How to Create Realistic Flight Simulator X Screenshots

Microsoft's Flight Simulator X is another addition to their franchise of top-of-the-line flight simulators. Players can fly a range of aircraft through and around incredibly detailed city and country environments based on real world locations. To document a particularly scenic display, players have the in-game ability to capture very realistic screen shots. With a little Photoshop help, screenshots look so realistic they fool the casual eye.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Microsoft Flight Simulator X
• Adobe Photoshop

1. Start the Flight Simulator X game. Click "Options" and set the graphics detail to its highest setting.

2. Set the shot to be as realistic as possible. Press "Shift+Z" on your keyboard to toggle visible coordinates and frame rates. To obtain the most realistic screenshot, turn off these elements.

3. Press "V" on your keyboard to take a screen shot.

4. Find the screenshot by exiting the Flight Simulator X and locating the shot in your Flight Simulator X files in the "Pictures" folder on your computers hard drive.

5. Open the picture in Photoshop. Duplicate the background layer by pressing "Ctrl+J."

6. Right click the duplicate layer and select "Hard Light". Select "Soft Light" if the image is too dark or too light.

7. Click the "Layer" menu and select "Flatten Image". Save the image by pressing "Ctrl+S" and setting "Quality" to 12 for the largest, highest definition image and click "OK."

Tips & Warnings

• Slower computers can have a hard time running proper frame rates for Flight Simulator X, especially when graphic settings are cranked to their maximum. Make sure your computer has current generation processing power and graphics card.
• For advanced Photoshop users, working with the "Threshold" and "Gaussian Blur" settings can further increase the realism in your screenshots.