User:GrampaSwood/Taking Screenshots
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Most articles contain at least one screenshot taken in the game. This guide on taking screenshots will help you with creating clear and high quality shots of the game, whether it's for map articles or otherwise. This guide will be mostly focused on map articles, but these settings generally also apply to other articles with in-game screenshots.
Contents
Requirements
Make sure your computer is capable of running the game in high quality. It is not necessary to run the game at a high frame rate, but it will make the process of taking the screenshots much easier. Make sure the developer console is enabled by going to the Options menu, clicking on "Advanced...", and checking "Enable developer console". The console can then be opened with the grave accent key (`), usually located under the ESC key.
Setting up the map
A server can be started up by typing map <map filename>
(the filename can be found on the map's article) in the console. By default, other players can join this server, but this can be bypassed by adding a password (e.g. map pl_upward; password wiki123
) or setting sv_lan
to 1
. After loading the map, enter the command mp_tournament 1
to disable the map's timer and set sv_cheats
to 1
.
If the screenshot requires other players, puppet bots can often replace them. If another player is absolutely required, do not use sv_lan 1
. Instead, put a password on the server and have the other player(s) join through Steam.
Graphic settings
For the in-game graphic settings:
- You can download this config file and place it in TF2's config directory at
steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf\cfg
. - If you wish to do it manually, navigate to
steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf\cfg
, create a new text file and name it something such aswiki_screenshots.cfg
. Make sure the file's extension is.cfg
and not Template:Code.txt. Open the config and paste the following:
//Removes fog from maps fog_override 1 fog_enable 0 // Opens up all the area portals on the map, rendering the entire map at once. // If you experience extremely low framerates, try turning this setting off r_portalsopenall 1 // Highest quality models r_lod 0 // Highest quality textures mat_picmip -10 // Disables pyrovision when spectating tf_spectate_pyrovision 0 // Increases quality of textures at a distance mat_mipmaptextures 1 // Disables objective (Payload/Intel) outlines glow_outline_effect_enable 0 // Highest anti-alias settings mat_antialias 8 mat_aaquality 2 // Makes the outlines of lights smoother r_lightmap_bicubic 1
When in-game, execute the config by typing exec wiki_screenshots
. This should automatically apply the commands.
Preparing and taking the screenshot
Most map screenshots require the HUD and viewmodel to be hidden. These can be disabled with cl_drawhud 0
and r_drawviewmodel 0
respectively, or alternatively be toggled by creating a bind for it using bindtoggle <key> cl_drawhud
and bindtoggle <key> r_drawviewmodel
. noclip
is a crucial command to take map screenshots, allowing you to move freely around the map. You can add the following commands to the config, replacing the bound keys with keys of your choice, if you wish to have them executed at the same time as the graphics settings:
// Viewmodel toggle bindtoggle i r_drawviewmodel // HUD toggle bindtoggle o cl_drawhud // noclip toggle bind p noclip
On Windows
Taking a screenshot under Windows is simple. By default, pressing F5 saves the image as a TGA
(Targa) file in your \Steam\steamapps\common\team fortress 2\tf\screenshots
directory.
Do not use Steam screenshots (F12) as these are saved as low quality JPEGs instead.
Before uploading the image, you first need to convert the image into PNG
format.
- There are numerous websites that do this for you. Here is a quick link to one.
- Most image editors can perform the conversion. IrfanView and Paint.NET are free and easy to use.
On OS X
Taking a screenshot under OS X is slightly simpler than above. By pressing ⇧ Shift+⌘ Cmd+3 at the same time, OS X automatically takes a full-screen screenshot. It is also possible to take a screenshot of a certain part of your screen using ⇧ Shift+⌘ Cmd+4. Any images taken via this method appear on the Desktop. Alternatively, you can press fn+F5 for the same result as Windows.
On Linux
Taking a screenshot on Linux is similar to Windows. By default, pressing F5 saves the image as a TGA
(Targa) file in your ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/Team Fortress 2/tf/screenshots
directory.
Do not use Steam screenshots (F12) as these are saved as low-quality JPEGs instead.
Before uploading the image, you first need to convert it into PNG
format:
- Use a simple terminal command, from a package such as ImageMagick:
convert screenshot.tga screenshot.png
- This package can be installed with
sudo apt install imagemagick
.
- This package can be installed with
- Similarly to Windows, most image editors can perform the conversion. GIMP or XnViewMP are free and easy to use.
Uploading
Upload the screenshot to the Wiki by going to Special:Upload, clicking "Browse...", and selecting the image. For an image intended to show off the map (such as in the "gallery" or "locations" sections), the filename should always contain the map's name. Make sure the title is descriptive of the location, such as Upward BLU spawn 1 outside.png instead of "Upward 1.png". In the Summary substitute the {{mapimg}}
template by typing {{subst:mapimg|mapname}}
, replacing mapname
with the map's name (i.e. {{subst:mapimg|Upward}}
). This template automatically adds the correct licenses and categories and removes the need to select a license from the drop-down menu. Click the "Upload file" button at the bottom, and your image is uploaded.
See also
- Help:Images - Help article on images.
- Team Fortress Wiki:Images - Guidelines article on images.