Screenshot Captor Bug: Large frame around active window captures with background

[appyface]

Running 2.99.02 on Win7 Pro SP1 x64.  

When I screenshot "active window" I now also get a large frame (border) of the background all around the active window.  Did not have this in previous version, only the active window was captured as I expected.  

How to fix?

[J-Mac]

Running 2.99.02 on Win7 Pro SP1 x64. 

When I screenshot "active window" I now also get a large frame (border) of the background all around the active window.  Did not have this in previous version, only the active window was captured as I expected. 

How to fix?

-appyface (September 14, 2011, 10:08 PM)

Hi Appyface!

Try this: Go to Edit>Preferences and look at the following three sections:  Window Capturing 1, Window Capturing 2, and Red Box Capture Mode. These have options related to Aero and some apply borders around the capture. You might have to experiment a little to find the method that suits you.

Jim

[appyface]

I did look there before posting... but the settings are the same now as they were in the previous version.  I tried changing a few things anyway but no luck.  Ideas?


EDIT: Clearing the value in Window Capturing 1 for "margin to capture around the window to catch shadow effects (default 20)" has taken care of it.  Thanks!

[mouser]

J-Mac is pointing you to the right place: "Window Capturing 1" and "Window Capturing 2"..

If you are running default settings and seeing this -- then it means i should probably fix the default settings -- so let me know what works for you to solve the problem.

Can you post a sample screenshot showing the problem?

ps. i'm going to split this subject off the main announcement thread.

[J-Mac]

mouser, appyface:

I remember I changed my settings to eliminate the Aero effects surrounding whatever image I captured; not a problem with it - I just didn't really need to capture that. The instructions aren't very clear as to what specific settings will result in what effect; at least not to my limited knowledge of these effects. So I just systematically selected and deselected the settings in Window Capture 1 and 2 plus the Red Box Capture Mode until my captures looked "clean" IMO. Unfortunately I can't say which specific combination of settings showed which effects! I do know that all of the updates since then don’t seem to have altered the look of my captures.  

Thanks!

Jim

[appyface]

Attached are two screenshots, one was over a window with just a white background, the other over a window with text.  In both cases the border extends beyond the Active Window being captured.  (You can't see the first one's border easily due to the white background of this post.)

Changing the default of '20' to '0' for the setting mentioned in my prior post seems to have stopped this from happening.  But I don't know if I've now lost some other function as a result of this change, as I've never had to make any changes to these areas before now.

[mouser]

Ok well it looks like it's not capturing alpha transparency for you at all.

I suspect it's because the parent window is behind the application options.

Can you try putting it back to larger border, and move the dialog off the main window and try capturing the dialog again?

If so at least i'll have a clue about the problem.

[appyface]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by 'parent window' and 'move it off the main window'?  If you mean Screenshot Captor's window, it is minimized all the time to systray icon, I do not have any dialogs come up related to screencapturing (it just quietly autosaves).

So, I moved my desired active window away from the other programs' windows.  I put it out over my desktop, which has no wallpaper or other effects, and is set to black background color (though aero is on which has its effect).  

This screenshot has a very small border with the shadow, around the active window, which I assume is the intended result with the default setting.

I tried a few more screenshots, positioning my active window over different windows from various sources.  Some have the big border problem, some have the tiny shadow border.  So yes, you're right -- there must be some difference in handling depending on what window is behind the active window.

[mouser]

depending on what window is behind the active window.

My guess is that the problem occurs when the active window you are capturing is a child dialog owned by the process that it is in front of.

Does that make sense?

[appyface]

I've now tried with a few different child dialogs from various programs, putting them over their own parent window as well as over other windows.  Several of these dialogs did not have the border problem at any time, even over their own parent windows.

But yes, when the problem does show up, it so far seems 100% true that it will only happen when the child is over its own parent window.

[mouser]

Ok I'm going to try a fix for this.

[Mattes57]

Though this thread is rather old, I would like to "re-open" it, because I'm experiencing the same with Windows 8.1
With default settings, I get the frame around the active window shot (Screenshot 1)
When de-activating all Options under Preferences-->Windows Capture 1/2, I get the Windows Vista/7 window close "X", not the Metro one (shot 2).
Using another screenshot tool (yes I confess), I get a proper image (shot 3).

What are the correct settings?????

[mouser]

I think if you just uncheck that option on "Window Capturing 1" that says "Try to capture Aero Glass", it should work just like the 3rd screenshot.
I'm trying to think what would have caused it to give you the Vista look in screenshot 2.. i wonder if one of the odder options you changed caused that..

If you capture entire screen, you get proper Metro look right?  In that case there is no reason that SC shouldn't be able to give you the same look at screenshot 3 if you turn off the attempt to grab transparency..

[Mattes57]

When I only uncheck capturing Aero Glass effect, and leaving default option in "Window Cpaturing 2", I get the same as in shot 2.

Yes, capturing the entire screen gives proper Metro look.

P.S. would it help to send you some .ini file? (I'm using the portable version of SSC) ?

[mouser]

sure, send it over ([email protected]) -- i might be able to set up a metro virtual machine i can try.

[mouser]

I'm thinking that maybe a solution to this is for me to try to detect when a CHILD window is in front of it's parent window, and in those cases, not try to do the transparency capture.