HOW TO: Hi-Def pics (Old way)

Discussion in 'Halo 3 Maps' started by Fbu, Dec 6, 2007.

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  1. Fbu

    Fbu Ancient
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    I made this guide because a couple people have asked how my screens come out so good looking. I know a lot of people are new to forums and the internet so I made this easy to use guide. If you don't know what I mean compare these pictures to others:

    Hi-Quality
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    vs.

    Low-Quality
    [​IMG]
    [img width=800 height=450]http://www.geocities.com/state_champ2000/spawnroom.jpg[/img]

    (No offense to the owner's of the pictures, they are just low quality jpegs)


    THE STEPS


    1. The first step, obviously, is to take a picture of your map. People ask me how I get the pictures in wide screen as opposed to standard ratio. I don't crop the images in any way I just happen to have a wide screen HDTV. Screens are taken depending on what size your TV is, so if you have a friend with a big TV, get him to take screen shots. Also when taking screen shots, remove the HUD by pressing "B". The HUD is unattractive and looks unprofessional. Also, by pressing "Y" you can fly around and take better shots of the battles at better angles. (Thanks grave)


    2. Now go to your screenshot archive on Bungie ( If you don't know how to do this just quit now) I am going to use MasterChief282's Shrine Map as an example. I'll take one of his screen shots through the process. Click on the picture you want and it will open a new window.

    [​IMG]


    3. Now click on the image again and a box will pop up asking you to save to disk. Click "OK".

    [​IMG]


    4. Now open up MS Paint (I hope you know how to do this) and open the picture from wherever you saved it.

    [​IMG]


    5. Now along the top of paint there are some options. Click "Image" then go down to "Stretch/Skew". Alternatively you could just press Ctrl+W.

    [​IMG]


    6. Change the Horizontal and Vertical to 30% (if widescreen) or 35% (if normal screen)

    [​IMG]


    7. DO NOT save it in paint. Paint saves terrible jpegs and it will come out grainy. You will need a free program for the next part. This saves your pictures at the highest quality possible.

    The program is called Infran View which you can downloaded at http://www.irfanview.com/

    After you install it, open it up.

    [​IMG]


    8. Go back to paint and press Ctrl+A to select the whole picture. Then press Ctrl+C to copy it. Click on InfranView and press Ctrl+V to paste the picture in.

    [​IMG]


    9. Click the little Save button at the top of InfranView. Make sure it is saving as a jpeg and that the quality is 100%. Then click Save as.

    [​IMG]


    10. Now that your picture is saved you need somewhere to host it. There are many places like photobucket, imageshack, http://xs.to , and flickr. My favourite is Photobucket because I already have a big Photo Album there, and it is user friendly. (This step is for photobucket users)

    Go to the upload page and press Browse, then find where you image is. Click on it and press open. Then click upload.

    [​IMG]


    11. Click in the box that says IMG code and it should say "copied"

    [​IMG]


    12. Go into your thread and just paste it in! *YES YOU CAN USE IMG TAGS IN FORGE HUB, IT'S A MIRACLE HALLELUJAH*

    [​IMG]





    Now you have a nice looking hi-def picture everyone can enjoy. Get out there and use nice pictures, there's no excuse now!
    [​IMG]


    For those who are just so lazy and you must use the terri-bad imageshack here's a quick tut by wakko.


    Here's another great tut.



    Seriously anything that isn't the small terrible jpg is great. =p
     
  2. Gravedigger5454

    Gravedigger5454 Ancient
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    Re: HOW TO: Hi-Def pics (noob-proof intructions)

    Good guide some important tips to add though:
    1.Press "y" while in theater to float around the map freely, like in forge, to get a better angle for your pic

    2.Once you save the pic you put it right up to image shack and it will automatically rescale it as needed (I think you can also set how much to scale it too).
     
  3. Fbu

    Fbu Ancient
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    Re: HOW TO: Hi-Def pics (noob-proof intructions)

    I don't like saving through imageshack because eventually they delete the pictures. I've lost several old pictures this way >.<

    I'll add the "Y" thing
     
  4. gskellig

    gskellig Ancient
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    Re: HOW TO: Hi-Def pics (noob-proof intructions)

    Easier way:
    1. Download from bungie.net
    2. upload to http://xs.to
    Use thumbnail or full image.
    If sizing them down is really an issue...

    1. Download from bungie.net
    2. Open in photoshop, size down, save as .png
    3. upload to http://xs.to

    Your method works too, just takes lots of opening and closing and stuff which can be annoying when you're trying to upload like 10 images...

    xs.to has NEVER deleted my images, and their image upload limit is 1.5mb. Does not require registration like photobucket.
     
  5. Fbu

    Fbu Ancient
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    Re: HOW TO: Hi-Def pics (noob-proof intructions)

    Not many people have photoshop so I made a way that's completely free and legal ;)

    I just like photobucket because I have my whole album in one place. Uploading is a matter of preference, I'll add that site to the list though.
     
  6. gskellig

    gskellig Ancient
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    Re: HOW TO: Hi-Def pics (noob-proof intructions)

    GIMP = 100% free photo manipulation program (photoshop).

    Photobucket is great, I just don't like having to login when I want to upload one image quickly. I sometimes use photobucket when I have a lot of images because you can upload like 20 at once.
    Everything is better than imageshack.us, they delete **** randomly.
     
  7. Ty

    Ty Guest

    Re: HOW TO: Hi-Def pics (noob-proof intructions)

    i've never had a problem with grainy screens coming from b.net, or at least I haven't noticed.
     
  8. Trickmyster

    Trickmyster Ancient
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    Re: HOW TO: Hi-Def pics (noob-proof intructions)

    Great guide
     
  9. Fbu

    Fbu Ancient
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    Re: HOW TO: Hi-Def pics (noob-proof intructions)

    They have a auto login button you know? I haven't typed the info in years... I'm not quite sure I know the password anymore :surprise:

    Thanks Trick
     
  10. gskellig

    gskellig Ancient
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    Re: HOW TO: Hi-Def pics (noob-proof intructions)

    Auto login doesn't work when you clear cookies, and firefox remembers my password but I reformat a lot so it can't really help then. I use photobucket for other things, I just like going to xs.to (short url) and uploading an image quickly, and I don't have to worry about accidentally putting it in the wrong album or any of that junk. It's just my preference I'm not saying photobucket sucks.

    Just to be clear I agree with trickmyster, I think this is a superb tutorial. I probably should've just said "xs.to is another great image upload website" and "If you have photoshop that's another easy way to downsize images without losing quality"
     
  11. Fbu

    Fbu Ancient
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    Re: HOW TO: Hi-Def pics (noob-proof intructions)

    Whenever I use Photoshop, it's scaling always re-renders the image and it doesn't come out as sharp and takes up more file space (loads longer for slower machines). Maybe it's my version of photoshop (7) but I don't know why it does it

    Comparison:

    Photoshop 186 KB
    [​IMG]

    Paint 165 KB
    [​IMG]
     
  12. gskellig

    gskellig Ancient
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    Re: HOW TO: Hi-Def pics (noob-proof intructions)

    GIMP JPG1 157kb
    [​IMG]

    GIMP JPG2 196kb
    [​IMG]

    Gimp has a million saving options you should really check it out.

    Also have GIMP PNG 732kb

    Edit: Hehe it's a warthog on the pit!
     
  13. BladedQ 5 7

    BladedQ 5 7 Ancient
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    Re: HOW TO: Hi-Def pics (noob-proof intructions)

    This is a pretty good guide always wondered why it was so grainy, thanks.
     
  14. Fbu

    Fbu Ancient
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    Re: HOW TO: Hi-Def pics (noob-proof intructions)

    The png came out really nice but took awhile to load (700kb Xx)

    I used gimp, but (like photoshop) it re-renders my image?

    141 KB JPG
    [​IMG]

    Still doesn't come out sharp for me...

    GIMP is a nice alternative though, I'd advise everyone to check it out if the can't get photoshop
     
  15. gskellig

    gskellig Ancient
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    Re: HOW TO: Hi-Def pics (noob-proof intructions)

    When you do "save as" there's advanced saving options, if you don't do advanced then the default quality is 75%
    It also supports TONS of other formats, some I've never heard of, and I believe it will read RAW image files from digital-SLR cameras. (super high quality, zero compression, but images are huge)
     
  16. DareDefyMe88

    DareDefyMe88 Ancient
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    Re: HOW TO: Hi-Def pics (noob-proof intructions)

    Wow thanks alot! I had no clue about changing the aspect ratio if you have an HDTV. I was wondering why mine looked so bad even though I play on a nice tv.
     
  17. Lance001

    Lance001 Ancient
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    Re: HOW TO: Hi-Def pics (noob-proof intructions)

    Mm...I smell a sticky.

    Really, really good advice, nice format, easy to read/learn...I'm impressed. Yay for teaching us how to have amazing screenshots, too!
     
  18. Fbu

    Fbu Ancient
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    Re: HOW TO: Hi-Def pics (noob-proof intructions)

    Thanks lance!

    If you see anything that's not formatted/spelled right send a PM, I'll fix it :)
     
  19. Lance001

    Lance001 Ancient
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    Re: HOW TO: Hi-Def pics (noob-proof intructions)

    Hah, will do, fbu, but so far you've made few (if any) mistakes. ;D
     
  20. XxTexasHornxX

    XxTexasHornxX Ancient
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    Re: HOW TO: Hi-Def pics (noob-proof intructions)

    Great guide, :p at the WoW pictures, never played that game.
     
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