Starting xv

In any xterm window type xv.

A window with the xv logo will appear in a few seconds.

xv Controls

To get the control window, click the right button while in the xv window. A new window will appear with a whole bunch of buttons along the right hand side (this page would be better if it had pictures - someday).

Warning:  xv doesn't work gracefully with some of the alternate window managers like vtwm.   It wants to display its windows in your "home" window, regardless of where you are now, so if you don't see a window pop up when it should, go look in your "home" window.

Taking the screen shot

xv takes pictures of single windows. To take the picture, click left on the "grab" button, and then click left on the window whose picture you want. The xv window will change to show the window whose picture you just took.
 

Cropping your picture

If you want to keep only a portion of your screen shot, click the "AutoCrop" button, then use the left mouse button to select the top left corner of your crop area, and hold the left button down until the bounding box is around the area you wish to crop.  When you have the correct area identified, then
click on "Crop" in the main window, and you should see the cropped picture.  If you don't like it,
click "Uncrop" and you will get your original screen shot back.
 

Changing the colors

If you want to play with the colors, then you can bring down the "Windows" menu and select "Color Editor", and change things around.  Most selections have a "reset" option on them if you don't like the effect; also, nothing is saved until you explicitly say to, so don't worry about ruining your picture.
 

Saving the screen shot

Click left on the save button and a new window will appear with an area in which you provide a filename for the saved file, and lots of options on the format in which to save the information. You'll probably want it to be postscript if you are printing the image and gif if you are going to use it on a web page. If you use postscript, it will bring up yet another window and at the top right click left on the "preview" button, then click "ok".
 

Using saved screen shots in xfig

Bring up xfig. Select "Picture"; then, using the left mouse button, draw the rectangle where you want the snapshot to go - don't worry about the size or shape at this point, just more or less where you want it. When you've finished with the rectangle, xfig will bring up a popup window. Fill in your saved file name in the box labeled "Picture Filename", click the selection named "EPS" under "Type:", and then click "apply". Your picture will show up in the box you outlined - it will probably look funny - not to worry. Now click on the button at the bottom of the popup window labeled "Use original size", which will make your picture its original size. If it is too big or small, then you can use the "Scale" feature in xfig to resize it, while keeping its original aspect ratio.


Mon Sep 28 14:21:18 EDT 1998