Consistent Bubble size

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sdcinvan
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Consistent Bubble size

Post by sdcinvan »

Hello all,

I need some advice on another issue that is new to me.

Since all MadCap Capture overlays occur outside of Flare, how do I ensure that all bubbles are exactly the same size? This sort of thing was never an issue in FrameMaker. :(

Here is an example:
The top screen capture is 1:1 because it is small enough to fit on the page. However, the lower screen capture is a full screen image that must be reduced in order to show the entire image. Because the bubbles were added and converted to a .png before reduction, the bubbles were reduced with the image!
Bubble_size-01.png
Thank you. :)
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Shawn in Vancouver, Canada
Main tools used: Flare 11.x, InDesign, Google Docs, Lectora, Captivate.
Report bugs: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/feedback/bugs.aspx ▪ Feature requests: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/feedback ... quest.aspx[/i]
atomdocs
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Re: Consistent Bubble size

Post by atomdocs »

Hi Shawn

You can do this in Capture using the Image Effects tab of the File Properties dialog box.

Adjust either the Background Scale setting, or the Scale Background To setting.

Your aim is to resize the base image (in Capture, "background" = your base screenshot) so that it fits on your page (I assume you are configuring print output). An easy way to do this is to insert the image into your topic at the start of your workflow (without resizing yet), set the topic layout to your print layout, then right-click the image and click Edit With MadCap Capture so that the image is now also open in Capture.

You can then use the settings mentioned above to visually fit the image to your page. Whenever you input a background size or scale setting and then save the image in Capture, your Flare topic updates immediately. This works well with 2 monitors - your Flare topic open on one monitor and Capture open on the other.

You can then apply your callouts as normal, and they will be the same size as the callouts in your un-resized images.

Things to remember about this process:
  • Don't use any other resizing mechanisms in Capture or Flare (so don't change the settings on the Format tab of the File Properties dialog box in Capture - leave as default).
  • Basically, resizing the image using the Image Effects tab resizes your screenshot image only, whereas using the Format tab resizes your screenshot image and your callout objects.
  • If you pull a callout to the side of the screenshot so that it extends beyond the edge of the screenshot (as you have done), you'll need to go back and tweak the background size again (but with immediate visual update in Flare, this is not too much of a chore). Basically, the background size you set is for your screenshot only, any extra "canvas" that your create by moving a callout is additional to the background size setting.
Tom
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sdcinvan
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Re: Consistent Bubble size

Post by sdcinvan »

Greetings Tom,

Thank you so much! This works beautifully! I am so happy that it was me who was clueless.

I'm in happy town today. :D
Shawn in Vancouver, Canada
Main tools used: Flare 11.x, InDesign, Google Docs, Lectora, Captivate.
Report bugs: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/feedback/bugs.aspx ▪ Feature requests: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/feedback ... quest.aspx[/i]
sdcinvan
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Re: Consistent Bubble size

Post by sdcinvan »

atomdocs wrote:Hi Shawn

You can do this in Capture using the Image Effects tab of the File Properties dialog box.

Adjust either the Background Scale setting, or the Scale Background To setting.
...
[/list]
Hello Tom (et al),

There is a huge problem with this scaling idea. The problem is that MadCap Capture saves the flattened image at a permanently reduced resolution. Sure, I have consistently sized bubbles but at the cost of losing the full resolution of the screen capture. This isn't right!

Now, many of my screen captures are needlessly fuzzy.

I can't be the only person facing this issue... am I?
Shawn in Vancouver, Canada
Main tools used: Flare 11.x, InDesign, Google Docs, Lectora, Captivate.
Report bugs: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/feedback/bugs.aspx ▪ Feature requests: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/feedback ... quest.aspx[/i]
atomdocs
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Re: Consistent Bubble size

Post by atomdocs »

Hi Shawn, I noticed that too. Sorry that it didn't work out. As Paul says, Capture is a capture tool, not an image editing suite. I have tried to resist that, and make Capture work harder, but it is frustrating when it fails like this. I really don't think it is just down to an intentionally limited scope. Considering some of the really clever stuff that Capture can do, it does some of the basic stuff poorly. I suppose it is a question of development time and resources. In today's fierce market and going up against Adobe, I suppose MadCap wants to focus on their core product. It is commonly said that not many people use Capture. Perhaps they don't use it because of these fail points.
Tom
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sdcinvan
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Re: Consistent Bubble size

Post by sdcinvan »

atomdocs wrote:Hi Shawn, I noticed that too. Sorry that it didn't work out. As Paul says, Capture is a capture tool, not an image editing suite. I have tried to resist that, and make Capture work harder, but it is frustrating when it fails like this. I really don't think it is just down to an intentionally limited scope. Considering some of the really clever stuff that Capture can do, it does some of the basic stuff poorly. I suppose it is a question of development time and resources. In today's fierce market and going up against Adobe, I suppose MadCap wants to focus on their core product. It is commonly said that not many people use Capture. Perhaps they don't use it because of these fail points.
Thanks Tom.

There core product isn't a complete documentation tool. There are times I am really excited about what I can do with Flare but I am beginning to notice, as my documentation becomes more complex, that I am occasionally wondering if I made a mistake by not sticking with Adobe FrameMaker. These thoughts are based on the expanding realization that Flare cannot do many tasks that are basic to FrameMaker.

Anyhow, I need a solution for this image quality mess! But I suspect that it will never get solved until Flare integrates Capture into Flare.

The way I see it, the problem is:
- I resize the images in Capture (in order to keep all the bubbles a consistent size)
- Capture saves a flattened/permanently reduced image in .png format
- The reduced .png is updated in Flare
- The screen captured image can never be expanded to 1:1 without pixalization.

Again, am I the only person using bubbles in screen captures?
Shawn in Vancouver, Canada
Main tools used: Flare 11.x, InDesign, Google Docs, Lectora, Captivate.
Report bugs: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/feedback/bugs.aspx ▪ Feature requests: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/feedback ... quest.aspx[/i]
sdcinvan
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Re: Consistent Bubble size

Post by sdcinvan »

I'm looking at the option, Image Properties / Flare Print Format...

I have no idea (yet) if this will help. If it does, I am wondering why it is defaulted to 'off'.

Anyhow, I should make a big clarification here. The web output is perfectly fine! My image fuzziness or softness is in print media only... output to PDF is the issue. So, I'll experiment with the above property setting and see if that helps.
Shawn in Vancouver, Canada
Main tools used: Flare 11.x, InDesign, Google Docs, Lectora, Captivate.
Report bugs: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/feedback/bugs.aspx ▪ Feature requests: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/feedback ... quest.aspx[/i]
doc_guy
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Re: Consistent Bubble size

Post by doc_guy »

I get best results in Printed output when I change the image settings in Capture on the Flare Print tab on the image properties. I make sure my file type is .TIFF which is a lossless image type and which works perfectly in PDF.

So Capture generates .TIFF images for my PDF output and .PNG images for my online outputs.
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sdcinvan
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Re: Consistent Bubble size

Post by sdcinvan »

doc_guy wrote:I get best results in Printed output when I change the image settings in Capture on the Flare Print tab on the image properties. I make sure my file type is .TIFF which is a lossless image type and which works perfectly in PDF.

So Capture generates .TIFF images for my PDF output and .PNG images for my online outputs.
Thanks again. You helped to confirm something I haven't had time to test yet. :) Although, I selected .png for print output because I was thinking that .tiff would make a larger file size.

Does anyone know if it is possible to set the Flare Print Format settings as a default? It is rather tedious to have to set this tab for every image.
Capture_default_print2PDF_settings.png
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Shawn in Vancouver, Canada
Main tools used: Flare 11.x, InDesign, Google Docs, Lectora, Captivate.
Report bugs: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/feedback/bugs.aspx ▪ Feature requests: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/feedback ... quest.aspx[/i]
doc_guy
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Re: Consistent Bubble size

Post by doc_guy »

I set these in the Capture Profile, so when I take a new screen capture, these settings are already applied.
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sdcinvan
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Re: Consistent Bubble size

Post by sdcinvan »

doc_guy wrote:I set these in the Capture Profile, so when I take a new screen capture, these settings are already applied.
ah, profiles... hidden away under the View tab. Thanks again.
Shawn in Vancouver, Canada
Main tools used: Flare 11.x, InDesign, Google Docs, Lectora, Captivate.
Report bugs: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/feedback/bugs.aspx ▪ Feature requests: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/feedback ... quest.aspx[/i]
doc_guy
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Re: Consistent Bubble size

Post by doc_guy »

Happy it was helpful.
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