Screen shot is a term used for describing the action of you capturing the computer desktop or anything, which is shown in your computer screen for a static image file. In simple words, it is a method of taking a snapshot or a picture of the computer screen. Some people refer to it as screen grab as well. You can very easily learn how to take a screenshot.
Screen shots can be really helpful if you want to demonstrate something, which is difficult to explain in words. Screenshots can be helpful in software reviews, software tutorials and technical support troubleshooting. Here are some simple steps on how to take screenshot.
Windows XP
- First, you will have to find out what keys on your keyboard you have to press for getting a screenshot. It can be done by pressing PrintScreen, PrntScrn or you can simply press Ctrl or Fn.
- Now, you will have to press the screenshot keyboard shortcut on the keyboard for getting a screenshot. Once you have pressed that button, you will have to open Microsoft Word or Microsoft Paint. For doing this, go in the start menu>all programs>accessories>paint. Once you are inside Paint then you must click on the blank white screen.
- Enter the Edit menu option and click on the Paste option or you can use a keyboard shortcut i.e. Ctrl+V. Now you have got the screenshot and you can crop it if you like.
- Once you are done editing the picture, click on the File option and then on Save As. A box will pop-up, there you will have to change the Save As type from PNG to JPG. Start typing the filename that you want for the image. Select a folder to save it, like My Documents or the Desktop and then click on save.
- If you have to send the image to somebody, then simply attach this image file, which you have saved in your email. You can upload this file on the internet as well by going on the site TinyPic.com and upload it.
Windows Vista
- In Vista there is a tool, which is called snipping tool, but this tool will not be available in Home Basic menu. You will have to click on that snipping tool.
- The snipping tool will open and apply a white mask on the screen. Inside the drop-down menu there will be a ‘New’ button, from there you can select free-form snip, window snip, full screen snip or rectangular snip.
- In the option free-form snip, you will have to draw another area that you wish to capture, start dragging a rectangle inside the rectangular snip mode. In the window snip mode, you will have to choose the window that you wish to capture. In the full-screen option, just choose the drop down menu and then capture.
- This snipped image will then open inside the snipping tool, but it will be copied to the windows clipboard as well for using it in different applications.
Windows 7
- If you wish to take screenshots in Windows 7, then you will find it inside a program called snipping tool. You will find this program in Start menu>all programs>accessories.
- You can easily take a screenshot of the entire screen, a window or just a screen; you can choose any option.
- You can take a screenshot by simply pressing Alt, Print Screen. You will have to hold the Alt key when you press the print screen option. This will be very easy to take a screenshot as compared to the snipping tool, if you want to take it for the whole screen.
Tips and Warnings:
- If you have to take screenshot of the active window, then simply press ‘Alt+Print screen. This means you will have to press the Alt key at the same time when you press the print screen button.
- For quickly assessing Paint, just press the Windows key and then ‘R’, after this simply start typing ‘mspaint’ in the box that appears on your screen.
- Most of the laptops these days come with conserved keyboard space, which has mapped PrtSc key for the shared key. For taking a screenshot with PrtSrc you will have to use the Fn (function) key along with it.
- Depending on the version you are using of Windows, the Paint program will save the screenshot in different formats. BMP will be the default option, but there is another option, PNG, which supports transparency. JPEG is used for compressed image format and is specially developed for the photographic images. For such images, it will give smallest size file the best quality. GIF will support many colors. However, this program is outdated and should not be used.
- If you want to put the screenshot on the website, make sure that it does not exceed the suggested file limit.
- Sometimes when you save the screenshot, it can turn out to be a huge file. Therefore, it is recommended that you crop the image and then convert it.
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