Re: [Usability] Re: Screenshots as videos

[Shaun McCance <shaunm gmail com>]

On Tue, 2005-06-14 at 15:27 -0400, Jonathan Blandford wrote:
> jeroen xs4all nl writes:
> 
> > I don't intend to change the behavior of the (Alt-)PrintScreen keys. That
> > functionality should definitely stay the same. What i intend is to display
> > a dialog like the one i did in glade
> > (http://www.xs4all.nl/~jeroen/screenshots/Screenshot-Screenshot-2.png)
> > when gnome-screenshot is launched without any parameters. The default
> > option would be to take a screenshot of the entire desktop. So if a user
> > wants to take a screenshot of he/she has to do is press ENTER or click the
> > OK button. After that he/she would get the same dialog they now get.
> 
> That's the step I don't want and am arguing against.  Right now, you
> press Printscreen, you get a screenshot.  There's no 'hit Enter' step,
> no confirm what you want.  It's really powerful to be able to have a
> key/action just do something, and this improves the overall desktop.
> Same with Alt-PrintScreen to take the window screenshot.  Any dialog
> that comes up is going to alter the screen (and mouse position, and..)

Just got started on some documentation stuff today, and I want to
revisit this thread, since I don't remember a consensus ever being
reached.

The more I think about it, the more I think having the 'Take Screenshot'
menu item bring up a "What do you want to do?" dialog is the best route.
It can ask you for entire destkop, just one window, or video.  And it
can have a delay option.  Maybe "Screen Capture" would then be a better
word for it.

The Printscreen and Alt+Printscreen keybindings would continue to do
exactly what they do now.  They'd skip the dialog and just take the
screenshot.  It's a damn handy feature.

I have three reasons, one of which is selfish:

1) In order to ensure that I take screenshots with all the default
settings, I have a seperate user on my account.  It's really handy
to be able to run that user's desktop in xnest.  But I can't do the
Alt+Printscreen trick, because my top-level session eats it.  Being
able to do a single window screenshot without a global keybinding
would help me a lot.

2) If you have to click through the menu to get to the screenshot
menu item, chances are your desktop is in not quite the state you
wanted to screenshot.  With the keybindings, your desktop is set,
but with the menu item, you're screwed.

3) The menu item is highly discoverable.  Having those features in
a dialog from that menu item is discoverable.  The keybindings are
not discoverable.  So we can have a handy dialog that lets you do
everything you can do, and that dialog can have quick blurbs that
tell you about the keybindings.  Now the keybindings are actually
discoverable.

( ) Take screenshot of entire screen
    <i>Or use the Printscreen key!!!</i>
( ) Take screenshot of one window
    <i>Or use the Alt+Printscreen key combo!!111</i>
( ) Take video of desktop
    <i>Or hit Ctrl+Alt+Meta+AltGR+Printscreen!!eleventy-one</i>

[ ] Do it after ___ seconds

So, more thoughts on this beaten thread?

--
Shaun