Screenshot Tutorial

Aim:

To show you a way to produce screenshots while you are playing MSTS and then publish them to the NERR forums.

Assumptions:

1. You have MSTS in the default location on the C drive of your computer.

2. You have IrfanView (freeware) version 3.95 - that's the one that I have. Other versions will not be very different, I guess. You will need to know how to open it.

3. There are lots of other programs that you can use instead of IrfanView, e.g. MSPhotoEDitor, which comes with Windows 98 and XP) - if you can find it!

3. There are other ways of taking a screenshot and posting it to the NERR forums - this is one way. You can use Windows Explorer for steps 13 to 18 if you know how to use that program. This tutorial assumes that you have the My Computer (that comes with Windows) showing on your desktop.

4. Where I say 'click' in the tutorial, you might have to double-click - it depends on how your computer is set up. Try a single click first; if that doesn't work, then try a double-click - give it a few seconds before you try the double-click (we are not in a hurry to do this!).

5. You must know how to move through a menu in a Windows dialogue box that shows the drives in your computer. This tutorial assumes that you can find C drive in these menus.

6. This tutorial is written on a computer using WindowsXP Pro. There will be very little difference if you are using WindowsXP Home. If you are using other versions of Windows (for example, ME or 2000 or 98), there will be some differences, but I hope that you will be able to work through those successfully.

7. The guidelines for posting screenshots to the NERR forums include the requirement that they be no larger than 800 x 600 pixels in size. This will enable people to view them without having to scroll their screen from left to right and up and down to see the whole picture - this quickly becomes a nuisance, and many people will not bother.

Steps to follow:

1. In MSTS, take a screenshot - just press the PrtSc(r) key on your computer. When you press the key, the game will stop for a second or two (the time will depend on the speed of your computer system).

If you are running MSTS with the driving aids switched on, I suggest that you switch them off before you press the PrtSc(r) key - it will produce a much better looking picture.

You can take up to 10 screenshots in an MSTS session - then it will overwrite the first ones. MSTS uses only scrgrb 0 to 9 as file names for screenshots. So shift them to another folder somewhere and rename them to suit yourself - e.g. route name and date.

So you have seen a great looking screen, and this is the result:

Now you want to share it with the other members. How do you do that? Follow the steps below!

2. Open IrfanView.

3. Now to find the screenshot file. Click on the File item on the main menu bar in IrfanView. Open C drive. Click on Program Files. A long list of folders will appear.

4. Click on Microsoft Games. The Train Simulator folder will appear in the window, as below.

5. You can find your screenshot file in this folder. It will have a PCX extension (assuming that you have extensions switched on in your Folder Options) - the name will be scrgrb followed by a number.

6. Highlight the file name, as below. The file name will now appear in the small "File name" window, in this case scrgrb2.pcx. If you have the "Preview active" box checked, you will see a thumbnail of your screenshot at the lower left, as well as the size of the picture and the size of the file - in this case, the screenshot is 1024 x 768 pixels and the file size is 1,923,506 bytes.

7. Click on the Open button. You will now see your screenshot in the large window. You can change the size of the display window by using + and - buttons in the little magnifying glasses on the menu bar above your screenshot - doing this does not change the size of the screenshot file! You can see the picture size information on the bottom status bar below the screenshot.

8. Click on the Image menu item on the main menu bar above the screenshot. Highlight and click on the Resize/Resample menu item, as below.

9. The dialogue box below will open. Select the 800 x 600 check button - this is quicker than the alternative method of setting a new size on the left. Click on the OK button at the bottom of the window

10. The size of the picture on the bottom status bar has now changed to 800 x 600.

11. Now to save your file. Select the Save As item in the File menu because you also need to change the file type to be able to post it to the internet forums.

12. The dialogue box shown below will open. We'll save your picture as a JPG file, so click on the drop down menu arrow to the right of the window labelled "Save as type". Select JPG - JPEG files. A dialogue box will open to the right, as below. Change the slider position to show 75. Then click on the Save button back in the "Save Picture As ..." dialogue box. Your picture is now saved into the same folder as the original screenshot file.

13. You can find the file that you have just saved using the My Computer program on your desktop.

14. Click on My Computer and open it.

15. Click on C: and open it.

16. Click on Program Files and open it.

17. Click on Microsoft Games and open it.

18. Click on Train Simulator and open it. Now you will see the picture file that you just saved (scrgrb2.jpg). In the bottom left of the window, you will probably see a thumbnail of the picture, with its dimensions (800 x 600, which is what we wanted it to be) and the file size (91.4Kb, only 5% of the size of the original file). Still a bit large for a screenshot to be posted, but it will do for now. The optimum size for a picture that is posted to an internet forum or website is between 50Kb and 80Kb, especially if your viewers will be on a dialup connection.

19. Now that you know where to find your picture file, go to the NERR forums. Open the Screen Shots forum by clicking on the words.

20. Click on the New Topic button.

21. The following screen opens. You can type in a Subject for your posting, for example "Screenshot Tutorial".

22. Now look below the blank window where you type your message. Click on the Add an Attachment button.

23. An extra section will open. Click on the Browse button.

24. A dialogue box opens. Navigate to the Train Simulator folder as you did before - that is, click on Program Files and then click on Microsoft Games.

25. You can see your file - scrgrb2.jpg. Highlight it and click on the Open button.

26. The dialogue box will close, and you will see that there is now an entry in the Filename window in the "Add an Attachment" section.

27. Click on the Add Attachment button in that section. When the screen finishes refreshing - it might take a minute or two, depending on the size of the picture file - then you can type a message in the main window and then click on the Submit button.

28. Congratulations! You have just posted your screenshot to the NERR forums! If you wait for a minute or so, the screen will refresh and show you your posting with its picture.