Very basic questions about image capture

[DanStrassberg]

I am brand new to IrfanView--just installed V4.10.
I can't find the answer to my questions in the help file or the FAQ. I have the impression that the author of the help file felt the answers were so obvious he did not want to insult the readers by providing the information. Please don't be afraid of insulting me!
1. Is ALT+Up Arrow a legitimate selection for capture hotkey? I made the mistake of changing from the default and can't get back to it.
2. If ALT+Up Arrow is no good for some reason, please explain how I can restore the capture hotkey default.
3. I would like to be able to define an area to capture by drawing a rectangle around it. Although I sometimes am able to draw a rectangle around part of the screen, I don't think IrfanView is what is enabling me to do so. Will IrfanView allow me to define the area I want to capture in this manner or am I limited to choosing between the foreground application window or the entire screen?
4. I have had zero luck saving anything I capture, which may mean that I have not yet succeeded in capturing anything. So what could I be doing wrong?
5. If I can capture an image of a portion of the screen or the full screen and I choose the option to display the captured image (as opposed to the option to automatically save the image to a pathname that I enter), how do I save the image after I have viewed it?
Thank you in advance for for your help.

[matera]

Alt + UP arrow is fine, I just tested it to make sure.
Unless, of course, it does something with a window you want to shoot at... You can restore the original by clicking in the Hotkey box in the capture dialog and pressing Ctrl and F11 together. Voila, restored.

Very basic steps to make a screen capture:

1. Open IrfanView

2. Press the C key on your keyboard.

3. Change any options that you would like to.

4. Click the "Start" button on the capture dialog window. IrfanView will disappear.

5. Press your hotkey combination.

6-A: If you have "Show captured image in main window" checked, the window will pop back up with your screenshot in it. Now you have to save it. Use "Save As" and give it a name and browse to a folder where you want to save it.

This is probably the best way to do it until you are more familiar with all the options. It also lets you give meaningful names to the shots right away.

6-B: If you have chosen to have images automatically saved, you will have to have picked a folder to save them in before starting (Start button) the capture. Then, when you press the hotkeys, the image will be saved.

You can take multiple screenshots without opening the dialog again in either case, but with the "Show" option you have to save each one individually.

And no, there is no way to select an area on the screen when shooting. Just the bare basics of windows or the whole shebang. However, it is easy enough to crop the screenshot before saving if you only want part of it. So you still get to select an area

[Sam_Zen]

Thanks for the nice work, matera, I just came to the same conclusions.
I had to test this too. (I usually do my captures with PSP, because of that missing option of free-cropping any area.)

A thing I'm puzzled about is the fact that the help-file states :
"One hotkey is valid for the duration of current IrfanView session."
While, if I changed the hotkey into 'Ctrl+Alt+F11', the next time I open IV, it's still there. No 'default' apparently.

[matera]

I think that is just misworded. The hotkey setting remains. What it really means to say is that once you have closed the IV window -- ended the session -- the hotkey command will not function until you open the screenshot dialog and create a new session.

[Sam_Zen]

Not puzzled anymore. You're spot on.

[DanStrassberg]

Thanks, folks. Everything seems to be working the way it should now except I have not been able to restore the capture hotkey to CTRL+F11. But it's not a problem because ALT+Up arrow appears to work OK.

[Laurent]

Hi Sam Zen,

A thing I'm puzzled about is the fact that the help-file states :
"One hotkey is valid for the duration of current IrfanView session."
While, if I changed the hotkey into 'Ctrl+Alt+F11', the next time I open IV, it's still there. No 'default' apparently.

It means that once you have hit the hotkey and captured the screen, you can hit it once again to get a new capture, and so on, until IV is closed. No need to enter a new Shift+C.

Laurent

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

3. I would like to be able to define an area to capture by drawing a rectangle around it. Although I sometimes am able to draw a rectangle around part of the screen, I don't think IrfanView is what is enabling me to do so. Will IrfanView allow me to define the area I want to capture in this manner or am I limited to choosing between the foreground application window or the entire screen?

No. For more options such as rectangular selections and scrolling web pages, try FastStone Capture. Version 5.3 is freeware.