File Format If you use the 'Prnt Scrn' button, chances are the screenshot you've taken that is either stored in memory or written by the game will be as detailed as you see on the screen. In order to preserve as much of this detail as possible, you will need to either keep the file prepared by the game, or save the screenshot as a BMP file (Open Microsoft Paint, and paste the image stored in memory). BMP files, however, are typically very big. If you save it as a JPG, you will have considerable space savings, but quality will sometimes be reduced compared to the original, even if you set conversion settings to '100% quality'. In general, you may lose some 'sharpness' and have more blurring. However, this is not necessarily disastrous. For example, you may not even notice the change in quality, or you may not care: Compare the detail on the mountain face in the two images below. The one on top was originally a 900K BMP file, while th one on the bottom is the conversion to a 31.2K JPG file. Can you spot the differences? More importantly, which do you prefer? You may not like the sharpness in the original and prefer a slightly blurred but more "organic" look, for instance. (Note that Flickr keeps a snapshot but saves the files as JPG, no matter what, so if you download them from Flickr, you'll see exactly the same image for both. Download them both here instead.)   In the two screenshots below, the difference between the JPG and the BMP is very subtle, so much so that most people need a larger picture to see the difference -- and hence sometimes it doesn't matter. (Note that Flickr keeps a snapshot but saves the files as JPG, no matter what, so if you download them from Flickr, you'll see exactly the same image for both. Download them both here instead.)   Some conversion software will allow you to choose 'Optimal Huffman' encoding. This results in bigger JPEG files (but still smaller than BMP files), but the picture quality is preserved very well, especially if you had set quality to 100% or to use original image quality (these options are all available with the excellent FREE image software, FastStone Image Viewer -- we use it ourselves). For the most part, the screenshots in our galleries have been saved as JPG files in order to save you load times across an internet connection. When you take screenshots yourself, however, especially to make wallpapers for your desktop, you will want to save them as BMP files for maximum quality if you can. If you are maintaining your own gallery, BMP file size can add up in a hurry. You can compress them into ZIP or 7Z format, but accessing them then takes longer. Fortunately, secondary storage is cheap nowadays. Force Better Quality If you are playing an older game, you may occasionally be able to force superior graphics quality from the game, above and beyond what the game designers intended. Typically, you would do this through your video card software, selectively turning off options that say 'Application Controlled' and selecting your own. You can, for example, do this for Dungeon Siege II and receive slightly better quality through superior anti-aliasing, but at a substantial performance cost. You can see the case study here. What To Do If Your Computer is Slow... If you haven't updated your computer in a couple of years, you may actually still be okay taking screenshots from the games we profile. This site is not about advertising the latest games with the latest eye candy: It's more about what you might have overlooked in software you already have as an art resource. So, chances are, the games here will run comfortably on your computer. That said, once you turn on all the graphics bells and whistles, you may find that your computer is sluggish and may show 'lag' or 'stuttering' in certain areas of the game. If you want to preserve as much quality as possible, and maintain the best and highest graphics settings allowable, there are a few things you can do:
 for new, discounted, or used computers. Amazon also frequently has customer comments about merchandise, so you can get word-of-mouth information before making a final decision.Desktops are cheaper and can be customized more easily, but if you're not a techie and not going to tinker with your computer anyway, notebooks can be nearly as powerful, and convenient because they are portable and have less cords to worry about. |  
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