Preparing for Tinklefest™

Howdy folks! We need to be ready for the challenges of Tinklefest™ 2009. There is nothing to truly prepare for as far as gearing up your toon or anything. I'm talking about being ready to take part in the various activities scattered throughout August. First of all, you will need to know how to take a screen shot of your computer. I can't discuss the PC world since I use a Mac (on a Mac it's shift + command + 3 for a screenie), but I have seen keyboards with a dedicated key for taking a screen shot. I think it's a prt scn button or something (short for print screen). What makes a good screen shot, you ask? Good question:

1) Hide the user interface in WoW. On a Mac, this is done with option + z. On a PC it's alt + z. If you don't hide the interface before a screen shot, you'll see all of the UI mods and scrolling text and action bars and whatnot, which all cover the image that you're trying to capture!

2) Zoom in/out and switch camera angles for the best shot. This is similar to a photographer moving around to get the best shot. Keep in mind that WoW is exceptionally well lit with shadows and light sources, so use that to your best advantage.

3) Make sure you can see the image clearly. If you're zoomed out at too wide an angle, what you're trying to show the rest of us may not be clear or discernible. 

4) You might want to take multiple screen captures of something, at different zooms, angles, or poses. I take anywhere between 5-10 when I want a screen capture, unless it's just something trivial that I need to remember, or if it's something that there's really only one way to capture it in the first place. The better the image, the better you're going to get your image across.

5) The screen capture saves an image of your entire screen. There are tons of programs that let you open up the screen shot and crop it.

When you have an image that you want shared, or if you're turning it in for the holiday requirements, then mail it to me at asala@mac.com.