Screenshot etiquette

Digital_Trucker · 03-16-08, 03:54 PM

[rant]

I know it's going to sound like a broken record to anyone who's been around for a while, but, IMHO, we need to set some kind of guidelines for posting screenshots. The only rule I think is absolutely necessary is that no one should ever post a screenshot in .PNG or .BMP format. There seem to be quite a few folks using that format lately and it just isn't suitable for viewing on a website.

While many of us have broadband, some of us are still using dialup (or like me don't have the fastest broadband in the world).

Just to give an example, I recently viewed a post with a 640x480 screenshot in png format that weighed in at a "morbidly obese" 1,461,277 bytes. That's a 3 minute 23 second display time on 56K dial up. Using a completely free image editor (Paint.net, there are many others that can be used) that same screenshot converted to jpg format at 95% quality ended up being 100,902 bytes. That's 14.5 times smaller with no loss in quality that's discernible to the human eye. This size could be reduced even further with a lower quality setting without much loss in qulaity, but even at this size it reduces the display time for that picture from almost 3.5 minutes to 14 seconds at dial-up speed.

So, please folks, save yourself some upload time and save us all the download time and convert your screenshots to jpg.

[/rant]

silent killer · 03-16-08, 05:15 PM

well said DT

Syxx_Killer · 03-16-08, 05:20 PM

Finally!

I'm glad you brought this up. This has been a major peeve of mine for a long time. I am on broadband and PNG's just annoy the living hell out of me. They are completely unnecessary. I can only imagine how maddening they are over dial-up.

I wish this could become a sticky or something.

AVGWarhawk · 03-16-08, 05:21 PM

I believe the rules state to post in .jpg only. Please everyone, save some bandwidth and save DT's phone cord. Post in .jpg only and keep them at 800x600.

Torplexed · 03-16-08, 05:28 PM

A lot of digital editing programs like Photoshop have a web optimize feature where you can save a .jpg for the web and knock down it's size to some degree at a small trade-off in quality. I'm really not sure what .pngs are useful for.

skwasjer · 03-16-08, 05:45 PM

fyi,

the PNG-spec also supports compression but unfortunately not many user agents (ie. browsers, etc) do. Also PNG-format allows to keep editing information intact (vector graphics, layers, etc). If a PNG-file would only contain vector graphics, even uncompressed it would be considerably smaller than a JPG.

Now that we've got that out of the way, for screenshots the only format to use imo is indeed JPG, simply because it's easy, widely supported and it's compression is perfect for the job.

THE_MASK · 03-16-08, 05:55 PM

Sorry , i forgot to convert my last picture from png tp jpg .

03-16-08, 03:54 PM	#1
Digital_Trucker Silent Hunter Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: The Peach State Posts: 4,171 Downloads: 141 Uploads: 10	Screenshot etiquette [rant] I know it's going to sound like a broken record to anyone who's been around for a while, but, IMHO, we need to set some kind of guidelines for posting screenshots. The only rule I think is absolutely necessary is that no one should ever post a screenshot in .PNG or .BMP format. There seem to be quite a few folks using that format lately and it just isn't suitable for viewing on a website. While many of us have broadband, some of us are still using dialup (or like me don't have the fastest broadband in the world). Just to give an example, I recently viewed a post with a 640x480 screenshot in png format that weighed in at a "morbidly obese" 1,461,277 bytes. That's a 3 minute 23 second display time on 56K dial up. Using a completely free image editor (Paint.net, there are many others that can be used) that same screenshot converted to jpg format at 95% quality ended up being 100,902 bytes. That's 14.5 times smaller with no loss in quality that's discernible to the human eye. This size could be reduced even further with a lower quality setting without much loss in qulaity, but even at this size it reduces the display time for that picture from almost 3.5 minutes to 14 seconds at dial-up speed. So, please folks, save yourself some upload time and save us all the download time and convert your screenshots to jpg. [/rant] __________________ RSM-GIEP-Killflags-LV Tribute-Playable Elco __Peace be with you, Dave.

03-16-08, 05:15 PM	#2
silent killer Soundman Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Kingston Ontario Posts: 141 Downloads: 49 Uploads: 0	screen shot size well said DT __________________

03-16-08, 05:21 PM	#4
AVGWarhawk Lucky Jack Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: In a 1954 Buick. Posts: 28,280 Downloads: 90 Uploads: 0	I believe the rules state to post in .jpg only. Please everyone, save some bandwidth and save DT's phone cord. Post in .jpg only and keep them at 800x600. __________________ “You're painfully alive in a drugged and dying culture.” ― Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road

03-16-08, 05:45 PM	#6
skwasjer The Old Man Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Netherlands Posts: 1,549 Downloads: 28 Uploads: 3	fyi, the PNG-spec also supports compression but unfortunately not many user agents (ie. browsers, etc) do. Also PNG-format allows to keep editing information intact (vector graphics, layers, etc). If a PNG-file would only contain vector graphics, even uncompressed it would be considerably smaller than a JPG. Now that we've got that out of the way, for screenshots the only format to use imo is indeed JPG, simply because it's easy, widely supported and it's compression is perfect for the job. __________________ S3D - Silent 3ditor (v0.9.9) - S3D homepage - Open sourced S3D file parser API's - SUBSIM thread SH5 mods: Speech Recognition for SH5 \| Digital UI Clock Tutorials: [TEC] Import/export 3D models to/from game using S3D [TEC] How to work with the model viewer in S3D - VIDEO

03-16-08, 05:20 PM	#3
Syxx_Killer Admiral Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Michigan, USA Posts: 2,387 Downloads: 21 Uploads: 0	Finally! I'm glad you brought this up. This has been a major peeve of mine for a long time. I am on broadband and PNG's just annoy the living hell out of me. They are completely unnecessary. I can only imagine how maddening they are over dial-up. I wish this could become a sticky or something.

03-16-08, 05:28 PM	#5
Torplexed Let's Sink Sumptin' ! Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 5,823 Downloads: 43 Uploads: 0	A lot of digital editing programs like Photoshop have a web optimize feature where you can save a .jpg for the web and knock down it's size to some degree at a small trade-off in quality. I'm really not sure what .pngs are useful for.

03-16-08, 05:55 PM	#7
THE_MASK Ace of the deep . Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 9,226 Downloads: 901 Uploads: 73	Sorry , i forgot to convert my last picture from png tp jpg .