NewDeal Hot Tip 1510

Screen Dumper Instructions

Screen Dumper defaults to placing the screen dump on the clipboard. Subsequent screen dumps will replace the item on the clipboard, so remember to Paste the clipboard into an application (NewDraw, Scrapbook, etc.) before making your next screen dump when using the clipboard format.

The information below is also available by clicking the Help item in the Screen Dumper.

The following keystrokes are recognized by Screen Dumper when the system is running normally:

CTRL+SHIFT+TAB

Freezes the screen and causes Screen Dumper to pay attention to the function keys as commands. No further input is passed to any application or the UI. The pointer may be freely moved around the screen (but not onto another screen) and will be brought back to its starting point when the screen is thawed.

SHIFT+PRTSCR

Creates a dump of the entire screen on which the pointer is currently located. Does not remove the pointer image first.

The following keystrokes are recognized only after the screen has been frozen with CTRL+SHIFT+TAB:

Esc

Thaws the screen without dumping any piece of it.

F1

Bring up the main parameters box again after it's been banished, in case you need to change any of the dumping parameters.

F2

This is currently inactive.

F3

Dumps the window under the pointer after removing the pointer from the screen.

F4

Dumps the window under the pointer, leaving the pointer image on the screen.

F5

Shows the current dump rectangle. The rectangle remains on screen, where it can be moved or resized by means of the numeric keypad, until a dump is made or the screen is thawed.

F6

Dump the current rectangle. If the rectangle is currently showing, it is removed first. Note, however, that the rectangle need not have been on screen for this command to work. If the rectangle is not showing, the rectangle as it was last displayed will be dumped, allowing you to create a succession of screen dumps of the same area of the screen.

F7

This is currently inactive.

F8

Dumps the entire screen in the same manner as SHIFT+PRTSCR.

It's easiest to use the mouse to define the dumping rectangle. After freezing the screen with CTRL+SHIFT+TAB, simply drag a rectangle with the left mouse button. If you don't like the result, drag a different rectangle.

When the dumping rectangle is displayed on the screen, the numeric keypad is also activated to move and resize it. The rectangle is moved by typing one of the numbers on the eight compass points (for example, typing 9 on the keypad will cause the rectangle to move up and to the right one pixel). The motion can be magnified by modifying the keypad key with the ALT key: for example, ALT+9 will move the rectangle up and to the right 8 pixels.

If SHIFT is typed with one of the keypad keys, the rectangle is enlarged in that direction, rather than moved: Shift+6 will enlarge the rectangle to the right one pixel. Again, ALT can be used to enlarge the rectangle by 8 pixels.

If CTRL+SHIFT is typed with one of the keypad keys, the rectangle is shrunk from that direction: CTRL+SHIFT+4 will reduce the rectangle by one pixel on its left side. Adding the ALT modifier will shrink the rectangle by 8 pixels instead of 1.

The dumping rectangle can also be brought up/resized using the mouse. Clicking and dragging with the left mouse button will place one corner of the rectangle where you clicked and allow you to resize the rectangle in any direction. When you release the button, the rectangle will remain on-screen for you to fine tune with the keypad, as necessary. Clicking and dragging with the right mouse button uses the previous anchor point but allows you to resize the rectangle as you wish.

Video Modes and Screen Dumper

Screen Dumper will only create PostScript, EPS, PCX, or TIFF files if you are using a 16-color video driver. Change your video driver in Preferences, Video. If you use a video driver with higher color resolution, you can capture the screen to the clipboard, then paste into NewDraw and export to any of the image formats supported by NewDraw.

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Last Modified 2 Mar 1999