Help With Game Pictures

[NeeNeePearl]

Hi Everyone,

I just started my second attempt at a dynasty, and I've been taking screenshots to put in my first post. My problem is, the activity queue thing, the "Sim thinks Other Sim is being friendly" thing, and the plumbob - etc, have all gotten in the way. I think the "hideheadlineeffects" cheat only hides thought bubbles, which I don't mind. I use 'tab' to remove the UI but it still doesn't get rid of the things I mentioned. Does anybody know of a way to take clearer pictures of the sims, without trying desperately to crop them and hide everything else?

Hope this is the right place to put this, thanks in advance! 

[Ricalynn]

How are you actually taking the pictures?   I never see the UI unless I use the Print Screen button but the way to take in game screenshots which doesn't show the UI is to hit the C button or hit the little camera next to the family funds window (not the pink memory camera).

[NeeNeePearl]

How are you actually taking the pictures?   I never see the UI unless I use the Print Screen button but the way to take in game screenshots which doesn't show the UI is to hit the C button or hit the little camera next to the family funds window (not the pink memory camera).

Sorry I wasn't very clear, I'm not sure how to explain it 

I use a mac, and I take the in game screenshots by pressing the 'tab' button, which removes the UI for you, but not the plumbob and the activity queue.  Here's my awful, image editing attempt to try and help show you I pointed arrows at the things that won't go away.

[Ricalynn]

I use a Mac and the keybind is still the "C" button or the camera at the bottom of the screen.   What button do you use?  Tab for me just makes the picture come in closer it doesn't actually take the screenshot for me.  Did you change your keybinds for the Sims so that Tab takes the screenshot for you? 

Edit: And when you take the screenshot - it appears in your screenshots folder using the tab key? 

Do you use mods or CC?

[NeeNeePearl]

I use a Mac and the keybind is still the "C" button or the camera at the bottom of the screen.   What button do you use?  Tab for me just makes the picture come in closer it doesn't actually take the screenshot for me.  Did you change your keybinds for the Sims so that Tab takes the screenshot for you? 

Edit: And when you take the screenshot - it appears in your screenshots folder using the tab key? 

Do you use mods or CC?

Oh, sorry, duh, my bad, you're right, tab doesn't take the screenshot. *facepalm* I press tab, then I do Command + Shift + 3 and the screenshot saves automatically to my desktop. I don't press C because for some reason the screenshot never saves to the launcher. (Or anywhere else, that I can find)

Nope, I don't have any mods or anything, just plain sims with a couple expansion packs.

So, I guess my problem is, I press tab, take a screenshot, and then I have to crop the picture to edit out the plumbob and the activity queue and the red pause thingy, etc, and i was wondering if there's any cheat or button you can press that temporarily rids the screen of more than just the UI, so I can get a clear picture without trying to allow for cropping out all the extra stuff.

So sorry if I'm not making much sense! 

[Ricalynn]

Command + Shift + 3 is the same equivalent as taking a printscreen on a PC so there is no way to get around catching the UI with it because basically you are taking a picture of what's on your screen at that moment not specifically what's in the game.


Do you have a Sims 3 folder located under Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3?  Does that folder have within it a folder named screenshots?

You're updated all the way and you have actually tried hitting the C button and then looking in that screenshots folder?  The launcher isn't the place where it saves.  It saves to your Screenshots folder under The Sims 3.  Do you actually have permission to write to that folder?  Do you know how to check to see that you do?

I've only recently come across this being an issue for Macs because annieb has the same problem whereas I've never had this problem and I'm on my third Mac with the software on it.   

Just so you know the easiest way to get rid of the plumbob is to select someone not on your screen at the moment which only really works if you have more than one person in the house.  Otherwise, use the tab key and get in close and you shouldn't see it above their head.  The plumbob will show up whether it's a screenshot or a printscreen.


Do you play in fullscreen mode or windowed?

[Execution]

PC player here, but if you ever need to remove a plumbob, you can always zoom in and go lower. For me, zoom in is mouse wheel and go lower is q (higher is e).

[Noodles]

"hideHeadlineEffects on" hides thought bubbles, the plumbob, skill bars... the only thing it does not hide is the group/date icon, which is a bit annoying as I'd rather get rid of everything hovering over their heads.

BUT if you'd use 'C' to take the screenshot, the UI will not be visible even if you have it on screen. You can use Tab to get to 'cameraman mode' which allows for better zooming, but you don't need to do it to remove the UI, it will be removed from the screenshot anyway. The problem is you are not using the in-game screenshot command, right?