How to Make a Screen Shot
Making screen shots (creating an image of what is shown on the screen) has changed through the various Trainz versions. The methods described here apply to TRS2019 and TrainzPlus. Screen shots have a number of uses in Trainz beyond just preserving an image of a part of your route for personal enjoyment. Routes can have a thumbnail image, used as the 'preview' image on the Download Station as well as in Content Manager, and as a prominent display when a route or session is selected in Surveyor (see: HowTo: Thumbnail and Preview Images). Screen shots can be shared with other Trainz people in a number of different ways. This "HowTo" page will explore each of these aspects or provide links to where help can be obtained.
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Social Menu
The Social Menu (TRS2019 and beyond, only) is the seventh icon on the top-of-screen menu and includes a "Capture Screenshot" item that, when selected (LMB), presumably corresponds to pressing the PrtScrn key on most full keyboards (see Screen Print below). It does not, although it does a bit more, bringing up a window display of the captured image, a vertical list showing icons of previously made images stored somewhere, and an ability to add a caption and a tag to the image. A Delete button removes the image in the display window, and an Upload button uploads the displayed image to the TrainzPortal (see below). For some reason, the interface provides no way of saving the image to your computer; unlike using PrtScrn directly, the image is not placed in the computer clip-board.
The image does remove many of the surveyor tool icons, like track marks, but others (like switch red-green icons and spline end circles) are not removed. This particular means of capturing images from a route appears to be a work-in-progress, and as presently configured of limited use.
Screen Print
The PrtScrn key found on most full keyboards (usually in the top row, towards the right) will take a picture of whatever is showing on your screen(s). To specify the active screen (if you have more than one monitor), use alt-PrtScrn.
The resulting image will be placed in the clip-board; to save you will need a paint or photo program. Realize, that the image obtained will be just as it appears on your monitor screen, and may be a bit messy if you have menus open/visible and, in surveyor mode, all the icons (like track markers, spline end points, consist direction pointers) visible. You will want to clean up the image, and this is best done before making the image. In the top-of-screen menu, select the Display Menu and select "Hide Interface" (Ctrl-Space to show/hide) to remove all menus from the scene.
Trainz Portal Gallery
Trainz Portal is the "official" Trainz web site at [Trainz Portal]. You can locate uploaded photos from your site by clicking on "Go To Gallery" at the top right. Selecting "Recent Activity" should bring up your most recent posting to the gallery. This site is a great way to see what others are producing by way of routes, but the interface is buggy and not intuitive. For example, clicking on "Show More Recent Activity" will add a few more recent postings, but enlarging any of the images will, upon closing, take you back to the original 10 recent postings.
