3. The ScreenCopy GUI explained
The following chapter will explain how to use smartision ScreenCopy.
3.1. The main window
The smartision ScreenCopy main window
Every smartision ScreenCopy session starts with the main window. It consists
of these elements:
File menu
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Save image
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Save the actual screenshot shown in the "last screenshot window" on your
harddisk.
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Settings
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Show the settings dialog.
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Minimize
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Send the application the the system tray. This can be achieved by clicking
the close symbol in the upper right corner of the main window, too.
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Exit
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Quit the program. (Note: Clicking the close symbol in the upper right corner
of the main window does not quit ScreenCopy. See "Minimize" above.)
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Tools menu
Help menu
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Content
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This opens the documentation you are just reading.
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About
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Shows some copyright information about smartision ScreenCopy.
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"Advanced mode" checkbox
You can choose between two different modes of smartision ScreenCopy: Normal and
advanced. If you enable the advanced mode you gain access to the
autoscreenshot feature.
Last screenshot window
This window shows the last screenshot you have taken in a low resolution. If you
have not taken any screenshots yet you will see the smartision ScreenCopy logo
instead.
"Shoot" button
Take a screenshot and store it on your harddisk (or where you want them to be
stored). On success you will see a low resolution version of the screenshot you
have just taken in the "last screenshot window". Alternatively you can take a
screenshot by pressing the key combination you can set up in the
settings dialog.
3.2. The main window in advanced mode
The smartision ScreenCopy main window in advanced mode
In advanced mode you can use the autoscreenshot feature of ScreenCopy. Autoscreenshot
means that you can set up a screenshot intervall and a maximum count of images and
ScreenCopy will then take screenshots automatically until you stop it or the
maximum count of images is reached.
These new controls show up if you switch this mode:
Additional advanced mode controls
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"Intervall (seconds)" input field
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This value (representing seconds) decides how much time will pass until another screenshot
will be taken.
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"Limit images to" checkbox/input field
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If the checkbox is checked ScreenCopy will only take as many screenshots as you
specify in the input field.
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"Start/Stop Autoscreenshot" button
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Start or stop the autoscreenshot process. If you click on "Start Autoscreenshot"
the application will show a timer counting from five to one as the button caption
until the first screenshot will be taken. Instead clicking this button you can
control the autoscreenshot process by pressing the key combination you can set up
in the settings dialog.
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In the lower right corner of the main window right after the "Images made:" label
ScreenCopy will show you how many screenshots have been taken during the autoscreenshot process.
3.3. The settings dialog
This dialog allows you to change the saving, window selection, hotkey, sound, and
image options. If you are content with your changes press the "OK" button. If you are
unsure or do not want to change anything just click on "Cancel" and nothing will be
changed.
3.3.1. Save options
Settings dialog: save options
First option you have is how the saving of screenshots will be handled: Whether every
screenshot you take will be stored on harddisk ("Always save automatically") or only
screenshots taken automatically should be stored ("Save only when using AutoScreenshot").
In the input area below the two radio buttons you can change the filename format that
ScreenCopy will use to store screenshots. There are a few variables that ScreenCopy will
recognize:
Filename format variables
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<%caption>
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Will be replaced with the actual window caption of which a screenshot is taken.
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<%date>
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Will be replaced with the current date.
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<%time>
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Will be replaced with the current time.
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<%num>
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Will be replaced with a unique number.
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In the text area labeled "Example filename" you can check in real time if the
filename and/or path you have set up is/are correct.
3.3.2. Window selection options
Settings dialog: window selection options
Here you can set up the source of your screenshots:
Possible screenshot sources
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Whole desktop
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Screenshots will be taken from the whole desktop including all windows and the
taskbar.
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Use active window
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The screenshot source will be the current active window.
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Use window by caption
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The screenshot source will be the window matching the caption name you can enter
in the text area below. You can use the wildcards ? and * to specify a window
caption. ScreenCopy will then take a screenshot from the first window matching the
criteria. If you enable "Set as foreground window" the selected window will be put
in the foreground when a screenshot is being taken (else it might be hidden behind
some other windows).
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If you want the ScreenCopy window to appear on screenshots you have to remove the small
hook before "Auto hide ScreenCopy window" or else it will be hidden when a screenshot
is being taken.
3.3.3. Hotkey options
Settings dialog: hotkey options
You may want to use the keyboard to control ScreenCopy. The default settings are
"Use hotkeys" enabled, CTRL + F12 to take a screenshot, and CTRL + F9 to start/stop the autoscreenshot process.
If you want to use other key combinations you can specify them here but be aware that
not all combinations might work!
3.3.4. Sound options
Settings dialog: sound options
Every time you take a screenshot you will hear a camera sound effect - of course only
if you have a sound card installed. You have the following choices to decide what you
will hear:
Sound options
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Default camera sound
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This will play the default sound of ScreenCopy.
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None
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Sound effects are disabled.
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Custom sound effect:
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Here you can specify an own sound file that will be played. The sound files
specified must be in WAV format or else ScreenCopy is unable to play them!
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3.3.5. Image options
Settings dialog: image options
Here you have some options that allow you to influence how big the screenshot files
on your harddisk will be.
Bitmap color depth
You can choose between color depths of 1 to 32 bits/pixel. The higher the depth is
the greater will be the resulting bitmap file - but it will also look much better.
Jpeg compression quality
Jpeg images are files containing compressed image information. That means the higher
the compression quality will be the better the compressed image will look. As higher
compression quality means lower compression rate an image needs more bytes of memory
if it is not too much compressed.
Image size
The image size can be specified in percent or pixels, just choose what fits you best.
Keep in mind that the actual size of an image will also influence the size needed to
store it properly.
3.4. The Screenshot Browser window
The Screenshot Browser window
The Screenshot Browser consists of several control elements that will be explained in the
following table:
Screenshot Browser control elements
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"Arrow" buttons
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With these you can browse through all images by jumping to the first/last
image or by going forward/backward by 1/10 images at one step.
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"Goto" button and input field
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If you want to jump to a specific image just enter the number of it and press the "Goto" button.
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"Filename to clipboard" button
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Copies the name of the currently shown image to the clipboard.
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"Open folder" button
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Opens the folder containing the currently shown image.
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"Reload images" button
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Force the Screenshot Browser to reload all images if you changed the image
filter.
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"Stretch image" checkbox
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Make the images fill the whole browser window. This operation actually does not
change the image files because it is performed in the browser memory only.
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"Open" button
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Load and show an image in the Screenshot Browser (an "open" dialog will show up).
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"Save" button
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Store the currently shown image on your harddisk (a "save" dialog will show up).
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"Delete" button and "Confirm" checkbox
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Used to delete an image permanently from your harddisk; be careful because if "Confirm"
is not enabled you will not be prompted to confirm the delete operation!
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"Sort by file name/date" radio buttons
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You can decide how the images will be sorted.
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"Filename filter" checkbox and input field
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Here you can set up a filename filter that will decide what images the Screenshot
Browser will show you. Enable the checkbox and enter a filter in the field next to it;
you can use the wildcards * and ? here to specify filenames.
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"Date filter" checkbox and date selection controls
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These controls also allow you to change the set of shown images. With "Date filter"
enabled you have to select two dates in the date selection controls to the right. The
Screenshot Browser will then only show you screenshots that have been taken between
these two dates.
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The status bar at the bottom of the window shows you how many images there are and at
what image you are looking at currently.
3.5. The HTML Gallery Generator dialog
The HTML Gallery Generator dialog
With the HTML Gallery Generator dialog you can easily create HTML pages containing
text about the screenshots/images shown on these pages. The HTML files will be saved in
the "screenshots" subdirectory of smartision ScreenCopy.
These are the control elements of the generator:
HTML Gallery Generator control elements
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Gallery title input field
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Here you can enter the title of your gallery that will be shown on top of
all created pages. The default title is "Screenshot Gallery".
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"Text before/after:" input fields
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What you type in here will be shown before/after the images on the HTML pages.
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"Max images per page:" input field
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How many images should be shown on a single page.
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"Background Color" input field and color selection control
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Here you can set up the background color of the HTML pages by entering a
color value in the hexadecimal format "#RRGGBB" where the Rs, Gs, and Bs stand for
an appropriate color value (00-FF). You can also just click on the square to the right
of the input field and a color selection dialog will show up where you can pick a color.
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"Image directory:" input field
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Path to the images; the Gallery Generator will use all images found in
the specified directory (subdirectories included) to create the HTML pages.
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"Show gallery after creation" checkbox
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If you put a small hook in the checkbox (done by default) your standard internet
browser program will be called after the gallery is created and the just created
pages will be shown.
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"Create gallery" button
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If you have finished the setup of the gallery just click this button and your gallery
will be created.
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