Index

Index:

Intro	Introduction to Otto`s PrtScr

Display	The OPS display and buttonbar

Using	Using OPS

Manage	Managing Snapshots

Printing	Printing

Configuring	Configuring


Introduction

Otto`s PrtScr enhances the built-in screen capture ability of Windows 3.1. When you press PrtScr or Alt-PrtScr Windows places a bitmap image of the screen or active window on the clipboard. Otto`s PrtScr will capture these snapshots and print them for you. You can choose to print from 1 to 6 snapshots on a page. If desired, you can invert text screens when printed.

Prerequisites

Otto`s PrtScr requires Windows 3.1running in Enhanced mode.

Constraints

Sufficient memory to store the screen snapshots until printed. The actual requirements vary with the video mode (VGA, SUPERVGA or True Color)and number of snapshots per page. The printer driver must support StretchDIBits().

Copyright

Otto`s PrtScr is a copyrighted work of Doug Overmyer, 1994.

Distribution Terms

Otto`s PrtScr may be freely used in any non-commercial setting . It may not be distributed in conjunction with any commercial or for-fee product unless prior approval is obtained from the author. Use in a commercial setting must also be arranged with the author.

Disclaimer

You use Otto`s PrtScr entirely at your own risk. Only you can determine its suitability for your configuration and needs. No other warranties are offered or implied.

Notices:

Arts & Letters® is a registered trademark of Computer Support Corporation. CorelDRAW® is a registered trademark of Corel Systems Corporation. GIF is a a registered trademark of CompuServe Inc.


Display
The OPS Display

When OPS starts it restores itself to the last position on the screen. You can start it either as an icon or an open window. If you open the icon, the window looks like this:

The title bar displays the current grid - in this case 2 across by 2 down. This also determines the number of snapshots on a printed page. If OPS is inactive, the title bar reads `: Inactive`;

Below are a row of iconic buttons. The first 6 display graphically the current configuration and status. If a button is empty, it is not used in the current configuration. If it displays a page icon it is storing a snapshot; if the icon is grayed out, it is waiting for a snapshot.

The remaining buttons let you

*Delete all snapshots

*Print/Preview all snapshots

*Get help

There are menu choices that correspond to the toolbar buttons.


Using Otto`s PrtScr
Putting Otto`s PrtScr to Work

Launch the program PRTSCR.EXE however you wish. First time users will want to choose File/Configure... to set the printing margins and the snapshot grid. You can choose these options from either the System Menu or the File menu. The grid you choose determines the number of snapshots stored by OPS before printing. For example, a 2 by 2 grid would store 4 snapshots before printing. For the details on configuring OPS, see the section below.

Taking Snapshots

Once you have selected a grid you can start taking snapshots. Just hit PrtScr to snap the whole desktop and Alt-PrtScr to snap the active window. As each new snapshot is stored the next button on the button bar is activated (as well as the corresponding Page on the Pages menu).

When you have filled the grid ( for example 3 snapshots for a 1 by 3 grid ) OPS starts printing. It pops up a Printer Options dialog box that lets you confirm the printer (and change the orientation using the Options button). Once you choose OK, printing begins. If you wish, you can choose Cancel and go back to work.

While the OPS (and Windows) is at work printing, you can return to other applications. If you try to take more snapshots (NOT a good idea) OPS ignores them.

Whe the print job is over, the current snapshots are deleted from memory and you can start over accumulating snaps.


Managing Snapshots

Managing Snaps

There are a couple of options that let you control the snapshots stored by OPS. You can click the button of an active snapshot to delete that snapshot. If you delete a snapshot in the middle, the following snaps are moved up to fill the gap. Proceeding this way you can delete all the snapshots one by one. If you press the Del button, you delete all the snapshots at one stroke.

Previewing Snaps

To see a preview screen of the currently stored snaps, just click the Printer icon on the toolbar. OPS will zoom to full screen and let you see the snaps. You can use the magnify cursor to enlarge the view. The snaps are captioned with a number that corresponds to their icon. If you see a snapshot you no longer want, cancel the preview and click the icon with the same number. Remember that the other snaps will be moved up to occupy the empty slot.

Deactivating OPS

You can turn off the screen capture by choosing File/Deactive PrtScr. This "unhooks" OPS without closing the application. The title bar changes to read Otto`s PrtScr :Inactive. You can reactivate OPS by choosing File/Activate PrtScr. OPS always starts up active. Right clicking on the title bar/icon also toggles the current state.

Emptying the Clipboard

Under the File menu there is an option to empty the clipboard. In high resolution graphics modes (16 and 24 bit color), the size of a snapshot on the clipboard is often substantial. You can recover this memory if you wish by deleting the clipboard object with this menu option.


Printing

OPS stores snapshots for only one printed page at a time. The grid you establish in File/Configure...  determines the number of snapshots. When you have `filled` the current grid, OPS prints the page.

You can force OPS to print the current page, even if not full, by clicking the Printer icon. You will first see a preview of the printed output. You can then click Print or Cancel as needed.

The individual snapshots are scaled to fit in the grid based on the aspect ratio of the original image- You will have to experiment a bit with the printer orientation to see what works best for a given grid. I find that portrait usually works best with 1x2 and 2x3 grids, while landscape is best with  1x1 and   2x2.

If you click Cancel from the print dialog box, the snapshots are not deleted from memory. You can then add another snapshot, but remember that printing will be based on the current grid regardless of how many snapshots there are.

OPS remembers the printer orientation from session to session. When it starts, it temporarily changes the system printer orientation to match the last session. You can override this setting by using the Setup button in the printer selection dialog box. You can also discover the current orientation by looking at the display in Print Preview. This magic is designed for those who pretty much use one kind of setup and don't wish to configure the printer each time.


OttoSource Configuration
Configuring OPS

Choose File/Configure to set printing and the grid options. You will fill in the following dialog:

OPS stores and prints snapshots based on a grid that you specify (within limits!). You can choose a grid with :

across:	1 or 2 cells

down	1, 2 or  3

 As a result you can print from 1 to 6 snapshots per page.

The margins you set affect the entire page. These margins are specified from the edge of the paper and must be greater than the printer minimum (usually .25 to .5 inch) to have an effect.  For example a left margin of .125 inch is likely to be ignored as the printer minimum (say .25) is greater.

Unfortunately, the only unit of measure for margins is inches (or fractional parts).

You can change the printing grid at any time without losing snapshots. But, if you reduce the number of snapshots on the grid (for example going from a 2x3 grid to a 2x2) and already have a #5 snapshot stored in memory, that fifth snapshot will never print -- unless you change the grid again.

The Invert Bkgnd option changes the way screen shots are captured and printed. When active, the screen shots are converted to monochrome bitmaps at the time of capture. At print time the monochrome images are inverted so that dark become light and vice versa. This rather specialized option helps to print DOS text windows and certain Windows applications emulating text based sessions, such as mainframe terminal emulators.

OPS remembers remembers the printer page orientation that you use from session to session. There is no entry in the Configuration dialog, but whenever you setup the printer the page orientation is remembered.