Readers Questions.
IF01935
Q.
I want to take a screenshot of my screen and save it in a graphics file, so I
can email it to a friend. Do I need to purchase or download special software to
do this?
A.
Taking a screenshot (a picture of what's on your computer screen) is easy! It
requires no software, because the screenshot function is built into
Windows and
Mac OS X. With Windows, it's easy -- just press the PrintScreen (or Prnt Scrn)
button on the keyboard and Windows will copy the entire screen image to the
system clipboard. (Use Alt-PrintScreen if you want just the active window.) Yup,
this is the same clipboard that saves snippets of text when you do a copy &
paste operation. (For Mac screenshot help, see below.)
Getting the
screenshot image OUT of the clipboard and saving it to a file is just a bit more
involved. If you have a favorite graphics or photo editing program that you
prefer, open that program now. If not, open the Microsoft Paint program. To do
so, press Start, Run, type MSPAINT at the prompt, then press Enter.
When MS
Paint opens, click on Edit, then Paste, as shown in the illustration here. The
screenshot image will be pasted from the clipboard into your MS Paint window. If
you want to save the entire screen as an image file, click on File, then Save
As. Enter a file name that's meaningful and easy to remember, then select JPEG
in the Save as type box. Make note of the folder where you're storing the file
(My Pictures is a good choice) then press Enter or click the Save button to save
the file.
That's it,
you're done! You can attach the image to an email, upload it to a website or
save it for further editing.
Advanced
Image Editing
If you want
to crop, add text, resize or otherwise manipulate the image, MS Paint provides a
very basic set of image editing tools. If you handle graphics files on a regular
basis and want a more powerful editing tool, try
IrfanView. This free software is a fast,
small, graphic viewer/editor for Windows that aims to be simple for beginners
and powerful for professionals. It supports many graphics file formats, effects
(sharpen, blur, etc.), creates slideshows, and can print or email your image
files.
Screenshots With Mac OS X
Mac OS X
offers several ways to take a screenshot. Try the following key combinations in
Finder:
shift -
apple key - 3 - Captures the full screen,
and places a PDF file with your screen image on the desktop.
shift -
apple key - 4 - Lets you capture part of
the screen. The cursor will turn into a crosshair, and you can select a portion
of the screen. Press the space bar and you can capture a window, menu, icon,
etc.
In Mac OS X
Tiger, the screen image files are created in PNG format instead of PDF. If you
want the image to go to the clipboard instead of a file, hold the control key
(ctrl) while taking the screenshot. This is handy because you can then paste the
image into any program for further editing.
It is
important to note that there is never one fix for a question.
What may work for one person might not for the next. Depending on the problem
and the way it is described by the Computer Owner there may be Six different
approaches to a positive outcome. If the first answer I give you to your
question doesn’t work let me know and I will send you another.
Just give me details.
Let me know if you need anything else.
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