First thing I want to talk about is how to take a GOOD screenshot, with these tricks you can take a nice looking shot every time without extra stuff on the screen. This first part applies to taking a screenshot of just the map, not an in game shot.

For Counter-Strike 1.5:

• First you need the map...
• You need a normal CS shortcut with -console and -dev in it
• Then you start it up and hit the console button
• Once that loads type map <mapname>
• The map should load if you have all the wads, etc.
• Once it loads open the console and type sv_cheats 1
• With cheats enabled type /noclip to turn on no clipping mode

For Counter-Strike Steam:

• First you need the map...
• Right click CS on the games list and make a shortcut on the desktop
• Edit the shortcut and add -dev to the end
• Once it loads open the console by pressing ~ (next to 1)
• Type sv_cheats 1 into the console
• Type map <mapname> to change to a new map
• The map should load if you have all the wads, etc.
• With cheats enabled type noclip to turn on no clipping mode

Once that is all done you can fly anywhere on the map and take a nice screenshot

The following trick can be using in game or for map only shots. On some maps you start with guns or are in the buy zone when trying to get a good shot, with this little script you can get rid of the HUD and weapon in the shot. Just add this to your autoexec.cfg (CS 1.5) or userconfig.cfg (CS 1.6). If the file does not exist just make a new text file and rename it to the appropriate name. Also you can change the key to anything you want. If you are not sure on how to edit the config files then don't worry about it, it is not incredibly important.

If you are unsure on how to do that but do not know the key to take a screenshot on your setup just bind it to a new key with the following console command. Again, you can change the key to anything you want.

All you have to do now is press F9 to save a screenshot.

After you take a screenshot it will end up in your half-life or cstrike root folder which is by default "C:\Sierra\Half-Life" or "C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\<acocunt name>\counter-strike". The files will be in BMP format and if you have file extension hiding on (which is on by default) it will just have some pretty icon on it. The filename will be the map name plus four numbers after it which represent the number of the shot, so in theory you could take up to 9999 on one map before they started overwriting each other. Once you find them you will need some software to make them the correct size and format for sharing on the web. PIX Resizer is available for free and very simple to use so you should download and install that now. If you want a more advanced program that will import more image formats, includsing TGA, try out ReaJPEG. There is no tutorial avliable for this program and its a little more complicated than PIX Resizer.

Simple with Tutorial Below : PIX Resizer
Advanced Users : ReaJPEG

Pix Resizer Only:
Start up the program and you will be presented with a very simple to use interface. Each step is labeled on the screen you just have to point and click.

Step 2: Here you will set the size you want to adjust the image. Many people have a screen resolution of 1024x768 or larger and the image must be downsized to 800x600. If on your screen next to 100% it says 800x600 you may choose this and move to the next step, otherwise please refer to the graphic on the right and set a custom size of 800 x 600.   When you set one field it automatically adjusts the other to maintain the same shape of the image. If you have a cropped image or an odd resolution it may not let you do 800 x 600, just so 800 is the highest value out of the two fields it will be small enough to upload.

Step 3: Here you will set the output format of the image. The default should be set to JPEG but double check and make sure. This is the standard format in the internet and what we want to save it as.

Well that's it, now you just need to upload it to a gallery. Click Here to return to main album listing.