How to take the Perfect Warcraft Screenshot

While traveling Azeroth, you may want to take screenshots to share with friends or even post them on your blog or website.  It's no secret that pressing "print screen" on your keyboard is super easy and anyone can do it.  However, there really is an art form to taking the perfect screenshot and I want to go over a few things I do to capture the perfect screenshot.  Some of these are obvious while others are technique and experience through photography in real life.

-Disable your UI by pressing ALT-Z.  Chat and UI can be obtrusive and make the screenshot look cluttered and very unappealing.

-Before taking your screenshot make sure to set your graphics as high as they can go.  Doing this will make edges smoother, colors more vibrant and the over all look of your screenshot more graphically appealing.  Using some of these World of Warcraft console commands can help with that as well.  Even if your computer does not support max settings, you can always change it back after you take the screenshot.  This is one of the most important things you should focus on when wanting to take the perfect screenshot.  The graphics quality is what defines your screenshot.

-Avoid using third party software like Gyazo or Puush to take screenshots.  They lower the quality of the screenshot to save bandwidth on their servers.  Use "Print Screen" on your keyboard and simply paste the screenshot into Photoshop or your favorite photo editing software.

-Using different perspectives is key to the perfect screenshot.  Unless taking screenshots of your own character, be sure to switch to first person view.  Using unique perspectives is what will make your screenshot stand out from the thousands of others you see across the internet.  Using the rule of the thirds just as it is used in photography is also beneficial.  Centering your focus point is often times boring and considered "default" and people have seen it tons of times. Be creative and make the screenshot your own!

-Save your screenshot in the highest quality possible.  Lowering the quality lowers the graphic appearance and can even remove color quality of the screenshot.

-If your uploading your screenshot to the internet be sure to choose an image host that does not lower the quality by compressing the size of the screenshot.  This can pixelate the screenshot lowering the quality once again.

Executing the perfect WoW screenshot is not always easy.  I am very picky about pixelation and poor image skins.  Some of the older World of Warcraft building and tree skins are poor quality.  I find the hardest thing to avoid is the poor quality trees.  No matter how high you crank up your graphics, the trees will always look jagged, pixelated around the edges and the skinning is not the greatest.  The easiest way to make them look better is by being further away from them or avoiding them entirely. Some of the building skins were made for lower resolution making them look bad up close so to avoid this you need to be further away.

In the end, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  You can take the perfect screenshot and show the world but everyone will still see it differently than you do.  I hope you find use in these techniques and may you have joy in traveling Azeroth in search of the most beautiful places!

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