To remove all the on-screen overlays and achieve a “clean” image in Trainz, press the F5 function key. To restore the overlays, press F5 again.
Screenshots can be taken in any Trainz mode (Surveyor, Driver, scenarios, etc) by pressing the PrintScreen (PrtScr) key on the keyboard. However, Trainz does not react to this key in the same way as most other programs. This is because there is often a requirement to take multiple screenshots in Trainz without leaving the program. Therefore instead of storing a single screen image in the clipboard (the cut and paste buffer), Trainz creates multiple JPG files in the C:\Program Files (x86)\N3V Games\TS12\UserData\screenshots folder (or similarly named folders for the other versions of Trainz and TGA extension). These files are automatially assigned sequencial numbered filenames such as Screen_001.jpg.
After closing Trainz, the TGA screenshot files (Trainz 2004) can be opened in an image processing program such as Irfanview where operations including the following can be performed:
- Cropping (removing unwanted parts of the image).
- Adjustment of the brightness/gamma, contrast, or RGB colour balance.
- Conversion to an image file format such as jpg which will greatly reduce the file size.
For advanced image processing a more sophisticated program such as GIMP or PhotoShop can be used.
Tips For Creating Screenshots
- Press Alt-U in Surveyor mode to switch to ‘look around’ mode. Can be useful to get exact positioning of screenshots. All menus and the compass point are removed. Press Esc to exit.
- Press Alt-Y in Surveyor mode to switch to ‘walk around’ mode. A view from the ground from which the height is not adjustable.
- Experiment with increasing your screen resolution and then taking the shot. In an image editing program reduce to a suitable size.
