Taking screenshots

Screenshots can be useful when it comes to explaining something for example an error or showing a map error in the game. It would save time having to explain the problem, instead you would just be able to give a visual representation of it.

Helpful Keyboard Shortcuts and Tools

To take screenshots, you can press "F9" button. Image will be saved in "ScreenShot" folder in main PWO folder. You can also use commands that can vary depending on the operating system.

Windows (pre-Vista)

Press the Print Screen button at the top of your keyboard. It is located directly after the F12 key and directly above the Insert key (Insert is found above the arrow keys). This will take a picture of your entire screen, which you may then paste into MSPaint, Photoshop, or any other photo editing/manipulating program of your choice. Once you do that, save the image in either .jpg, .gif, .bmp, or .jpg format. Just like with Macintosh computers, suggested formats are .jpg or .png. The keys are highlighted in the image on the right.

Here's a useful trick: if you make sure PWO is the active window, you can hold Alt while you press Print Screen button, then you will take a picture of just PWO, instead of the entire screen. Alt + Print Screen takes a screenshot of only the ACTIVE window - in other words, the program you are using right now. It doesn't work for every program, but it works for most, including PWO. (These both work on Vista too, but the below steps are recommended instead)

Windows Vista, 7, 8, 10 - Snipping Tool

Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 10 users can make use of the Snipping Tool. To find the Snipping tool in Vista it is usually located on the start bar. The tool allows you to save the images in .jpg or .png format. You can take a free-form snip, rectangular snip, window snip and a full-screen snip.

Windows 7

The snipping tool can be found in Windows 7 by:

1. Opening the start menu
2. Click on 'All Programs'
3. Click to expand folder 'Accessories'
4. Open 'Snipping Tool'

Windows 8

To find the snipping tool in Windows 8:

1. Hold down the Windows key and press 'F'
2. Select 'everywhere' on the filter
3. Type and click on 'Snipping Tool'

Windows 10

The snipping tool can be found in Windows 10 by:

1. Opening the start menu
2. Click on 'All Apps'
3. Click on a letter and then click on 'W' or scroll down the list to 'W'
4. Click to expand folder 'Windows Accessories'
5. Open 'Snipping Tool'

Windows 10 - Snip

Please be aware that Snip is currently in preview

Snip is an app available to download from the Microsoft Store. Users have the option of opening Snip by Hotkeys, the Taskbar and the Toolbar. Snip allows you to take a screenshot of a specific window (hover over the window and click) or a specific area of your screen (click and drag your mouse). Once a screenshot is saved within your library - you are able to save, share, copy and edit. You are also able to annotate your snip with a pen and highlighter which allows the snip to be saved or uploaded as an mp4 video.

Macintosh

If you want to take a screenshot of the whole of your screen then press Command, Shift, and 3 all at once. To take a screenshot of a selected area, just use Command, Shift and 4. You can them drag the mouse to select the area where you want. When you hear the sound of a camera snapping a picture, you know you've done it right. You should find that the screenshot saves straight to your desktop. On a Mac, images are saved as a PNG file. You can change this by opening them in Photoshop or any other photo editing/manipulating program, and saving it in either .jpg, .gif or .bmp format. Suggested formats are .jpg or .png. (On a side note, if you press down the control key at the same time you press the other three, it will copy the image to the clipboard instead, making it possible for you to simply paste the image into your photo editing program. You can skip a step this way.)

Lightshot

Lightshot is an easy to use application that you can download for Windows/Mac. You can take a screenshot, instantly edit the screenshot and copy, upload or save.

1. Download the app from http://app.prntscr.com/
2. Press 'Prt Scr' on your keyboard.
3. Select the area on the screen that you need.
4. Edit the image using the tools given, if needed.
5. Choose whether u want to Upload, Copy or Save it.

Hosting

Now that you have your image ready to upload, we need a way to host it on the internet. There are many websites that feature free use of this type of function, but the most popular ones are Imgur, Photobucket and Imageshack. Below we will cover how you can host screenshots from these three sites. If you wish to use the screenshot on the wiki, the wiki has its own image hosting area that can be found by clicking on 'Upload file' on the left.

Lightshot

When you choose to upload an image via lightshot, the image is automatically uploaded on Imgur and you get a link to the image. This link cannot be used directly though, since it has a lightshot frame. Simply right click on the image and select 'Copy Image URL' and you will have the link to the image.

Please note: The following steps are based on you having an account with both sites

Imageshack

• Once you login to Imageshack click on 'Upload image' on the right hand side and then 'Browse' once the box comes up. You don't have to checked any of the boxes. You can only select one image of which you then click on 'Open'. Then click on 'Upload'.
• Once uploaded click on the little 'i' next to the image and then copy the direct link.

You can also upload without to Imageshack without an account.

• Looking at Imageshack, you should notice two things: There is a "Browse" button, and there is a "Host it" button. First, you need to press the "Browse" button to find the image file you would like to upload. In this case, I want to upload a picture of Sydney, Australia (which comes stock in my computer). So I click the Browse button and find my picture.

• After you have your picture, press "Open", and then press the "Host it" button I mentioned earlier. At this point, Imageshack may give you a pop-up or open up a new tab with an advertisement in it. Just close this, or if you are feeling charitable, visit the website. Either way, it will take you to a screen that looks like this

• If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you'll find a link called "Direct link to image". This is the URL that you want to copy. Once you do that, move on to the final step

Photobucket

• Click on 'Upload images & videos' and find the file that you want to upload then click open. To upload more than one file just select the files while holding down the CTRL key.
• Once the image has finished uploading, you will redirected to another page. Click on Save & Get Links and then you copy the direct link.

Adding to forum posts

For the forums: Once you have the link to the image, you will be able to add your images onto the forums. There are two ways of adding images: either using BBCode the 'insert image' button.

BBCode: Insert your direct link between the [img] and [/img] brackets.

For the 'insert image' button Click on the button and then insert the direct link into the box and click on 'insert image'.

Tip: Whatever you decide to do to get your image into your post, you'll want to hit the Preview button at the bottom of the page to make sure your images look correct in your post. As a general rule of thumb, if you are going to post a large image, it's best to choose the link at the top of the Imageshack page called "Thumbnail for forums". If there are multiple options, always look for the one with the lower case "img" tags, as they tend to be more universally applicable than the upper case ones are. If your image will stretch the screen, please re-size it.

Uploading images to the Wiki

For the wiki there are two ways of posting images. Either by using the image importer or inserting some HTML.

To upload pages to the wiki, use the image uploader here. The link to the uploader can be found towards the left under 'Tools'.