Take Better Screenshots • Hacker News Board

Re: Take Better Screenshots

#41

Post by owaty » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 3:05 PM UTC

> Spot them all: the URL, the problem, the browser, how many tabs are open on that browser, the fact that this person has an unusual number of Facebook tabs open and probably isn’t overly invested in their job, some other applications that are open, that they leave system credentials in text files on their desktop, the time, the operating system, that they have a serious investment in someone named Alex, and whether the wifi is connected.

And that is precisely why I would crop my screenshot to only the relevant part.

Re: Take Better Screenshots

#42

Post by crispyporkbites » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 3:13 PM UTC

You know what would be helpful? A button in the web browser that the user can click, which creates a full page screenshot and dump of a bunch of helpful data points for debugging (e.g. URL, cookies, history, console logs, network requsets, assets, RAM use, IP address, user agent etc etc.)

Basically a neat way to export a pseudo-stack trace from the application environment with screenshot and all potentially useful info.

Re: Take Better Screenshots

#43

Post by penagwin » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 3:37 PM UTC

exikyut wrote: post #36

progval wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With Javascript disabled, I don't see them at all

With /etc/hosts blocking, I still see them, and I like it. It's like a TV that's gone to ads and then glitches out and the show comes straight back on.

That's what Hulu is like with ublock. It goes to show "ads" but just shows a blank screen, and the countdown goes from 30 seconds to 0 instantly.

Re: Take Better Screenshots

#44

Post by thrower123 » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 4:02 PM UTC

bauerd wrote: post #17

bipson wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Learning to describe your problem. Specific knowledge aside, I am always astonished that people not being able to coherently read and write is getting worse. That's something YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook don't teach I guess?

The two are not exclusive

Exactly - together they make a wonderful synergy.

I die a little inside every time I get a bug report that is just a couple sentences saying that something didn't work.

I also die a little every time I get a bug report that is just an out-of-context downsampled screenshot of some dashboard, where it has been shrunk so the text is not readable, and there is nothing highlighting what the issue is.

I have to really, really fight back the urge to send back a message with nothing but a gif of the Jerry Maguire "Help me help you" scene

Re: Take Better Screenshots

#45

Post by bdcravens » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 4:30 PM UTC

greggman2 wrote: post #26

pjc50 wrote: post #15

The downside of uncropped screenshots is information leakage from e.g. your bookmarks, open tabs, unrelated emails, IM popups etc. Another commentator mentioned annotated screenshots, and now I'm wondering about the "semantic screenshot"; imagine getting a copy of someone's desktop frozen in time with the ability to re-stack windows, check what's currently available on menus, etc.

I turned off the default Username in menu bar on MacOS so I had one less thing to take off my screenshots.

Tangential to screenshots, but when doing presentations, I've taken to creating a second user on my machine to prevent notifications, etc I'd rather not show.

Re: Take Better Screenshots

#46

Post by letsgetsilly » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 4:40 PM UTC

ShareX provides the best windows-based screenshot in my experience.

https://getsharex.com/downloads/

Re: Take Better Screenshots

#47

Post by ASalazarMX » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 4:52 PM UTC

letsgetsilly wrote: post #46

ShareX provides the best windows-based screenshot in my experience. https://getsharex.com/downloads/

For me, Greenshot is the most convenient. Not only you can select what area you want, you can edit the screenshot (proverbial red circle, text, etc.) before saving it.

https://getgreenshot.org/

Re: Take Better Screenshots

#48

Post by johannes1234321 » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 5:04 PM UTC

vthriller wrote: post #25

indentit wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

wow, that's awesome - thanks for sharing! :) I'm surprised it's not more popular though, but I guess it has remained undiscovered like it was for me until now, or it's simply not as useful to others as I would think. Maybe because not all apps are GTK3 apps, or people don't want pdf's because they can't be inlined on a issue ticket like plain old images can, for example?

> people don't want pdf's because they can't be inlined on a issue ticket like plain old images can Well, this module can also produce SVGs, which, I guess, can be inlined in some issue trackers. But, aside from being GTK3-only, the main reason this sort of thing didn't become popular is simply due the fact that even JPEG screenshots are just good enough and get the job done. Virtually nobody has any need to search f…

One Thing where SVG isn't good enough is around fonts - PDF can embed fonts needed, thus produce the "correct" result. SVG probably would pick a different fallback font, which can lead to trouble.

Aside from that: jpeg with compression artifacts works well enough, so that even png, giving better quality, often isn't used by non-technical folks.

And unrelated as an anecdote: The IT hotline at a bank where I once worked asked for screenshots as Word documents (my assumption: "everybody" knows Word and so teaching "press 'Print' on your keyboard and then paste into Word" is relatively reliable teachable via phone ... this went to some level where we as developers got screenshots of sessions containing customer info, where customer details were "hidden" using black bars from Word, which of course could have been removed easily)

Re: Take Better Screenshots

#49

Post by johannes1234321 » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 5:08 PM UTC

egdod wrote: post #33

rcarmo wrote: post #3

This piece is so littered with ads (one per paragraph) that it is impossible to read without an ad blocker.

Why would you even try to read something on the internet without an ad blocker?

Since some people agree to the fundamental "deal" that one receives "free" content for seeing add as well and configure an ad blocker more granular (and maybe the best strategy were that sites with abusive amounts/forms of ads simply lose visitors and attention)

Re: Take Better Screenshots

#50

Post by dwags » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 5:19 PM UTC

Checking out the browsers / desktops of my coworkers when they are sharing screens is fun. We still make fun of one guy who had google bookmarked in chrome.