I need a little help regarding marking ujp a screen snapshot.

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I'll spare you the sordid details, but I've recently committed myself to a major, major task.

I was asked to help out a 90-year-old gentleman "a couple of times a month" with his computer work. Sounds easy, right?

Nope. Thanks to a family history of ADHD and a concussion last January, he needs help with the most basic things in computerese, and it's become a daily 30-mile round trip! Just the other day, I had prepared written instructions about something or other, and used the term "Control-A". He asked what that meant. So my instructions from now on has to include not only text, but snapshots of what I'm talking about, and thick red arrows to point to where something is in the snapshot.

I can use Grab to take my snapshot, and Photoshop Elements to insert the arrows, but that's a bit clumsy. Also, I would prefer to use Pages for my basic document, because I know something is going to get left out, and Pages allows me to easily shift paragraphs vertically when I need to insert new material. I can't help feeling that there's something else that would provide a mark-up-able snapshot-type image, and I hope you can tell me what it is.
 
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It sounds like you need more than some markup app and maybe Apple's Remote Desktop might be something to consider:
https://www.apple.com/remotedesktop/
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7563/apple-remote-desktop-client Check the comments section.

The screen-sharing features of Apple Remote Desktop allow you to provide immediate help to remote users, saving time for both of you.

or maybe free TeamViewer.app or one of the other comparison apps, also shown here:
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/27332/teamviewer




- Patrick
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Obviously, I didn't make my situation clear.

I am an avid Teamviewer user*, and there is no doubt that I will be connecting with Don's (my "student's") iMac, not only for maintaining his software properly and keeping his environment organized, but also to respond to his calls for help. Just as soon as I get him set up with all the "hands on" work we're doing -- connecting cables, installing his all-in-one printer, DVD drive, Time Machine, and anything else that can't be done remotely -- rest assured that I will be connecting remotely, primarily to avoid that 30-mile round trip to his home.

The reason for my post is that Don's memory is not the best, and it's not likely to get any better. He needs serious hand-holding, even at the most basic level (e.g., what does Control-A mean?) and neither one of us wants to resort to telephone calls to help him recall all the simple stuff, to say nothing about the more complex situations. Think, for a moment, of all the tiny things you do when you're at your computer that you know from memory and your fingers perform unconsciously, along with the terminology that is so critical to discussing what you're trying to do. Try to imagine not having that memory and having to refer to documentation to tell you -- again -- what those things are. Now, think of how to write that documentation in a manner that makes it easy for him to proceed. That's the job I have at the moment, and for the unforeseeable future.

That's why the text I prepare for him has to be not only elementary in content, but it also needs the help of graphics to support the text. I not only have to describe the "Dock" as being at the bottom of the screen, but I also have to point it out in a picture. The same applies to the "Menu" at the top of the screen and not just where it is, but that it varies with the current active activity.

FWIW, I have a technique I use that I call my File Cabinet. It's simply a tree structure of folders representing different categories at the top level; e.g., Terminology, Keyboard Activity, Software, Hardware, et.al. It's not limited to computer talk, either. For example, Hardware (things you can see and touch) is broken down into Computer and Household (like Telephones, Appliances, Boats, Snowmobiles,etc., where you would file information like Receipts, Model, Serial Numbers, User Manuals, etc.) Each folder has subfolders that breaks its parent down to smaller categories, until you finally zero in on the appropriate text, graphics , and links needed at the bottom level. With intelligent design, it guides the reader directly to what he needs quite easily, and I would like to think that Don can utilize this effectively.

Now you probably understand why I want to make this task as easy for me as I can, right? Please tell me if you know of any tools that might do that.

=======================

*I'm going to cheat on forum protocol here for a moment.

Since you mentioned TeamViewer, you're probably quite familiar with it, and may be able to help me with a problem. I'm the IT Guru for my ex's Macbook Pro and my daughter's Dell. Years ago I had no problem chatting with them by voice rather than by text. I think I can still do that with my ex, but lately I've not been having much success with my daughter or with Don's iMac. I'm sure it's something I'm doing wrong -- I just don't know what it is. If I'm not mistaken, it started going bad when the audio graphics in my iMac changed from showing small images in in the chat sidebar to large images in the center of the screen. Could you direct me to the basic elementary steps I should take to resolve this?
 
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My apologies if I misunderstood your problem Bud, and it might have helped if you had mentioned that you use TeamViewer.

And no, I don't and never have used TeamViewer but mentioned it as an alternative to using Remote Desktop.

You have a challenging situation and should be admired for your help and I can imagine what it's like as I have worked with some serious Parkinsons, MS and other handicapped clients and their Macs, but never any suffering with ADHD and adding a recent concussion sure wouldn't help or ease your task.

So I'm sorry I don't have any suggestions but wonder if there are any others who are closer and work with some type of public assistant services who could help out???

Hopefully, some members more experienced in such things will reply to you with some good advice.

Good luck.

As for you family chat problems, maybe give Skype.app a try. I find it works better than most such voice/video over 'net apps, and Apple's FaceTime for some reason always goofs up if and when it even partially works but is also only useful between Macs, no Windows PCs allowed. :[




- Patrick
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chscag

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I haven't used Skype but most folks who do, swear by it. I see that even some news agencies use Skype when they're interviewing someone who is located remotely. I have had pretty good luck with FaceTime even using it on my iPhone. But like Patrick said, it's Apple devices only.
 
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I would use Preview to take the screen shot and to mark it up. Preview will let you take a screen shot from the File menu, then you can mark it up by clicking on the Markup button. Then save as the type of image you want and give it a name, then save it some place. Drag it into Pages from there.
 
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In addition to Photoshop Elements for elegant work, I've used Preview for quick & dirty touch-ups of photos. Because of that, I didn't even notice the Markup capability. It sounds like the perfect solution for me. Thank you very much!
 
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It sounds like the perfect solution for me. Thank you very much!

Yes, Apple's Preview.app is very much an underrated app, but I'm surprised it would be better than what Photoshop Elements can do. But I've never used it and may be oriented towards photo touchups.

For another solution you may want to consider using some recording apps, some of which you can add audio to.

Just some a websearch shows:

How to record the screen on your Mac
https://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac-software/how-record-screen-on-your-mac-3527168/

Tutorial - Recording Computer Playback on Mac
http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/tutorial_recording_computer_playback_on_mac.html

For more possible hits:
mac record screen action
https://www.google.ca/search?client...F-8&gfe_rd=cr&dcr=0&ei=KabDWq6vCM_e8Af_kbyQCw

IE: Create your own video/audio visual tutorials.

PS: There may already be some on the web you could use, some are commercial but may be worth the cost vs your time.

Good luck.





- Patrick
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It may be simply that I have a lot more experience with Photoshop Elements than with Preview, but I've settled with using PSE9. I'll be much happier just as soon as I can find the straight-line-drawing tool. It was here just a couple of weeks ago. :)
 
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