to a collection of visual deficits, of which  
red-green colorblindness is only the most common. It's also important  
to note that people with this visual deficit (mostly men) can still  
see both red and green: the problem is that they cannot distinguish  
between the two colors visually unless they differ in some other  
characteristic. If you need to use red and green in a color image  
(e.g., the user manual for traffic lights), the easiest solution is  
to ensure that the two colors have a different value (that is, a  
different "black" content). You can tell whether you succeeded if you  
print the image on a black and white laser printer and can still see  
the difference between the two colors.

<<In screen capture, what do you use for screen annotations (circles,  
squares, arrows, nothing, color, no color?)  and (2) do you have any  
research or sources to back up your choices?>>

It's been a while since I did this, but when I did, I used a very  
effective approach that I found recommended in some journal paper  
(I've long since forgotten where). Using an image editor such as  
Photoshop:
- Use the selection tool to select the area of greatest importance in  
the image (the one you'll be referring to).
- Invert the selection (so that your next actions affect only the  
portion of the image outside the important area).
- "Fade out" that portion of the image. How to do this depends on  
your software. For example, if you're working in greyscale, you can  
reduce the saturation of the colors or use the bar graph that shows  
the distribution of color intensities for the interval from white to  
black; in the latter case, you grab the handle that represents the  
black end of the scale and drag it towards the white end of the scale.

The result is that the background of the image remains sufficiently  
visible that readers retain the overall context (e.g., they know  
where to look within a screen or dialog box) but the higher intensity  
of the area that you didn't fade makes that area more visually  
prominent (it attracts and focuses attention without being  
distracting). Add any callout arrows (e.g., a numbered series of  
steps) around the periphery of the graphic that are necessary to call  
attention to any details that are particularly important.

Does it work? I have only anecdotal evidence, not good statistics. My  
audience liked the approach, and it was supported by research (the  
aforementioned long-forgotten journal article), so it's worth trying.  
Test it out on your own audience and see what they think!


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-- Geoff Hart
ghart at videotron.ca / geoffhart at mac.com
www.geoff-hart.com
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***Now available***  _Effective onscreen editing_
(http://www.geoff-hart.com/home/onscreen-book.htm)