omenra
05-24-2008, 04:19 PM
I have noticed that many people, while asking for signatures, admit they do not know how to take a screenshot, or how to take a good screenshot. I decided to make a thread to explain some simple starter points that will hopefully help you as you start your screenshot taking adventure that will one day take up the majority of your hard drive :D. Unfortunately, past the "Basic Screenshot", everything is for Fiesta players. I'd love to have some SoS players who have some good tips post on the thread.
If you have anything to add, or any questions, feel free to post. Also, go ahead and share any good screenshots you took! We love to see them!
Getting Started: The Basic Screenshot
There are only a few simple steps for taking a screenshot. This does not include removing anything from the screen, it is just recording a moment in time during the game. This is really useful in a case where you might need to report someone, because everyone likes to see proof. :)
Step 1: Make sure the game is open, and you are in the spot where you want to take your screenshot (I'm not sure if it is necessary to add, but you do need your keyboard for this)
Step 2: Press the "Print Screen" button on your keyboard.
Step 3: Look in your "My Documents" folder; there should be a new folder called "Fiesta".
Step 4: Open the "Fiesta" folder and enjoy.
This process is fine if you want to report someone, but if you want to take a screenshot for a sig or something a little more important, it's nice to make it a little neater. It especially makes it easier for the sig makers if your picture does not have to be edited as much.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Moving On: Cleaning Up the Edges
By "Cleaning up the edges" I mean removing all the unnecessary clutter around the screen. Unnecessary for screenshots, that is. The interface, while very useful for gameplay, is EXTREMELY annoying for screenshots. It tends to cut off many features on your character. So our goal is to remove as much clutter as possible.
With the complete interface, your screen should look like this:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/interface.jpg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Options Menu
To change anything about the visibility of the interface, we need to get to the menu.
Step 1: Press the "Options" button on the bottom right hand corner, or press the "Esc" key.
Step 2: Press the "Game Settings" button directly underneath the "Help" button.
This brings you to the menu where you can control your interface. It should look like this:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/firstoptions.jpg
*If the buttons to the side look a little different, it's ok it won't affect you at this point*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Removing the Text
Now we're going to remove the text above your character's head. Stay in the "Game Settings" menu, but look at the yellow buttons. If a button is darkened, that means the corresponding feature is omitted from your screen. So to remove the text...
Step 1: Click the yellow button besides "My Character Name", "My Character HP", and "My Character SP" (Note: some of these buttons may already be pressed, just make sure the above mentioned options have darkened circles next to them)
It should look like this:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/nocharnamepressed.jpg
Step 2: Press the "Apply" button at the bottom. You MUST press "Apply" if you want these settings to be saved.
Doing so will make your text disappear:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/nocharname.jpg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Removing Another Character's Name
Now removing your own name is good, but what if you want to take a screenshot with another character, or are taking a screenshot of another character?
Step 1: Go to the "Game Settings" menu (this will be a repeated step as you will see)
Step 2: Press the "Other Character Names" button (make sure it is darkened)
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/nootherchar.jpg
Step 3: Press "Apply". It should look like so:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/applynootherchar.jpg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Removing the Rest of the Interface
Everything past this point is self-explanatory, because it really just involves fiddling around with the options menu to get desired results. However, when you are taking a screenshot, the best way to go is just to remove everything. Here is usually what I do to prepare for a screenshot:
Step 1: Go to "Game Settings" menu.
Step 2: Darken EVERY button on the left side. (The button besides "Reset Interface" is not important, if it is pressed to make it yellow again it will simply return your interface to default settings *useful if you lose your chatbox*)
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/allpressed.jpg
Step 3: Press "Apply". It should look like this:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/nointerface.jpg
Note: To return to your normal mode, you MUST press the "Esc" key, and either press "Default" then "Apply", or just click all the buttons back to yellow then press "Apply".
These are the default settings I use when I take a screenshot. You can change different things by going to different menus, or pressing only certain buttons. To find out what controls what, simply experiment and know that you can always return to "Default" if you screw up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Removing The Character Outline
If you are taking a screenshot for a signature, it is nice to remove the hard, black outline on your character and it makes your screenshot look neater.
Your character originally looks like this:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/outline.jpg
Not very pretty. The outline can really lower the quality of the image. To fix this, onto more steps...
Step 1: Go to the "Options" menu, or press "Esc" key.
Step 2: Go to "Graphic Settings" tab.
Step 3: Press the yellow button next to "Character Outline" on the right side. (make sure it is darkened).
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/outlinebutton.jpg
Step 4: Press "Apply". And it should look like this:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/nooutline.jpg
Very pretty :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some More Helpful Hints...
1. Do not be afraid to use the Zoom! Zooming in makes pictures look better!
2. Play with the quality/resolution of your screen, it will affect the picture a lot (to do so, go to the "Graphic Settings" menu located in the main "Options" menu)
3. Have fun! Take lots of screenies! Do useful things with them! :D
4. Pictures of skills look really cool, but take multiple shots so you can have more than one option.
5. Taking more than one shot in general is good, just in case you blinked (not kidding :p)
6. Experiment a lot! It takes some experimenting to get a good feel for how quick your computer takes a picture. This timing is very useful for taking screenshots of skills.
The End. :) Hope I helped! Again, feel free to post questions, more help, and any screenshots you took that you think are really good. :D
If you have anything to add, or any questions, feel free to post. Also, go ahead and share any good screenshots you took! We love to see them!
Getting Started: The Basic Screenshot
There are only a few simple steps for taking a screenshot. This does not include removing anything from the screen, it is just recording a moment in time during the game. This is really useful in a case where you might need to report someone, because everyone likes to see proof. :)
Step 1: Make sure the game is open, and you are in the spot where you want to take your screenshot (I'm not sure if it is necessary to add, but you do need your keyboard for this)
Step 2: Press the "Print Screen" button on your keyboard.
Step 3: Look in your "My Documents" folder; there should be a new folder called "Fiesta".
Step 4: Open the "Fiesta" folder and enjoy.
This process is fine if you want to report someone, but if you want to take a screenshot for a sig or something a little more important, it's nice to make it a little neater. It especially makes it easier for the sig makers if your picture does not have to be edited as much.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Moving On: Cleaning Up the Edges
By "Cleaning up the edges" I mean removing all the unnecessary clutter around the screen. Unnecessary for screenshots, that is. The interface, while very useful for gameplay, is EXTREMELY annoying for screenshots. It tends to cut off many features on your character. So our goal is to remove as much clutter as possible.
With the complete interface, your screen should look like this:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/interface.jpg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Options Menu
To change anything about the visibility of the interface, we need to get to the menu.
Step 1: Press the "Options" button on the bottom right hand corner, or press the "Esc" key.
Step 2: Press the "Game Settings" button directly underneath the "Help" button.
This brings you to the menu where you can control your interface. It should look like this:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/firstoptions.jpg
*If the buttons to the side look a little different, it's ok it won't affect you at this point*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Removing the Text
Now we're going to remove the text above your character's head. Stay in the "Game Settings" menu, but look at the yellow buttons. If a button is darkened, that means the corresponding feature is omitted from your screen. So to remove the text...
Step 1: Click the yellow button besides "My Character Name", "My Character HP", and "My Character SP" (Note: some of these buttons may already be pressed, just make sure the above mentioned options have darkened circles next to them)
It should look like this:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/nocharnamepressed.jpg
Step 2: Press the "Apply" button at the bottom. You MUST press "Apply" if you want these settings to be saved.
Doing so will make your text disappear:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/nocharname.jpg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Removing Another Character's Name
Now removing your own name is good, but what if you want to take a screenshot with another character, or are taking a screenshot of another character?
Step 1: Go to the "Game Settings" menu (this will be a repeated step as you will see)
Step 2: Press the "Other Character Names" button (make sure it is darkened)
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/nootherchar.jpg
Step 3: Press "Apply". It should look like so:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/applynootherchar.jpg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Removing the Rest of the Interface
Everything past this point is self-explanatory, because it really just involves fiddling around with the options menu to get desired results. However, when you are taking a screenshot, the best way to go is just to remove everything. Here is usually what I do to prepare for a screenshot:
Step 1: Go to "Game Settings" menu.
Step 2: Darken EVERY button on the left side. (The button besides "Reset Interface" is not important, if it is pressed to make it yellow again it will simply return your interface to default settings *useful if you lose your chatbox*)
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/allpressed.jpg
Step 3: Press "Apply". It should look like this:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/nointerface.jpg
Note: To return to your normal mode, you MUST press the "Esc" key, and either press "Default" then "Apply", or just click all the buttons back to yellow then press "Apply".
These are the default settings I use when I take a screenshot. You can change different things by going to different menus, or pressing only certain buttons. To find out what controls what, simply experiment and know that you can always return to "Default" if you screw up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Removing The Character Outline
If you are taking a screenshot for a signature, it is nice to remove the hard, black outline on your character and it makes your screenshot look neater.
Your character originally looks like this:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/outline.jpg
Not very pretty. The outline can really lower the quality of the image. To fix this, onto more steps...
Step 1: Go to the "Options" menu, or press "Esc" key.
Step 2: Go to "Graphic Settings" tab.
Step 3: Press the yellow button next to "Character Outline" on the right side. (make sure it is darkened).
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/outlinebutton.jpg
Step 4: Press "Apply". And it should look like this:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll46/omenra_photo/nooutline.jpg
Very pretty :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some More Helpful Hints...
1. Do not be afraid to use the Zoom! Zooming in makes pictures look better!
2. Play with the quality/resolution of your screen, it will affect the picture a lot (to do so, go to the "Graphic Settings" menu located in the main "Options" menu)
3. Have fun! Take lots of screenies! Do useful things with them! :D
4. Pictures of skills look really cool, but take multiple shots so you can have more than one option.
5. Taking more than one shot in general is good, just in case you blinked (not kidding :p)
6. Experiment a lot! It takes some experimenting to get a good feel for how quick your computer takes a picture. This timing is very useful for taking screenshots of skills.
The End. :) Hope I helped! Again, feel free to post questions, more help, and any screenshots you took that you think are really good. :D