Messages

26

Screenshot Captor / Re: Capturing Scrolling Pages

« on: August 12, 2015, 10:13 PM »

Can someone tell me how to avoid having the red margin and overlap lines appear in my final images?

I'm not sure if that is something I am doing wrong, a bug, or an environment issue on my computer.

Thanks!

27

Screenshot Captor / Re: Capturing Scrolling Pages

« on: August 12, 2015, 01:33 AM »

Thank you for the tip.  I'll check it out!

PS: Major American Monty Python fan here. 

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Screenshot Captor / Re: Capturing Scrolling Pages

« on: August 11, 2015, 06:52 PM »

mouser... truly I am so impressed by your grasp of topics like this!  What an amazing talent!

Yes, that is indeed what happened in my case.  It was not the top or bottom capture that was off after adjusting overlap, but one of the captures in between.  When I adjusted one of the middle captures to have a perfect overlap, the overlap of one of the other middle captures was too high.  It seems to me it was cutting off more than 1 pixel too much though, seemed like more than that.

I actually used this thread to do the test.  At least one of the middle "slides" had maybe a several lines of text cut off while another "middle"
 slide was completely perfect.

Thinking about it though, it seems possible that you may not be properly adjusting the overlap even for a slide that looks correct.  What if there is white space for example around the overlap.  How can you visually determine what the correct overlap is in that case to the pixel (if those units are pixels... not sure)?

So if you over reduce the overlap on one slide, that has say horizontal white space, and there is another slide that has data around the overlap it could cut off the data without your knowing.  So A. maybe you should set the overlap on something you can be confident about if possible.  and B. you should check all the overlaps even on the middle slides before finishing.

But actually I did try to do A although I'm not exactly sure what you can be confident about.  I chose a slide with some split words right on the seam and tried to align the words so they were properly overlapped.  This may or may not have been an accurate overlap.

I don't want to over complicate this.  mouser I am sure you understand the issues.  The goal, of course is how to get at least a visually "perfect" image with the minimum amount of work.  With the amazing tools in Screenshot Captor it's already pretty close!

If it would be helpful at all I can try to reproduce an image with this issue and attach.

Also, if you get a chance, do you know why the red margin/overlap lines appear in my final image and how I can prevent that?

Added:
I tried to capture and image this thread again applying some understanding I gained in this discussion.  Margins don't seem to be any issue in this test, it's the overlaps that are difficult.  The automatic overlap didn't work so I adjusted it manually.  I tried to be very careful to align a middle section that seemed clear.  At first it seemed to be pretty good when I checked the other middle slides... but then, after adjusting the End Overlaps, I looked at the middle slides again and something seemed way off.  I don't know what I did wrong as I assume the End Overlaps shouldn't affect the middle slides?

Anyway, I need to do my tests more scientifically when I have more time so I can be more succinct in what I write and not waste everyone's time.  I apologize for the long posts without much substance.  When I have more time I will try to report what is going on in a way that can be reproduced... or else figure out what the heck I did wrong!

This is an awesome feature.  Hope I can add something to make it even better!  "I'll be back!" 

29

Screenshot Captor / Re: Capturing Scrolling Pages

« on: August 11, 2015, 07:11 AM »

OK!  Now I understand how that part works!  I didn't think of using it to eliminate the multiple tab and menu parts on each page of the scroll by adjusting the overlap.

Very very cool implementation!    It really is brilliant!

On my first test the right margin control didn't seem to crop anything.  But when I tested it on another scrolling page it worked.  I'll have to investigate that more.  All the other margin adjustments worked great!  And the Scroll Overlap controls are amazing!

One other small issue...  How do you eliminate the red page separator lines from the capture?

But WOW!  What a fantastic implementation of scrolling!  Better than any other I have seen.  

A possible enhancement....  Allow different zoom levels in this dialog other than Fit and 100%.  Might make it easier to see what's going on while you are adjusting things.

Edit: Since you can't crop the overlaps of each capture individually, it's clearly critical that each capture has the same amount that needs to be cropped.  Otherwise when you set the scroll overlaps so that one seam is perfect, another seam might not be right.  On my test I did a manual capture using the page down key before each capture to try to make each capture uniform size.  When I set the overlap based on the perfect setting for one seam, the other seams were off a little.  Is there a way to avoid this?  

30

Screenshot Captor / Re: Capturing Scrolling Pages

« on: August 10, 2015, 11:13 PM »

Know what?  I need to do more work to understand this better.  When I tried it this time, the automatic scrolling was working really well on Firefox (except for the fact that it is also capturing the whole firefox application window and not just the page being browsed).  Manual scrolling also worked really well.  I think that the problem I had may have had to do with the sandbox.  I am getting an error message related to DDE data before the capture takes place.  This may be the problem.

What I have not been able to figure out how to do is to capture just the browser web page window without the Firefox tabs and toolbars appearing at the top of each scrolled page.  I'm thinking maybe this is the problem caused by the DDE failure?  I never seem to get a chance to select just that window and not the entire application window.

But the exciting part is that Screenshot Captor is scrolling like a champ now!

Does any of this make any sense?  

31

Screenshot Captor / Re: Capturing Scrolling Pages

« on: August 10, 2015, 10:02 PM »

As always thank you for your reply mouser!  I have not yet tried that manual feature, but I will give it a whirl.  Even though the automatic kind of scroll method doesn't seem to always work well I do think that SC's scrolling capture feature is a brilliant piece of work though.  I think it gives you the best chance of getting the shot.

Usually, if I want to do a scrolling capture, it is in a browser.  So yes, the add-ons are probably best for that for the reasons you gave.

To be fair, I run my browser in a sandbox.  So there is an extra layer of mush that SC has to deal with.  That may be part of the problem.  The sandbox does cause problems with some things and maybe this is one of them.

The real challenge is to get scrolling captures in other applications besides browsers.  It's so hard to get consistent results with anything.  I guess that may be because each program works differently in one way or another and its hard to make a universal tool that can deal with every contingency.

32

Screenshot Captor / Capturing Scrolling Pages

« on: August 10, 2015, 02:14 PM »

I have an add-on for Firefox called qSnap.  It's the only thing I've found that reliably renders perfect image snapshots of full web pages (even if they scroll on your screen) without actually saving the page in some html related format.  It captures it instantly and lets you save it as an image and I've never seen a rendering error in any of the pages I have captured.  I'm sure there must be other things that can do the same thing, but they are certainly not as easy to find as a lot of other software to perform basic tasks like that.

The screen capture programs I've used, including Screenshot Captor, use a method that scrolls the page and I'm guessing maybe stitches multiple screenshots together somehow as it scrolls?  But I have found them to be highly finicky and unreliable and can't get them to work many times. Kudos to Screenshot Captor though that has many tweaks that allow you to adjust for different conditions to try to get the shot.  It's the best attempt at that feature I've seen even though I still find I am unable to get reliable scrolls many times.

So my question must be obvious by now.  Why can't Screenshot Captor use whatever method qSnap uses to convert a scrolled area to an image instead of this apparently different method that requires a finicky automatic scroll?

I'm guessing that the main reason is that Screenshot Captor has to have a generalized approach that works in a broad range of applications whereas qSnap only has to work in Firefox and therefore can use some other method specific to Firefox.  But I'd like to know more about specifically why this can't be done that way in say Screenshot Captor.  It's so difficult to find something that can simply and reliably take a snapshot of a full scrolling web page (or a scrolled page in other applications) and convert it to an image without all the tweaking and finger crossing!  I don't mean to imply that it is a simple thing from a technical point of view, but from a users point of view it is so basic!

Any light you can shine on this would be welcome!  It's always stumped me. ... but then I'm easy to stump!  

PS: The Fireshot add-on for Firefox performs a capture similar to that of qSnap.  Instant and perfect rendering every time.

33

Screenshot Captor / Re: Some Feature Requests & Food For Thought (if your brain is on a diet!)

« on: July 31, 2015, 10:00 PM »

It's no problem at all mouser... considering the number of things you have to juggle you do a phenomenal job of keeping up!  Don't know how you do it.

Thank you for all the great work! 

34

Screenshot Captor / Re: Some Feature Requests & Food For Thought (if your brain is on a diet!)

« on: July 29, 2015, 11:52 PM »

Follow up to my second to last comment...

I'm actually really digging the Screenshot Captor/MyImgur combination except for the sometimes failed uploads.  I'm thinking that maybe the failures are related to file size.  Imgur seems to maybe accept files larger than MyImgur agrees to feed it without errors.  I'm not sure that is the issue, just a crude observation.

I was reading some comments about MyImgur and it appears that maybe there have been recent silent updates keeping the same version number.  It isn't clear to me if that is the case.  And if it is the case it isn't clear to me why that apparent bug has not been addressed because a number of people seemed to have reported it.

But overall, the combination is really nice.  MyImgur keeps a nice editable database of uploaded files and the various links for each file.  Very nice Imgur specific program.  Still would be really nice to have an option to do at least the basic Imgur uploading tasks directly in Screenshot Captor.

Thanks again!  

35

Screenshot Captor / Re: Some Feature Requests & Food For Thought (if your brain is on a diet!)

« on: July 23, 2015, 11:14 PM »

Thanks mouser!

I just happened to be online now.  Imgur sounds great.  The more I use it, the more I like it.  Great anon and non-anon host!

I think I understand what you mean by changing the working folder from the screenshot folder to the folder containing the file.  If I do understand it, it certainly would be fine with me.  As a matter of fact, that would be my preference.

I'm not a fan of navigating using the folder icons in the thumbnail pane.  I find it difficult to navigate the folder structure using this method.  So for me, the important part would be to have access to the folder structure through the standard windows dialog.  For me, that's the best universal generic method of navigation.  Don't know if you can build that into the mix or not, but I sure do appreciate your considering it.

In general, I like developers who think things out rather than rush into a bad solution.  So please don't rush on my account!  I have lots of patience.  I'd rather have something really well done then really fast.  Your work is beautiful!

Thanks so much for being so responsive! 

36

Screenshot Captor / Re: Some Feature Requests & Food For Thought (if your brain is on a diet!)

« on: July 23, 2015, 10:45 PM »

Following up to the comments above about using the basic built-in uploader in non-anonymous mode...

I think it would be fine to use the upload host account in order to keep a record of your uploads and related links and for managing the uploads rather than doing all of that through Screenshot Captor.  I think that is a good plan if that is what you are thinking.  I see no need to duplicate all that functionality in the program.

However, ImageShack requires a premium account in order to gain access to a direct link, or any links to the image in its original size or other selected sizes as well as most of the image related tools.  That's an issue if you don't want a premium account.

For this reason and some others, I think Imgur is currently a better choice for uploads.  It has a lot more features and no fee.

So the question is, can SC be configured for a non-anonymous Imgur account, and if not, that would be my most immediate feature request with regard to uploading rather than having to shell out to ShareX.

Edit to add note:

I just tried using MyImgur (v3.76) as an external uploading tool.  It's nice.  It works well and it performs many of the database keeping tasks that you would need.  But... unfortunately it has a bug that causes a lot of uploads to fail and its unreliable.  It has not been updated in a long time and I don't know if it is still being developed.  It would be nice if it worked more reliably.... but even if it did it still requires shelling out to another program.  It would be great if that wasn't necessary.

Thanks again for considering my suggestions.  

37

Screenshot Captor / Some Feature Requests & Food For Thought (if your brain is on a diet!)

« on: July 22, 2015, 01:20 AM »

Now that I've taken a look around in ScreenShot Captor and been thoroughly impressed with what a great piece of work it is, I have a few immediate thoughts about a couple of small changes that would be useful to me.

1. Add standard Windows file open dialog to tray icon right click context menu.

Why:
I often want to work with files already stored locally rather than capture new ones.  With this feature I could easily open an existing file.  The reason I would like the standard windows file open dialog is because I use another program that adds extensions to that dialog that allow me to have a favorites list to immediately navigate to favorite folders and files.  It also has several other features.  It works with the standard Windows Open and Save As dialogs.

Note: Maybe a good place on the menu is under "Grab screenshot from Webcam" and before "Acquire image from scanner"  ?  Maybe label something like "Open local file" or "Open local image" ?

2. In the main window File command menu add an "Open" command (standard file open dialog).

Why:
Same reason that I would like to have this dialog on the tray icon.  If I am already in the window I would want to use that command.

Note: I'm not fond of using the giant folder icons to navigate.  It's clumsy and uses a lot of screen real estate.  Also it doesn't give you a lot of context to see where you are.  It's easy to get lost.  I prefer the standard Windows file open and Save As dialogs.  The main window already has the Save As... and it's great!  

===
So there you have it.  I have lots more ideas, but I think this is the wish list that are my most needed things at this time.

If any of this capability is already available, and I just didn't see it, I apologize.

I am still thinking the uploading features through.  Generally, I like your idea about using a registered account so that you can manage your photos through the host rather than trying to build that same redundant capability into the program.  That makes a lot of sense.  Why spend all that time recreating capability that is already there.  However, I need to try that system for a while to see how it works out.  So I'll report back when I do.  I also like the idea of using an anonymous account because it's just less hassle.  So I hate giving that up.  Clearly SOME things will need to be done -- or would be nice to have done -- through ScreenShot Captor to support even the registered system such as some things that are already being done like copying the URL to the clipboard when uploaded.  I'll check back in after I've thought it through.  You probably have much better ideas about it then I do anyway!

Thanks for considering these things.  I hope they are helpful.  Please let me know if there is any way I can assist.  I'd be more than happy to beta test or anything else.  This program is definitely worth it!  Thanks again!

38

Screenshot Captor / Re: Benefits of using SC with ShareX?

« on: July 20, 2015, 05:42 PM »

Thanks again for your reply.  Yes, I tried out the "built-in" simple uploader a little while ago and it worked fine.  It did copy the URL to the clipboard.  That is certainly good enough for the basics.

SX has a "History" dialog which keeps track of all the links, including a deletion link and a thumbnail link, for at least some of the anonymous hosts that support those functions.  It also allows you to copy the links with commands, has a filter to find links and a few other things.  I consider at least the portion of this  feature that keeps a record of all the links pretty important, but I do think it's not an easy one to implement.  Without it, you would have to keep track of all the links manually.  Not an easy job.  I'm using Imgur on SX right now so I know that that host supports at least deletion links.  I don't think that Screenshot Captor currently gives you the deletion link on Imgur at least not in this anonymous mode.  I actually already have an Image Shack account so I may give the non-anon mode a try.

Thanks again so much for this gem of a program.  I have a number of other comments, but I want to be more prepared when I make them and will also post them in new threads because they are somewhat OT for this one.  If I can think of anything constructive to add to your already fantastic ideas, I will post it.

Keep up the great work!

39

Screenshot Captor / Re: Benefits of using SC with ShareX?

« on: July 20, 2015, 02:28 PM »

Thank you for your reply mouser, the friendly welcome and your brilliant work with Screenshot Captor! 

I do have a few questions if you have a chance.

Does the Screenshot Captor Imager uploading tool allow anonymous uploading?

Does the tool keep a log of the various links for each upload such as direct link, delete link, etc.  If so how easy is it to use those links... i.e. can they be accessed directly from SC or do they need copy and paste into the browser etc?

Is there a url shortening feature?  An automatic paste direct link to clipboard feature?

These are a few of the features I have noticed I liked in SX so far.  None of them is a deal breaker, but I am just wondering if Screenshot Captor has any of these and if not whether the plan is to incorporate any of them soon.

Thanks again for all the help!

40

Screenshot Captor / Benefits of using SC with ShareX?

« on: July 20, 2015, 01:59 PM »

I'm new to both SC and ShareX, but my first impression is that SC was primarily designed to be a screen capture tool which also happens to have some pic editing/annotating and sharing features and ShareX was primarily designed to be pic sharing tool which also happens to have some screen capture and editing/annotating tools.

This would make sense of my first observation that SC seems to have a more well developed screen capture facility while ShareX seems to have a more well developed sharing facility.

I also have observed that SC has some integration features that support ShareX.  I tried it out and it works nicely, although it's too bad there can't be a merger of these great tools into one!  I hate having to use two tools.  I know that is far more easy to say then to do, and also that the people involved may not want to do that even if it was feasible.  I understand and respect that completely if that is the case.  

In any event... my hat is off to both teams.  What fantastic pieces of work!  Thank you very much for both of these gems.  All those involved in developing them have tremendous talent!

Even though I have just started using them, there are things I like about each.  One major advantage of SC for me, is that I was able to find this forum to discuss it.  I tried hard to find a forum for ShareX and only found its project page and maybe IRC channel, neither of which seems like a user friendly way to discuss it to me.  Maybe I missed something, but anyway, I am grateful for this forum on SC.

OK... that was my long winded way of getting to this:

I would probably like to pick one of these to use and see if I can get it to do everything I need to do with just that one.  At the moment, SC is more to my liking overall, but I am not sure I can configure it to upload the way I want it to to the places I want it to, so that means I still at this time have to use ShareX to do that.  That's a negative.  But with some more experience maybe I will find that SC can do the job without SX... I need to study the uploading features more.

So here is my request:

Can someone give me a summary of what advantages that using ShareX in conjunction with SC has?  Is it only because ShareX has a more robust uploading facility (if if does)?  Or could there be other reasons that using ShareX in addition to SC is an advantage?  There is clearly a lot of feature overlap, so I am hoping to short circuit my discovery process a little by getting a rough summary of the differences.

I apologize if what I wrote above sounds  uninformed.  I admit I am new to both of these programs and have not had as much time as I would like to study them.  I hope my questions make sense and give my thanks in advance for any help!