I really would of put this in the sim v photoshop or what ever it is called, and it is not to small for the contest,
I personally use the default Screen shot thing, or I use windows to take a screen shot. I then upload to photobucket then resize to what ever I can to meet the x<150kb

Irfanview is your friend.


http://www.irfanview.com/

Irfanview is definately the way to go.

Simply capture the screenshot using the in-game print screen function (By default for FSX I think this is 'v'). Or use print screen key.

Paste/open the screenshot in Irfanview

Use the 'Image' drop down at the top. Resize it. Set it to whatever size you like (the maximum horizontal size is 1024)

Save as jpg.

You should be able to set the size that Irfanview saves it at what size you like. When you select to save as a jpg you should get a box with specific saving qualities. Check the box beside 'Set file size' and then in the box enter the number. The maximum for SimV is 150kb per image, but it is best to set this number lower. It will then select the closest compression rate to this value. Entering 130kb aught to mean it is well within regulations.


Hope this helps.

Archammer wrote on Oct 26^th, 2009 at 3:07pm:

Not sure how some people's kids can afford Photoshop. They must know something I don't.

Anyway, using expensive professional quality software like Photoshop CS3 (or is it CS4 now?) simply for resizing screenshots is much like taking a sledgehammer to crack the proverbial nut. There are plenty of suitable freeware alternatives that cost nothing. You don't need to spend lots of money to enter any competition here.

Archammer wrote on Oct 26^th, 2009 at 5:24pm:



A good point though. I am sure none of use use Photoshop on a professional level consistently. Heck Paint.NET is as good as Photoshop but free and I still see it a bit too much for something as simple as this.

This Topic was moved here from The October ScreenShot Contest! by ShaneG.

Well I guess I got a rise out of a few here. Well let me just nip all this malarkey in the bud right now. I'm glad I'm off today, so I can devote my attention right here, right now.

If my responses are coming across as brooding, or belittling then we'll just have to chalk that up to "lost in translation". So suck it up, and read the content, rather than the tone. It will save all of us a lot of time.

"GIMP, and PSP both try to do what Photoshop does better.

Irfanview is really a viewer and file converter with a few Photoshop features.

Picasa is a great photo organizer, has some pretty neat features for creative manipulation of photos but can not edit parts of an image like Photoshop - just changes the whole image.

Picasa is great for emailing photos and creating CDs with your images, much better and easier than any of the other programs."

That is a direct quote.

Now, back to my opinion.  First, I will dictate how I deliver my opinions, just as you all have.  Do not "advise" me on what you might think you know to be an "appropriate" response. I have used no foul language nor inappropriate verbiage that would warrant this type of response:

Quote:


Just because you give some 12 year old gold member status doesn't make them "knowledgeable" by any stretch of the imagination.
(No offense Hagar, I'm sure that you're very intelligent, I'm making a point.)
I wanted Hagar to SELL us the product he's pitching. Which machineman did for him:
Quote:




So, me trying to keep others from feeding a person with a legitimate issue - with misinformation and dumbfounded answers - should be considered a service.

Greg is attempting to manipulate photography for contest purposes. This requires a program that will give him all of those capabilities and then be able to expand on that. As you can plainly see he's been fed other peoples verbal vomit and it using multiple applications for one purpose and still getting no results. I was showing him the right application for all those things. Being that I've been a professional graphic designer for the better part of 15 years now, that would give me the accumen to deliver that.

So I'll let all you guys marinade with that and see what you do.  Then I'll know your true character.

Archammer wrote on Oct 27^th, 2009 at 1:33pm:

'Editing' is not permitted for the contest, so giving them the world's greatest editing program when they can't use it, goes to waste.

You are only allowed to resize images for the monthly contest... So it makes sense to use a very basic program to do so.

It would be like buying an Alienware computer for the simple task of using the built-in Windows calculator. You may as well just get a normal calculator.

Hagar, I assume the Gold Member comment was aimed at me. I am a gold member whereas you are at platinum level. I am 16 by the way. Age should never come into the argument. There are always people younger than you who can be more helpful. Equally, there are older people who can be more helpful. And of course, you get those who are older than you or younger than you, who provide nothing useful at all. I never look at the date of births of members on the forum unless I specifically want to know when their birthday is, so that I can wish them a happy birthday. I keep age out of the equation as it shows little.

I've had my say. I hope you will understand now how overkill Photoshop is for this issue. Editing is not allowed for the monthly contest. They asked for something to resize. Irfanview does this wonderfully and is highly reccomended by most users. If they were asking for a high end photo and image editing program, then by all means reccomend Photoshop. As I said, Photoshop is far too powerful for such a simple task. Keep it simple.

I'm out.

I had used an older version of photoshop for some time, but now I have converted to irfanview for resizing. I think it is really excellent for compressing pictures without too much loss of quality.

When I resize a picture to 1024 x 640 in irfanview I usually end up with > 90 % quality using the "safe for web" option. I almost never experience any jagged edges using this method.