Capturing Simple Images

You can capture pixel or vector images of the whole screen, or of the whole tab.

This task shows you how to:

Before you begin: The currently active capture mode is identified by a red background color.
See Also
About Image Captures

Capture the Full Screen

The Full screen mode is the default capture mode.

  1. In the capture commands, select Full Screen .
  2. Click the Options button.
  3. In the General tab, define the appropriate options (irrelevant options are dimmed).

    Important:
    • In the Hotkeys area, you can define a combination of keys to start the capture. One key plus a letter must be selected at least but you can select two or three keys in addition to the letter, for example: Ctrl+B or Shift+Alt+C. Only one combination of key is kept during the capture session.
    • The Rendering tab is unavailable because it does not apply to this capture mode.

  4. Access the Output Preferences tab.

    The output types available when saving to a file and in the Album vary according to the mode you selected (you can save in another format/location, copy to the clipboard, print the captured image, or save to a file in the Album) or Wireframe.

  5. Select a file type then, if you are in Wireframe mode, click Properties... to define the properties dedicated to each format.

    For more information, see Configuring a Printer and Configuring Printer Drivers.

  6. Optional: Click Look in: then navigate to the new image location before clicking OK to confirm the save.

    By default, captured images are stored in the album temporary folder in C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Application Data\DassaultSystemes\CATTemp\.

    For more information, see Managing Images in the Album.

  7. Select the save format for the captured image.

    Important: Captured images saved in the Album are always saved in CGM format. The properties you define here have no impact on the format of the image stored in the Album. They are applied to the format you select when using the Save As button.

  8. Click OK to validate.
  9. Click Capture .
  10. Click OK if you are satisfied with the capture, otherwise click Cancel (in that case, you are not prompted to save or print the captured image).
    If you click OK, the Capture Preview dialog box is closed and additional dialog boxes might open according to the outputs you selected in the Output Preferences tab.

Capture the Full Tab

The Full Tab mode lets you capture the whole app tab.

  1. In the capture commands, select Full Tab .
  2. In the Capture Configuration dialog box, define the general configuration options of your choice.
  3. Access the Rendering tab.
  4. In the Active Mode tab, select the mode to be used for capturing images.
  5. If you are capturing images in Rasterization mode, access the Rasterization Options tab otherwise, access the Wireframe Options tab as explained in step 9.

    The Background color list lets you specify the background color to be used when capturing raster images. By default, No Color is selected to let you capture the current background color. The selected background color is stored in options files: the last used background color is kept from one session to another.

  6. Optional: Select Customized in the Quality list then click More... to access the Image Size dialog box.

    The values indicated in the Pixel Size area are displayed for information only to give you an idea of the image size in pixels, according to the print size you defined.

  7. Optional: Define the print Width and Height.

    The maximum value you can set is 30000 x 23837.

  8. Optional: Define the Resolution, either in pixels/inch (.dpi) or in pixels/cm.

    The higher the resolution, the longer the capture generation (with a price to pay in performance).

    Important:
    • If the dpi value you set exceeds the amount of allocated memory, images are stored in bitmap format only (the files are named "capture_hour.bmp") in C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Temp.
    • Regarding fill patterns printed in HPGL2, PDF or PostScript format, if the size of the computed image exceeds the amount of allocated memory, then the allocated memory is reduced by setting a lower dpi value and therefore, the rendering might be different from what expected.

  9. If you are capturing images in Wireframe mode, click the Wireframe Options tab to define the semantic level and the capture size.
    Note: Regarding the Use 3D Accuracy option (in HLR mode), see HLR for more information.
  10. Click Capture .
  11. Click OK if you are satisfied with the capture, otherwise click Cancel (in that case, you are not prompted to save or print the captured image).
    If you click OK, the Capture Preview dialog box is closed and additional dialog boxes might open according to the output preferences you selected.