Re: Settings for screenshots (Was: reference gnome 2.2 docs (follow up))

[Shaun McCance <shaunm wolfram com>]

On Tue, 2003-07-15 at 05:04, Eugene O'Connor wrote:
> The version of the GDSG that Adrian quotes from is slightly out of date.
> The version at
> http://developer.gnome.org/documents/style-guide/screenshots.html is
> V1.0. The current version of the GDSG in CVS is actually V1.2. This has
> happened because autogeneration is broken (bug 116049).
> 
> GDSG V1.2 says "As far as possible, use the default settings for the
> desktop when you take a screenshot. Include the window frame when you
> take a screenshot of a window." It does not recommend particular themes.
> 
> I agree with Shaun and Andreas that the default settings should be the
> "GNOME default" settings, that is, the settings that apply in the
> tarballs from gnome.org. So, we need to list those "GNOME default" or
> "plain GNOME" settings. Below, I list the settings that happen to be my

Well, I don't think Gnome default should be the final deciding factor. 
Screenshots should basically use defaults, except where changes are
desirable to make the screenshot more readable in documentation.  One
concern is that users seeing screenshots with tons of different themes
are going to be distracted.  Another concern is the general readability
of the documentation.  Things like how quickly the eye can distinguish
parts of a window, or how well you can read text directly above and
below the screenshot without having your eye drawn to the screenshot.

Yet another concern is accessibility.  Screenshots, by their nature,
aren't very accessible.  (Therefore, documentation should really to be
usable without them.)  However, we can try to make the screenshots work
for a fairly large number of people.  Lots of people use larger fonts
because their eyes just aren't that sharp.  I don't think we should use
15pt fonts in the screenshots, but clearly my earlier suggestion of 9pt
was way out of line.  Lots of people need contrast.  I don't think we
should use the High Contrast theme, but if you use a theme with a decent
amount of contrast, it will be generally readable by more people than if
you used a theme with less contrast (Simple, Metal).

The Traditional theme basically wins on all of these points.

> desktop. This is a starting point. Can someone look at a "plain GNOME"
> and tell me what the correct settings for "plain GNOME" are please?
> 
> DEFAULT SETTINGS
> Window manager: Metacity
> Theme: Traditional (That is, Controls: Default, Window Border: Atlanta,
> Icons: Gnome)
> Fonts:
>    Application font: sans 10
>    Desktop font: sans 12
>    Window title font: sans 10
>    Terminal font: sans 12
>    Font Rendering: Best shapes

Are these the Bitstream fonts?  I really think we should consider them
to be the default Gnome fonts.  They're beautiful, and they're released
under a very good license.

And your terminal font isn't monospace?

> Menus and Toolbars: 
>    Button labels: Text Below Icons
>    Toolbars can be detached and moved around: Not relevant to
> screenshots

Sure it's relevant.  It's the difference between whether or not your
toolbar has the little drag handle, which will show up in screenshots. 
It's probably not all that important.

>    Show icons in menus: Selected
> Background:
>    Picture: warped.png
>    Picture Options: Wallpaper
> Contents of the desktop environment:
>    Panels: Menu Panel, bottom edge panel
>    Desktop: user's Home icon, Start Here icon, Trash icon
> Contents of the panels (left-to-right):
>    Menu Panel: GNOME icon, Applications menu, Actions menu, window list
> icon.
>    Bottom edge panel: Main Menu, separator, Nautilus icon, Terminal
> icon, Help icon, Window List applet, Workspace Switcher applet
> Locale: C
> 
> When there are changes to the "plain GNOME" settings, people can mail
> them to me and I will update the list of screenshot settings.
> 
> OTHER SCREENSHOT RECOMMENDATIONS:
> Focus: I agree that windows in screenshots should have focus as far as
> possible.
> Width: The Image Width section of the GDSG specifies a maximum image
> width of 510 pixels
> (http://developer.gnome.org/documents/style-guide/screenshot-4.html)
> Inclusion of relevant information only: If you are taking a screenshot
> of a component of the desktop, take a screenshot of that component only,
> and not of the entire desktop.

Excellent.  :)  Sorry, I didn't see that.

> Window frame buttons: If we agree a window manager and theme for
> screenshots, this is not an issue.

Sure it is.  With Metacity, the theme does not specify the layout of the
buttons, only how they look.  With any theme, I can have my buttons laid
out Windows-style, Mac-style, or however else I like.

> Screen resolution: I'm not sure if it is practical to specify a
> resolution for people to use.

Yes, you're probably right.  Of course, screen resolution shouldn't
matter to the vast majority of screenshots, so it doesn't matter much
anyway.

--
Shaun