Help:Taking screenshots

Screenshots are an integral part of the Wiki, Seeing as we are covering a game. So here are some tips to help you get great shots time after time…

Clear Shots

To create a screenshot for the Wiki, Make sure that your computer can run the game at a reasonable quality. If Possible, turn the Graphics Options within Team Fortress 2 onto High/Very High and set both Antialiasing and Anisotropic Filtering to the highest setting they will run at. You can turn this down when you want to play the game again, but it is necessary to take a good screenshot.

Make sure that you read the Image Guidelines so that you take/save your image in an appropriate style/format for the wiki. Screenshots are generally uploaded in .png format.

Console Commands

The following commands can be helpful when taking screenshots within Team Fortress 2. For each code, there is an explanation below that explains how it will affect the screenshot.

  sv_cheats 1

This is required to run many of the console commands below as most are regarded as "cheats". Using this command will not affect your VAC status.

   noclip

This will allow you to move around the map unrestricted. This is how you get some nice looking shots to display.

   cl_drawhud 0

This will remove the heads up display including the timer, health and ammo HUD's.

   r_drawviewmodel 0

This will remove any visible weapons and cross-hairs from the screenshot.

   fog_enable 0

This will remove Fog from the Map. Some shots require this as Fog can interfere with the quality of some shots.

   r_lod 0

Increases the Level of Detail. This simply allows you to see more in your screenshots if they are taken from great distances.

   mat_picmip -1

Increases the quality of textures. This will make all objects look more detailed.

Note: Many of these commands are regarded as a "cheats", so can only be used in local games. It can be used, regardless of server setting, when spectating via SourceTV.

Other Players

Unless necessary for your shot, Make sure that you play on a Local Sever so that you do not capture other players within your screenshot.

Finally, Taking the screenshot

Under Windows

Taking a screenshot is simple by default. Press 'F5' and the image will appear as a TGA (Targa) in your \Steam\SteamApps\<username>\team fortress 2\tf\screenshots directory. You will need to find a convertor for the .tag file to make it into a upload .png

There a numerous websites that exist and will do this for you. Here's a quick link to one… [1]

On a Mac

To take a screenshot on a Mac is slightly simpler than above. By pressing Shift+Cmd+3 at the same time. OSX will automatically take a full screen screenshot. Any images taken via this method will appear on the Desktop.

See also

• Help:Images - Help article on using images
• Image Guidelines - Image Guidelines for the Wiki