Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

PrintScreen directly to file?

102 views
Skip to first unread message

Joerg

unread,
May 13, 2013, 8:18:38 PM5/13/13
to
Hi Folks,

This week I'll have to do a ton of PrintScreen copies because the
software I am using doesn't have much in terms of graphical storage
functions. So far the drill is:

1. CTRL-PrintScreen
2. Click into graphics software window
3. Paste into a graphics software
4. File -> Save As
5. Type name (usually doesn't have auto-increment)
6. Go back to application

Needless to say this costs a lot of time if it has to be 100-200 times
in a row.

There are lots of programs that do PrintScreen to file but hard to say
which ones are really robust. I need one for XP and if it had an
auto-increment function plus true bitmap storage that would be great. It
doesn't have to be free, but good and of course virus-free.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Jim Thompson

unread,
May 13, 2013, 8:22:44 PM5/13/13
to
On Mon, 13 May 2013 17:18:38 -0700, Joerg <inv...@invalid.invalid>
wrote:
I use...

http://getgreenshot.org/

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson | mens |
| Analog Innovations | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

lang...@fonz.dk

unread,
May 13, 2013, 8:25:51 PM5/13/13
to

Joerg

unread,
May 13, 2013, 8:33:56 PM5/13/13
to
Jim Thompson wrote:
> On Mon, 13 May 2013 17:18:38 -0700, Joerg <inv...@invalid.invalid>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Folks,
>>
>> This week I'll have to do a ton of PrintScreen copies because the
>> software I am using doesn't have much in terms of graphical storage
>> functions. So far the drill is:
>>
>> 1. CTRL-PrintScreen
>> 2. Click into graphics software window
>> 3. Paste into a graphics software
>> 4. File -> Save As
>> 5. Type name (usually doesn't have auto-increment)
>> 6. Go back to application
>>
>> Needless to say this costs a lot of time if it has to be 100-200 times
>> in a row.
>>
>> There are lots of programs that do PrintScreen to file but hard to say
>> which ones are really robust. I need one for XP and if it had an
>> auto-increment function plus true bitmap storage that would be great. It
>> doesn't have to be free, but good and of course virus-free.
>
> I use...
>
> http://getgreenshot.org/
>

... and I shall try that. Thanks!

Joerg

unread,
May 13, 2013, 8:34:00 PM5/13/13
to
I had found that but this turned me off "You can code something pretty
simple" :-)


> http://sdaaubckp.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/sdaaubckp/xp-take-screenshot/
>

This site doesn't answer right now.

Jim Thompson

unread,
May 13, 2013, 8:36:51 PM5/13/13
to
On Mon, 13 May 2013 17:33:56 -0700, Joerg <inv...@invalid.invalid>
wrote:
PrtScr (no Ctrl required) goes straight to save as file, then to print
hardcopy, if desired.

lang...@fonz.dk

unread,
May 13, 2013, 8:48:21 PM5/13/13
to
On May 14, 2:34 am, Joerg <inva...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> langw...@fonz.dk wrote:
> > On May 14, 2:18 am, Joerg <inva...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> >> Hi Folks,
>
> >> This week I'll have to do a ton of PrintScreen copies because the
> >> software I am using doesn't have much in terms of graphical storage
> >> functions. So far the drill is:
>
> >> 1. CTRL-PrintScreen
> >> 2. Click into graphics software window
> >> 3. Paste into a graphics software
> >> 4. File -> Save As
> >> 5. Type name (usually doesn't have auto-increment)
> >> 6. Go back to application
>
> >> Needless to say this costs a lot of time if it has to be 100-200 times
> >> in a row.
>
> >> There are lots of programs that do PrintScreen to file but hard to say
> >> which ones are really robust. I need one for XP and if it had an
> >> auto-increment function plus true bitmap storage that would be great. It
> >> doesn't have to be free, but good and of course virus-free.
>
> >> --
> >> Regards, Joerg
>
> >>http://www.analogconsultants.com/
>
> > this:http://stackoverflow.com/questions/158151/how-can-i-save-a-screenshot...
>
> I had found that but this turned me off "You can code something pretty
> simple" :-)

scroll or search for InterceptCaptureScreen.exe

>
> >http://sdaaubckp.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/sdaaubckp/xp-take-screens...
>
> This site doesn't answer right now.
>

I tried it, it worked

-Lasse

Joerg

unread,
May 13, 2013, 9:06:59 PM5/13/13
to
Just tried it. Muy excellente! It doesn't have auto-increment but it
does do time-stamping which works just as well.

Joerg

unread,
May 13, 2013, 9:08:03 PM5/13/13
to
Thanks, probably just something stuck in the backbones out here. Anyhow,
I loaded Jim's suggestion and it works perfectly.

Jim Thompson

unread,
May 13, 2013, 9:14:33 PM5/13/13
to
On Mon, 13 May 2013 18:06:59 -0700, Joerg <inv...@invalid.invalid>
Glad you like it. I've been using it for about two years now. Every
new project seems to require a new tool... the Long Island stint two
years ago provoked Greenshot and GetData Graph Digitizer.

tm

unread,
May 13, 2013, 10:25:07 PM5/13/13
to

"Jim Thompson" <To-Email-Use-Th...@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote in
message news:is33p8pecmagtgk2k...@4ax.com...
Nice. Thanks for the tip.

tm

Jamie

unread,
May 13, 2013, 10:54:11 PM5/13/13
to
I have one I wrote, it's on my site. I use it for stealing icons
(images) from websites or where is on the screen.. It has a cropping
feature so you'll get what you want, not the whole screen, but you can
take the whole screen if you wish.
It sits on the task bar so all you do is click it and it makes a snap
shot of what you have in full screen, you select what you need then
process it.

I could always be a nice guy and make one that auto increments for
you :)
It's been a while since i've looked at it and I don't remember if I
made a auto increment file name or not? But it could be done very
easy.

I just checked, it does have auto increment for file save.


http://webpages.charter.net/jamie_5/stealit.exe

There is no installer, just put it in a folder where you are allowed
to write in.


Jamie

Martin Brown

unread,
May 14, 2013, 2:32:57 AM5/14/13
to
Not a recommendation for a printscreen to file, but a suggestion for a
much better workflow that will make your life more bearable.

CTRL-Printscreen
ALT-tab
CTRL-V
ALT-tab

This is for Paintshop Pro and gives files called Image1,Image2....
Syntax for IrFanview (recommended free image program) is same but the
latter does not autosave by default.

Repeat ad nauseam and the imaging application should automatically
increment the file number for you. Then when you are done save all files
automatically (some programs will offer to do this for you when you try
to exit but check with a small number of open files first!).

Also this way you can save them all as lossless compressed PNG or
something equally compact rather than as bloated Dozey BMP

The exact paste-as-new-image magic key chord varies between application
slightly but is usually CTRL-v or CTRL-V or SHIFT-Insert

If you are any good at all at typing this is all pretty quick.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

Joerg

unread,
May 14, 2013, 10:05:34 AM5/14/13
to
Thanks, Jamie, that is very kind. But I've got a solution using the same
SW as Jim. Nice thing is you can re-configure it fast via the Windows
tool bar if you need the copy action to change.

No auto-increment but time stamps. Meaning a little more scribbling on
the note pad and, unfortunately, the Windows desktop shows only hours
and minutes but not seconds.

Joerg

unread,
May 14, 2013, 10:08:17 AM5/14/13
to
I'll try PNG one more time today. PNG works great for CAD here but in
screen shots I saw degradation. The BMP file will only be there for a
couple of days, then they either get converted, pulled into reports, or
deleted. Less than 2MB per file.

Martin Brown

unread,
May 14, 2013, 10:14:38 AM5/14/13
to
On 14/05/2013 15:08, Joerg wrote:
> Martin Brown wrote:
>> On 14/05/2013 01:18, Joerg wrote:
>>> Hi Folks,
>>>
>>> This week I'll have to do a ton of PrintScreen copies because the
>>> software I am using doesn't have much in terms of graphical storage
>>
>> If you are any good at all at typing this is all pretty quick.
>>
>
> I'll try PNG one more time today. PNG works great for CAD here but in
> screen shots I saw degradation. The BMP file will only be there for a
> couple of days, then they either get converted, pulled into reports, or
> deleted. Less than 2MB per file.

What is probably happening is that you have PNG set to save images as
paletised 8bit (256 colour) images (great for PCBs and schematics).

This can play havoc with fancy pastel shaded GUIs on modern displays.
There should be an option for 24bit RGB PNG saving somewhere. Also most
all quantisers are exceptionally dumb about images where there are less
than 256 colours to begin with.

I tripped over a similar problem with bad quantisers last month
generating some demonstration test piece images. I went around the loop
twice because I could not believe my eyes when I did it the first time!

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

Joerg

unread,
May 14, 2013, 1:44:37 PM5/14/13
to
Jim, how do you make that dreaded "Exported to: ..." Windows blurb not
show up?

Jim Thompson

unread,
May 14, 2013, 1:49:49 PM5/14/13
to
On Tue, 14 May 2013 10:44:37 -0700, Joerg <inv...@invalid.invalid>
I'm not seeing that. How are your preferences set up? I'm using
WinXP, are you perhaps using something later?

Joerg

unread,
May 14, 2013, 3:01:44 PM5/14/13
to
Aha, thanks. That was it, turned off "notifications" and the blurb is gone.

XP here as well. Last known good Windows-OS.

Joerg

unread,
May 14, 2013, 3:03:08 PM5/14/13
to
Notification is very practical. But I'll never understand why
programmers make them permanent. It would be so much better if they show
up for 2-3 seconds and then vanish.

Jim Thompson

unread,
May 14, 2013, 3:17:30 PM5/14/13
to
On Tue, 14 May 2013 12:01:44 -0700, Joerg <inv...@invalid.invalid>
There's rumors that XP may be "resurrected" from the dead ;-)

Martin Brown

unread,
May 14, 2013, 3:25:22 PM5/14/13
to
It's because they are quite often egotistical megalomaniacs.
Believe me - managing a large team of programmers is like herding cats.

My useless info message is far more important than anything else and the
entire machine must freeze stone dead until you acknowledge it.
(and I am only partly joking here - I have seen it happen!)

It isn't that uncommon even today to get a hidden "helpful" info message
that locks up a web browser more or less completely.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

Jim Thompson

unread,
May 14, 2013, 3:33:25 PM5/14/13
to
Having worked a lot with my son, getting him to write me useful
executables... I think the main problem is that programmers of
software are not USERS of software.

I have to harass him continuously about such annoyances.

So he gets even by hiding in his documentation comments like, "This
routine inserted because Jim Thompson is too lazy to click 'OK' " ;-)

Martin Brown

unread,
May 14, 2013, 3:34:54 PM5/14/13
to
On 14/05/2013 20:17, Jim Thompson wrote:
> On Tue, 14 May 2013 12:01:44 -0700, Joerg <inv...@invalid.invalid>
> wrote:
>

>> Aha, thanks. That was it, turned off "notifications" and the blurb is gone.
>>
>> XP here as well. Last known good Windows-OS.

Not quite. Win7 pro 64bit is much better for big problems and you get an
XP virtual machine sub licence. You might also want to harvest the
license keys from any XP machines you own for future use before
scrapping old hardware. Waste not want not and XP is quite good.

I'd suggest getting a Win7 copy while you still can as an investment.

Win8 is worth avoiding until they sort it out for desktop use.

> There's rumors that XP may be "resurrected" from the dead ;-)
>
> ...Jim Thompson
>
Certainly there is a lot of scientific instrumentation that will not run
on anything more recent and will have to be totally isolated from
corporate LANs when MS finally do stop doing security updates for it.

I think MS is probably determined to kill XP this time round if only to
spite all the users that have been spitting on the grave of Win8.

The release of Win8 and associated hype has catalysed some recalcitrant
corporates to finally upgrade to Win7 while they still can!

Even numbered 'Doze versions are best avoided Vista was never much cop.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

Joerg

unread,
May 14, 2013, 3:35:09 PM5/14/13
to
Martin Brown wrote:
> On 14/05/2013 20:03, Joerg wrote:
>> Joerg wrote:
>>> Jim Thompson wrote:
>>>> On Tue, 14 May 2013 10:44:37 -0700, Joerg <inv...@invalid.invalid>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Jim, how do you make that dreaded "Exported to: ..." Windows blurb not
>>>>> show up?
>>>> I'm not seeing that. How are your preferences set up? I'm using
>>>> WinXP, are you perhaps using something later?
>>>>
>>>
>>> Aha, thanks. That was it, turned off "notifications" and the blurb is
>>> gone.
>>>
>>> XP here as well. Last known good Windows-OS.
>>
>> Notification is very practical. But I'll never understand why
>> programmers make them permanent. It would be so much better if they show
>> up for 2-3 seconds and then vanish.
>
> It's because they are quite often egotistical megalomaniacs.
> Believe me - managing a large team of programmers is like herding cats.
>

Well, the folks that did this screen print software must be very good
programmers.


> My useless info message is far more important than anything else and the
> entire machine must freeze stone dead until you acknowledge it.
> (and I am only partly joking here - I have seen it happen!)
>
> It isn't that uncommon even today to get a hidden "helpful" info message
> that locks up a web browser more or less completely.
>

The worst so far was Mnenhy, the routine that supposedly makes these
dreaded links to Usent posts functional (but didn't work). Even after
uninstalling I found it had royally screwed up Thunderbird. Since then I
can no longer print emails without a big fat source header. The display
is also messed up, big time.

Joerg

unread,
May 14, 2013, 3:37:29 PM5/14/13
to
Would not surprise me one bit. Except maybe (to some extent) Win7 MS
appears to have screwed up all OS'es after XP. I will absolutely
positively not buy a machine with Win8 on there.

They should stop chasing Apple and become innovative again.

Martin Brown

unread,
May 14, 2013, 3:51:28 PM5/14/13
to
On 14/05/2013 20:35, Joerg wrote:

> uninstalling I found it had royally screwed up Thunderbird. Since then I
> can no longer print emails without a big fat source header. The display
> is also messed up, big time.

&View &Headers &Normal

Ought to cure that. Thanks though - saves me trying that.
I still haven't found a decent regex parser for Thunderbird.
It is the only thing I *really* miss from good old Turnpike.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

Martin Brown

unread,
May 14, 2013, 3:56:27 PM5/14/13
to
On 14/05/2013 20:37, Joerg wrote:

> They should stop chasing Apple and become innovative again.

They (and Apple) are running scared of Android. I bought a toy Android
7" tablet to give my parents as an oversized Skype smartphone. It was
only �55 and actually worked a heck of a lot better than I expected.

So good in fact that it was up to the task! I had only bought it as a
sacrificial toy to figure out if the idea was likely to be workable
expecting to have to pay real money for something that would work...

There are some real lemons out there but some gems as well.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

Jim Thompson

unread,
May 14, 2013, 4:16:33 PM5/14/13
to
On Tue, 14 May 2013 12:37:29 -0700, Joerg <inv...@invalid.invalid>
Innovative? Didn't that stop with WinNT ?? Nothing since but pizzazz
that gets in the way of productivity. As you say, Gates is trying to
emulate Apple... appeal to the Twitter crowd :-(

Joerg

unread,
May 14, 2013, 4:26:07 PM5/14/13
to
Martin Brown wrote:
> On 14/05/2013 20:35, Joerg wrote:
>
>> uninstalling I found it had royally screwed up Thunderbird. Since then I
>> can no longer print emails without a big fat source header. The display
>> is also messed up, big time.
>
> &View &Headers &Normal
>

Tried it but didn't work 100%. Something got messed up but I'll have to
install a new version some day anyhow, and since TB isn't truly
upgradeable it must be a clean slate install.


> Ought to cure that. Thanks though - saves me trying that.


Yup. Mnenhy is IMHO definitely not worth it.


> I still haven't found a decent regex parser for Thunderbird.
> It is the only thing I *really* miss from good old Turnpike.
>

It also can't handle most Outlook stuff and that dreaded winmail.dat.
There are some helper apps for it but none really worked. So I always
need an extra invitation for web meetings :-)

josephkk

unread,
May 17, 2013, 11:27:08 PM5/17/13
to
On Tue, 14 May 2013 12:01:44 -0700, Joerg <inv...@invalid.invalid> wrote:

>
>> I'm not seeing that. How are your preferences set up? I'm using
>> WinXP, are you perhaps using something later?
>>
>
>Aha, thanks. That was it, turned off "notifications" and the blurb is gone.
>
>XP here as well. Last known good Windows-OS.

Their best previous was maybe 98SE. But 7 seems to be OK, just the same i
am loading their XP work alike UI on my W7 machines. The UI is not nearly
as good as XP, especially when XP is twisted hard to "classic".

?-)

Joerg

unread,
May 18, 2013, 10:51:40 AM5/18/13
to
All my computers have XP set to classic. I really don't like all this
softy-softy bonbon color GUI they had initially.

M. Hamed

unread,
May 18, 2013, 1:07:47 PM5/18/13
to
You could also take a look at Autohotkey or Autoit and configure them to do any serious of actions you like. It may involve some script programming,

M. Hamed

unread,
May 18, 2013, 2:32:29 PM5/18/13
to
On Saturday, May 18, 2013 10:07:47 AM UTC-7, M. Hamed wrote:
> You could also take a look at Autohotkey or Autoit and configure them to do any serious of actions you like. It may involve some script programming,

any *series* of actions.

autocorrect + sloppiness

David Eather

unread,
May 18, 2013, 5:58:45 PM5/18/13
to
On Tue, 14 May 2013 10:18:38 +1000, Joerg <inv...@invalid.invalid> wrote:

> Hi Folks,
>
> This week I'll have to do a ton of PrintScreen copies because the
> software I am using doesn't have much in terms of graphical storage
> functions. So far the drill is:
>
> 1. CTRL-PrintScreen
> 2. Click into graphics software window
> 3. Paste into a graphics software
> 4. File -> Save As
> 5. Type name (usually doesn't have auto-increment)
> 6. Go back to application
>
> Needless to say this costs a lot of time if it has to be 100-200 times
> in a row.
>
> There are lots of programs that do PrintScreen to file but hard to say
> which ones are really robust. I need one for XP and if it had an
> auto-increment function plus true bitmap storage that would be great. It
> doesn't have to be free, but good and of course virus-free.
>

Ashampoo Snap 6 works without too much fuss and saves as BMP (bitmap!),
JPG, PNG or PDF. It comes with a 10 day trial that can be extended to 40
days

Joerg

unread,
May 18, 2013, 7:17:09 PM5/18/13
to
Thanks, David, but I already installed Jim's suggestion and used it
during a session on Wednesday. Worked nicely.
Message has been deleted

Spehro Pefhany

unread,
May 25, 2013, 12:24:31 PM5/25/13
to
On Sat, 25 May 2013 08:54:55 -0700, the renowned Fred Abse
<excret...@invalid.invalid> wrote:

>On Sat, 18 May 2013 07:51:40 -0700, Joerg wrote:
>
>> bonbon color
>
>I'd have said "boudoir color".
>
>Software generally has migrated towards the girlie for years.
>
>YECCH!!

Hey, I mostly like the colors and color combinations that the guys and
girls at Apple and Adobe come up with as defaults. Kind of like
letting the better half pick out outfits- I can see it looks better
but don't have the patience to figure out why.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
sp...@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com

Jim Thompson

unread,
May 25, 2013, 1:34:17 PM5/25/13
to
On Sat, 25 May 2013 12:24:31 -0400, Spehro Pefhany
<spef...@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> wrote:

>On Sat, 25 May 2013 08:54:55 -0700, the renowned Fred Abse
><excret...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
>>On Sat, 18 May 2013 07:51:40 -0700, Joerg wrote:
>>
>>> bonbon color
>>
>>I'd have said "boudoir color".
>>
>>Software generally has migrated towards the girlie for years.
>>
>>YECCH!!
>
>Hey, I mostly like the colors and color combinations that the guys and
>girls at Apple and Adobe come up with as defaults. Kind of like
>letting the better half pick out outfits- I can see it looks better
>but don't have the patience to figure out why.
>
>
>Best regards,
>Spehro Pefhany

Last time I went to Men's Wearhouse and let "N" choose what I needed,
it cost me $3K :-(

Spehro Pefhany

unread,
May 25, 2013, 2:34:06 PM5/25/13
to
On Sat, 25 May 2013 10:34:17 -0700, the renowned Jim Thompson
<To-Email-Use-Th...@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:

>On Sat, 25 May 2013 12:24:31 -0400, Spehro Pefhany
><spef...@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> wrote:
>
>>On Sat, 25 May 2013 08:54:55 -0700, the renowned Fred Abse
>><excret...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>>On Sat, 18 May 2013 07:51:40 -0700, Joerg wrote:
>>>
>>>> bonbon color
>>>
>>>I'd have said "boudoir color".
>>>
>>>Software generally has migrated towards the girlie for years.
>>>
>>>YECCH!!
>>
>>Hey, I mostly like the colors and color combinations that the guys and
>>girls at Apple and Adobe come up with as defaults. Kind of like
>>letting the better half pick out outfits- I can see it looks better
>>but don't have the patience to figure out why.
>>
>>
>>Best regards,
>>Spehro Pefhany
>
>Last time I went to Men's Wearhouse and let "N" choose what I needed,
>it cost me $3K :-(
>
> ...Jim Thompson

I'm sure it looked nice, but the real test is when you set the clothes
next to a stack of 150 $20 bills and see which one attracts you more.

Jim Thompson

unread,
May 25, 2013, 3:09:50 PM5/25/13
to
On Sat, 25 May 2013 14:34:06 -0400, Spehro Pefhany
No. The real test is seeing if I can match up the suits, shirts and
ties as she envisioned ;-)

josephkk

unread,
May 26, 2013, 4:00:39 AM5/26/13
to
On Sat, 25 May 2013 08:54:55 -0700, Fred Abse
<excret...@invalid.invalid> wrote:

>On Sat, 18 May 2013 07:51:40 -0700, Joerg wrote:
>
>> bonbon color
>
>I'd have said "boudoir color".
>
>Software generally has migrated towards the girlie for years.
>
>YECCH!!

Perhaps red light district or blue light district (depending on local
nomenclature) colors would be more descriptive.

?-)
0 new messages