Is Photoshop a good tool for screenshots?(long)

Subject: Is Photoshop a good tool for screenshots?(long)
From: forcarolynne -at- shaw -dot- ca
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Sat, 4 May 2002 11:53:50


Hi fellow tech writers:

I need to find the best way to take screenshots so they can be used in
print and in online documentation and still retain their quality AND I need
a program where I can also embed callouts. This issue has arisen as we are
trying to implement single sourcing for print and online documentation.

We use FrameMaker to develop the document. It is then converted into a MIF
file and imported into Robohelp 2000 for online. My manager, who does the
online conversion, would LIKE to have the screenshots in print just import
smoothly into Robohelp, but this doesn't work for 2 reasons:
1) Images are poor quality once imported
2) Callouts and lines created in FM come out misaligned once imported.
I don't know of a good way to do what is being asked.

The best way I know to meet our needs is to save the screenshot into a
"master" image file separately. The screenshot can then be exported to JPEG
and either linked to or pasted into the FM doc. For online, that same
master screenshot would be exported to GIF in the correct resolution for
online. This process requires we maintain the image files separately from
the print and online docs.

How did we do screenshots up to this point? Just copied and pasted into
FrameMaker. But this resulted in such poor quality for online that I had to
go in and recreate all of the screenshots just for online. This was a big
pain,especially when I needed to add callouts - I did it using Corel
Photo-Paint which I found tedious and not user-friendly.

My solution proposes that we invest in a good imaging tool such as
Photoshop, where I can take the screenshot, use Photoshop tools to create
callouts on a different layer and then and then merge the layers to export
the PSD file into JPEG for print and do the Save for Web to export
into GIF for online. My understanding is that you have to manipulate the
screenshot for these different media anyways because they have different
requirements (i.e. resolution, file size).

Does anyone know of a better way to do this process? Is the solution that
my manager wants one that can be achieved or do we have to, as I propose,
create and maintain the screenshots separately?

I am just trying to find out if my proposed solution is on the right track,
or unnecessarily complicated.

Thanks,
Carolynne

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