How do I take screen shots at my displays native pixel density? ...NOT 72 PPI!

davidlones365 said:

...or, presenting the image on screen at it's "actual size", in the same way it would be printed on paper.
Why do you keep ignoring that example?

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Ummmmm as far as my fuzzy old brain can recall, screens don't care about the PPI when presenting an image, only pixel dimension. At least in terms of 'size' on the display. Now the fact that you're concerned about your PPI and no one else is? Well, personally.. I got nothing. Despite years of being anal about color matching and DPI when printing, the ONLY time I care at ALL about DPI is when the work is going to be printed.

In the end, no matter what you do anything you generate on a computer will very likely be rendered differently on another computer anyway. So, IMO it's a moot point. As I said before though, if you're seriously that bothered with the current state of things. Write a better tool. At least it will meet your specifications.

Dysfunction said:

As I said before though, if you're seriously that bothered with the current state of things. Write a better tool. At least it will meet your specifications.

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If I could or even wanted to do that, why on earth would I ask you guys at Mac-Forums to recommend a hack or third-party app???
Although, thats been the best reply so far... "We don't care, figure it out your self!"
At least it's honest!!!!!!!

Dysfunction said:

Ummmmm as far as my fuzzy old brain can recall, screens don't care about the PPI when presenting an image, only pixel dimension. At least in terms of 'size' on the display. Now the fact that you're concerned about your PPI and no one else is? Well, personally.. I got nothing. Despite years of being anal about color matching and DPI when printing, the ONLY time I care at ALL about DPI is when the work is going to be printed.

Click to expand...

Have you ever heard of "WYSIWYG"?
Are you aware of the Preview preference option "Define 100% scale as:" "Size on screen equals size on printout"???

davidlones365 said:

What concepts am I "mixing up" exactly?
What is it, really?????

I'll repeat myself... If I take a screenshot of my screen, I expect the saved image to include all correct data available about the shot, including pixel density/screen size. My display is NOT 72ppi!
Why does that concept seem so alien to everyone?




...or, presenting the image on screen at it's "actual size", in the same way it would be printed on paper.
Why do you keep ignoring that example?

Click to expand...

Dude, I'm not ignoring anything. You're simply not taking the time to try and understand why you're um... lol.. not understanding. Chill for a second, calm down.

The only thing you need to understand right now is that you're not getting what you see, simply because whatever in OS X which is capturing the screen, is automatically compressing the image to the point of it being absolute crud.

It's not the pixels, it's not the density of pixels. It is the jpg or png output algorithm/compression scheme.

It could also be that it is needlessly (and wasting time in doing so) lowering the resolution (actual size, not pixels) and then up sizing to compensate in order that it is seen the same size on most monitors.

Doug

davidlones365 said:

Have you ever heard of "WYSIWYG"?
Are you aware of the Preview preference option "Define 100% scale as:" "Size on screen equals size on printout"???

Click to expand...

All that is doing is defining an interpretation point in order to turn an mathematical equation into a working solution for your printer. Not very special really. It's just telling the software what it needs to know in order to change (up or downsize) the values in order to get it ready to print properly.

Have you ever heard of software by the name of Genuine Fractals? There's a really good reason for its existence. Check out what it does, if you're not familiar with it.

Doug

Doug b said:

Dude, I'm not ignoring anything. You're simply not taking the time to try and understand why you're um... lol.. not understanding. Chill for a second, calm down.

The only thing you need to understand right now is that you're not getting what you see, simply because whatever in OS X which is capturing the screen, is automatically compressing the image to the point of it being absolute crud.

It's not the pixels, it's not the density of pixels. It is the jpg or png output algorithm/compression scheme.

It could also be that it is needlessly (and wasting time in doing so) lowering the resolution (actual size, not pixels) and then up sizing to compensate in order that it is seen the same size on most monitors.

Doug

Click to expand...

Screenshot 72ppi ...here is a regular screenshot on my system, unedited.
Screenshot 99.28ppi ...here is a screenshot modified to 99.28ppi (my displays native pixel density), the way I want screenshots to be taken by default.
Comparison ...when compared in Preview with the preference I spoke of chosen.

Do the same on your system, it will come out the same way.

davidlones365 said:

Screenshot 72ppi ...here is a regular screenshot on my system, unedited.
Screenshot 99.28ppi ...here is a screenshot modified to 99.28ppi (my displays native pixel density), the way I want screenshots to be taken by default.
Comparison ...when compared in Preview with the preference I spoke of chosen.

Do the same on your system, it will come out the same way.

Click to expand...

You're killing me dude. I know it will. And if you took your time to actually READ instead of just being anxious and skimming through, you'd understand why it's doing that!

Anyway, I've tried hard enough and explained well enough. If you don't get it at this point then I guess I've no where left to go with this. That's not meant to sound rude or anything, but really.. you've totally disregarded everything I've said.

Maybe when you're in a different mood or something you'll re-read and it will actually hit you. You can thank me then. Good luck man. :Blushing:

Doug

Doug b said:

You're killing me dude. I know it will. And if you took your time to actually READ instead of just being anxious and skimming through, you'd understand why it's doing that!

Anyway, I've tried hard enough and explained well enough. If you don't get it at this point then I guess I've no where left to go with this. That's not meant to sound rude or anything, but really.. you've totally disregarded everything I've said.

Maybe when you're in a different mood or something you'll re-read and it will actually hit you. You can thank me then. Good luck man. :Blushing:

Doug

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What can I say, all you guys are trying to do is convince me to give up on this or just "write a better tool" myself (???). I've made it clear that I disagree with the reasoning for why 72ppi is the default and I'm asking for a hack or third-party app to take screenshots at a pixel density of my choosing.
If you can't help me with this, just leave this thread. We don't need to keep arguing over "why".

I realize that what I am trying to accomplish is not a commonly accepted task. Otherwise, I would assume the option would be well known and easily accessible, giving me no need to ask for assistance on a forum.

...and I'll reiterate, if your only advice for me is to essentially figure it out myself, I thank you for this advice, but, it is unfortunately of no help to me as I simply do not know how. If I did, I would not be asking for assistance on a forum.

(I'm sorry for the attitude, but you don't see me popping in on a thread regarding jailbreaking or other forms of hacking, shouting "figure it out your self!!")




My point is still valid.
If screenshots included accurate resolution data instead of a generalized number like 72ppi, the image could be viewed at the same apparent (original) size on any display. ...when you apply the option "Size on screen equals size on printout". A screenshot taken on a 20 inch screen can then always be viewed as a 20 inch image, regardless of the pixel density of the screen its being viewed on.

Wikipedia Post
Some digital file formats record a DPI value, or more commonly a PPI (pixels per inch) value, which is to be used when printing the image. This number lets the printer know the intended size of the image, or in the case of scanned images, the size of the original scanned object.

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Imagine, if you will, taking a screenshot is like making a "scanned image" of your screen. One would expect the original size of said object, the screen, to be accurately represented in the image files resolution value.

I would prefer screenshots be taken at a resolution of my choosing, not 72ppi, and I do not know where this particular variable can be changed in Apple's software. I have come to this forum hoping that some one here might know of a hack to accomplish this or perhaps of a third-party screen capture application that would allow it. Unless, of course, Apple's and all other screen capture software simply does not include resolution data and 72ppi is used as the default in all image files when no resolution data is available?? Is that the case????

Sell you Mac. Design a PC and OS that will do what you want. What's the point of arguing this any longer?

Write a letter to Steve Jobs, no one here can change anything.

FWIW, jailbreaking is not illegal and can be discussed here, so let's not go there.

davidlones365 said:

If I could or even wanted to do that, why on earth would I ask you guys at Mac-Forums to recommend a hack or third-party app???
Although, thats been the best reply so far... "We don't care, figure it out your self!"
At least it's honest!!!!!!!

Click to expand...

Want my hourly billed rate for a custom, one off, application?