HOW TO GET HELP - Providing RELEVANT INFORMATION & How to post SCREENSHOTS
Hi there
Nothing wastes more time and causes more 'frustration' (and often leads to questions not being replied to at all) than having to post straight back to a question with another question like 'What soundcard are you using', 'What version of Windows do you have' etc...
The general information that will really help out can be listed in your signature space - go to
User Control Panel at the top of a forum page, click on the
Signature and Comment tab. Once you've typed in the information, click on
Save.
The big benefit of doing this is that your specs will appear automatically at the bottom of
every post you make.
Things to list * The version of Guitar Tracks you're using
* The Operating System (which version of Windows) on your DAW computer (and if it's 32bit or 64bit)
* Your computers processor arrangement and speed
* How much RAM your system has
* The make and model of your soundcard and/or audio interface, and what drivers you're using with them
In the question itself, try to add further information
specific to the problem at hand - especially if third party hardware/software is being used.
Too much information is
always preferable to too little information.
If you're unsure how to find some of your computer specs, click on
Start, right click on
My Computer (XP) or
Computer (Vista) and choose
Properties from the options.
If you are using your computer's built in soundcard, double click on the loudspeaker icon in your system tray (bottom right of your screen, usually by the clock) - this should open the audio mixer, your soundcard's name may appear here.
If it doesn't, follow this pathway:
Start > Control Panel (Classic View)
> Device Manager and click on the
+ sign next to
Sound, video and game controllers
Screenshots Finally, if you can't do so already, take 20 minutes or so to learn how to post
Screenshots - remember, we can't see what you see. A screenshot overcomes this barrier and will almost certainly get your problem sorted out more quickly.
Here you go, I'll run through how to insert a screenshot such as this:
To take screenshots of what actually appears on your monitor, use the
Print Screen/SysRq key - you may have to hold it for a second or two until the image is copied to your clipboard. The cursor may blink rapidly to let you know the screen image has been captured.
You can accomplish the next stage in any number of ways but this is how I find it easiest for me. The screenshot is copied to your clipboard as a PNG file - I like to work with JPG's or GIF's for uploading so first thing I do is paste (Ctrl+V) the image into
Paint.net (or Paint) and save it either as a
.jpg or a
.gif.
You can edit the image in any number of applications - I use Photoshop Elements for more detailed stuff (like blurring the backgrounds of windows etc) but for adding text and arrows I use Paint.net.
Now you have the image you want to use in a post in the forum - the image is displayed by way of a link to it in your post. To these ends, the image must be uploaded to a web site and be given it's own 'address' which the forum software can read by way of the code used.
As my host program, I, and a lot of others here use Photobucket - it's free account is perfect for hosting images that are to be displayed on web pages. To open up a account go to
Photobucket Once you're up and running with Photobucket, use the
Upload images & videos button in your album to navigate to the image on your PC that you want to display; when you double click an image it's file name will be loaded into the appropriate field. For multiple image uploads, select them all (holding down the Ctrl button) and then click on
Open:
When your image has uploaded, left click in the 'Direct Link' field beneath it, then right click to open the drop-down options, now click on
Copy to copy the address of the image:
Now, in the post reply window in the forum, click on the
Image icon button from the options along the top:
In the window that opens, use Ctrl+V to paste in the link from your Photobucket album and then click on
Insert Image:
One very important point, the images that appear in your posts are not 'really' embedded there - the image has to always be in your Photobucket album and have the same 'address' - if you delete the image in your album, it will also be removed from your post.
Hope this helps - if you have any more questions or need any more information, please post back in this thread.
Steve
post edited by SteveStrummerUK - 2011/05/10 09:58:52