There are three ways to capture an image from the game:
1) Using the game's Camera feature,
2)Using the Print Screen function on your PC's keyboard,
3)Using Sim Camera.

1. Using The Game's Camera Feature:

I no longer use the game's Camera for capturing images, unless I'm writing a story for The Sims Exchange. Any pictures taken with the Camera are stored in The Sims Photo Album folders. When you load your game, you are also loading the images and this slows up loading time. In addition, if you really have a lot of images stored in the folders, it may effect the performance of your game (this information came from a Maxis official, and from experience, I agree).

When I do use the Camera, even for a story, I remove the images from the folder and save them on a CD. If you choose to capture images with the Camera, I suggest using the medium settings, when possible, to save storage space.

Once you take the pictures, you can find them in The Sims' Photo Album folder by following this path:

For Single Neighborhood Players:
C:/ProgramFiles/Maxis/TheSims/UserData/PhotoAlbum

For Multiple Neighborhood Players:
C:/ProgramFiles/Maxis/TheSims/UserData(#ofNeighborhood)/PhotoAlbum

In the Photo Album folder, you'll see all of the photos that were taken for any household in that particular neighborhood. Each household's set of images will contain three related files: the original image as a jpeg, it's text file, the original image as a thumbnail jpeg.

Each image will be identified by the family's name, a family number (that is randomly assigned by the game), and the number of the image, i.e., Faer-ee_3_0002. You should be able to preview the image in the folder by clicking once, or double click for it to load to it's original size.

When uploading images from your family's Photo Album to the web, you'll have to know the original number of the jpeg, or you can rename the jpeg. Renaming the jpeg in the Photo Album will move it from it's original place in numerical order, so instead I recommend making a copy of the jpeg, paste it into another folder, and renaming it there.

If you have a Paint program with a preview or browse feature, you can see all of the jpegs and it's thumbnail and find the one you're looking for very easily.

FYI: A good way to lessen loading time or retrieve space on your PC is to go into the Photo Album folder of every neighborhood and delete photos of families that no longer exist. If you don't want to loose some or all of the photos, you can move them to another folder outside of the main Maxis folder, or save to a 3.5 disc or (if you have a CD writer) store on a CD.

2. Using the Print Screen Function:

I use the Print Screen function to capture images from the game (or for skins using The Sims Character Makeover Studio) for my web sites and Tales. To use this function, you must also have a Paint or Photo Editor program. The Paint that comes with Windows (under Accessories) is good enough for this purpose, so don't think you have to go buy another program.

Open your Paint, and load the game. When you're ready to capture an image, press the Print Screen button on the upper right hand corner of your keyboard. Switch out of the game to your Paint by quickly pressing the Alt then Tab keys on your keyboard.

Either right click your mouse to "Paste" the image, or select "Edit" then "Paste". You will then see the entire screen from the game. Use the select or crop feature to crop the image anyway you like. Save your image as a jpeg in a folder you prefer outside of the Maxis folder.

3. Using Sim Camera:

Sim Camera is a program created by Katsuyuki Namba. It is a non-Maxis program to capture images from the game. You can find it at: http://www.thesimsworkshop.

Why use Sim Camera? Well, it's a handy little tool that allows you to capture the screen shots using the Print Screen method, but it automatically saves the photos for you in a designated folder. This saves time because you don't have to stop, switch out of the game, paste and save your image, then switch back to the game to continue capturing images.

I use Sim Camera when I'm taking a lot of pictures at one time. This way, I can keep the action going in the game without pausing after every single shot. I can also take a series of animated images when using the Character Makeover. In addition, when I use the Print Screen method the normal way, sometimes I forget to switch out to my Paint, and I loose a shot. With Sim Camera, this is never a problem.

When you open Sim Camera, you'll see a browser in the larger square on the upper right. Find the folder where you want to send the pictures as you take them (the contents of the folder will appear on the left). Also select the format of the image, bitmap or jpeg. Always save as a jpeg (because this format creates smaller files and can be uploaded to the web) unless a bitmap is needed. You can also set the quality, but remember, the higher the quality, the more pixels in an image. Which isn't a bad thing, just know that images with more pixels take up more storage space in your PC and on the web.

Leave Sim Camera open (you can minimize it), and load your game. When you're ready to capture the image, press the Print Screen button, and continue playing the game taking the screen shots as needed.

After you have taken all of the pictures, open your Paint program. If your Paint has a browser with previews, you can find the designated folder and view all of the images at one time. If not, open each image individually to select the ones you want to keep, crop and save with an appropriate name.

Notice that Sim Camera saves the images by numbers, "Sim0001", Sim0002, etc. It's important to rename these images right away if you're going to go back to the game to continue taking pictures, because Sim Camera will start back at "Sim0001", overwriting the previous images. Remember to delete the files that you do not want.

Taking GREAT Screen Shots

If you want your pictures from the game to look good, it's important to know how to take great 
screen shots. 

Don't forget that there are three zooms in the game: Far Zoom for overall large area shots when you 
want to get a lot into the picture; Medium Zoom for average shots when  you need to get almost 
everything in the picture, but the emphasis is on a specific area; and, Close-up Zoom for close-up 
more intimate shots when you want to show detail.

  Full Game Screen-Far Zoom View
~Image is smaller than actual size~

The  View Has Not Been Changed, But The Zoom Has. Notice There Is More Detail 
                  Seen In The Close-up Zoom View Than In The Above Picture.
                                          ~Image is smaller than actual size~

To get a great screen shot of a lot , it is a good idea to
 
1) have Sims in the lot so that the lights turn on when the 
Sim is in the room,

2) remove or move any wall decor that have backs 
to them so that you create the illusion of looking into a 
"see through wall", 

3) remove any ceiling lamps (for the same reason 
as above), 

4) have the back walls up, and,

5) use the right zoom for the picture.

This is a poor interior shot of this house. It's supposed
 to show off the kitchen, but you cannot see much of it 
and there is a lot of unnecessary parts of the house in 
the picture. 

Even if this image was cropped to get rid of  the walls to 
the hallway and other rooms, you wouldn't have much of 
the kitchen in the picture.

~Image is smaller than actual size~

To get a better shot, use the Medium or  Close-up Zoom, 
set up the Sims and put the game into "Paused".


In "Paused", raise the walls by clicking the "Walls Up" 
icon. 


Click the "Pause" button, then click the "Walls Cut Away" 
icon  (the one that's to the right  Walls Up icon). 



If the front walls do not "break away", then hover 
slowing in front of them with the arrow and they should. 



If the back or side wall also breaks away, start again 
and be sure to hover very slowly. 



Capture your screen shot when the "Paused" is no 
longer showing and the front walls have cut away.

Cropping the image, especially to get rid of the bottom of the game's screen and emphasizing 
a specific area, will make this an even better picture of the kitchen.

~Images are smaller than actual size~

                     ~Image is Shown Actual Size~