Use your mad phat screenie skillz
by Amanda Miller 
Nov 26th 2007 at 8:00PM
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If you love to take screenshots of unique and interesting, or simply beautiful, areas in WoW, then consider submitting yours for use in WoW Vault's 2008 calendar. All you need to do for instant calendar fame is to head out and take some screenshots of your character in seasonal areas. Find some amazing winter, spring, summer, and fall-themed backdrops for your photo-shoot, and get shooting!
The screenies will be available for download each month, and will contain the character's name, guild name, and server.
Don't forget to remove your UI from the shot, using alt+z or option+z on a Mac. To take a shot if you use Windows, simply press Prt Scr, located up above the Delete key. If you are a Mac user, press F13. Screenshots should be stored in your World of Warcraft folder, in a sub-folder labeled Screenshots.
If you are using Vista, they may be stored somewhere tricky. While you may be able to find this file path, I had to actually search for it, as clicking through the folders along the path didn't work for me. C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\World of Warcraft\Screenshots.
If you'd like to increase your camera distance, try out an addon like Improved Camera. Now get creative, and get submitting!
Filed under: Tips, Tricks, How-tos, Fan stuff, Screenshots
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
sean Jun 3rd 2009 9:31PM
I found my recent screenshots here on Vista, whereas I found a few old ones in the directory listed in the article:
C:\Users\Public\Games\World of Warcraft\Screenshots
Merus Nov 26th 2007 10:15PM
The reason why it hides there in Vista is that WoW writes to the Program Files directory, despite this being bad Windows programming for about 10 years now. The reason is that Program Files is where your programs are supposed to go, and there's a distinct area where your user settings are supposed to go - the AppData folder Vista redirects to. The idea then is that multiple users should be able to configure their WoW install or whatever however they want, with whatever settings and customisations they feel necessary.
While Vista has its share of problems, there's plenty of short-sighted design from application manufacturers that contributes to the problem. (Apparently games companies are the worst at this, as they honestly don't care if it works in the future so long as it works on what was the top-of-the-line system when the game came out.)
Regis Nov 27th 2007 6:24AM
And all this can be fixed by simply installing the game in a folder called "Games". It's really no reason to install it in the Program folder, users just need to use some brain.
Oh, and Vista is really good.
Hybrys Nov 26th 2007 11:11PM
Really, wouldn't that be bad design?
Isn't it much nicer, easier, and cleaner to have EVERYTHING from a program in one place, instead of 8 places?
HHUK Nov 27th 2007 2:39AM
Ideally it should be in two/three places.
1. Computer's Files (e.g. application)
2. User's Files (e.g. saves, mods)
3. Removable Media (Optional)
I see this as the optimal setup, that way people can't go screwing up their setups and modding anything would be completely plug-in rather than modifying the applications itself.
Hybrys Nov 27th 2007 5:15AM
What if I want to screw with the program? Not like companies don't already use propreitary compression.
To be honest, everything to do with a program should be in one place. You could, even, theoreticly say that things are saved in another spot, because it's secluded to it's own directory INSIDE the programs area.
And, this is without saying that Vista places things in much more than two places.
Oh, and obligatory "Vista is a joke."
Merus Nov 27th 2007 9:50AM
So, how do you propose dealing with multiple user accounts, then? I mean, if users can modify each other's settings, then what's the point of having them separate?
And there is a point to separate user accounts, incidentally, even on home computers.
Hybrys Nov 27th 2007 2:50PM
You would do what is already done. You can restrict access to specific files, based on account name.
Have a folder called "Saved Data", then subfolders for each user WITHIN the programs folders. This is not unheard of. It's been done before.
Mindmelt Nov 27th 2007 6:53AM
I have to agree with Merus, program settings should be stored within the AppData folder, and storing data such as screen shots within the Program Files directory is never a good idea. Consolidating user data in a central place where it is easily accessed, and not stored within a privileged directory is a much better solution IMO.
ThorinII Nov 27th 2007 9:05AM
Windows Vista = Microsoft's pathetic attempt at being MAC. Only with lots of annoying questions, multiple copies of the same files in several locations, because MS doesn't know how else to secure itself, and poor management of system resources.
I've been a PC geek for 16.5 yrs, however after having a Vista machine at work, the next machine I buy for home will be a MAC.
To the point of the article, this sounds like fun!
Yeng Nov 27th 2007 9:20AM
And of course, OSX is Mac's pathetic excuse at being Linux ;)
These platform arguments are pointless...all operating systems tend to emulate each other. I have a Vista machine and have no problems with it. It just takes some getting use to as all new OS. I also run Win2k, XP, and Ubuntu. They all have their quirks. Vista has DX10 and multiple-core support going for it which is what I consider the selling points of the OS. It also has some nice security features if you know what you're doing.
ThorinII Nov 27th 2007 9:39AM
I'm used to the interface. It's a MAC, so it's not hard to get around in it. But, the security features are annoying and unintuitive. Copying files programs use to another folder so it’s “more secure” is a copout. They’re trying to hide files from virus and hacker threats. All this does is postpone the breach. Fix the holes, don’t bandage them temporarily.
Yeng Nov 27th 2007 10:14AM
It doesn't copy files to different locations to hide from hackers...
What it does do is separate program data from the program. And does so for each user. This is how an OS should perform. Linux does the same thing. By keeping the data separate you protect your data from other users on the same system (not to mention you can uninstall/reinstall the program and not have the data affected).
But as I said, this is nothing new to Vista, all operating systems copy each others features and this separation of program files and data has being going on for a long time in *nix and even in Windows since 2k (Maybe ME even? now if you want to talk about a failed OS, there you go).
The security features that Vista does put into place is that it won't allow anyone to write to a protected directory (program files for example) without the user giving the admin password. It also warns you if another program is trying to access that data. That is what it does to block virus/hacker threats, not just 'hiding the data'.
But anyways, this thread is about screenshots, not operating systems, so I digress. So go find your screenshots wherever your particular OS decides to put them and send them in! :D
Andy Nov 28th 2007 6:48PM
Is this a world of warcraft blog or an "i'm really anal about filesystems" blog?