Harness Screenshots

Have there ever been times when you wanted to take a screenshot of your computer screen but were unsure how to achieve it? Maybe you want to transmit a hilarious photo to a friend or print something interesting you saw online.

If so, you might be able to download a program designed to take a “screenshot.” There is a great one out there, which I’ll get to later (check the last paragraph), but this functionality is partially integrated into Windows.

The term “screenshot,” which refers to a graphic representation of something on your screen, is simple to do in any version of Windows.

The innovative way to take a screenshot has been there for many Windows versions, although not many people are aware of it. The “Print Screen” (PrtScn or PrtSc) key on your keyboard must be pressed to accomplish this. Older computers require you to hold it for a second or so before you may capture the screen with it. With more recent PCs, all it takes is a tap of your print screen key. When activated, it takes a screenshot of the whole screen and copies it to the clipboard. Then you may paste it into any application that supports graphics, such as Word or your email.

Try pressing the Print Screen key while simultaneously holding down the Alt key. This will only copy to the clipboard the window that is now active. So click on say your browser, press Alt + Print Screen, then you can paste it wherever you like.

The following two methods for taking screenshots will store them to your computer’s default “Pictures” folder. You will not need to paste them, but browse them and use them at a later time.

This one starts by holding the “Windows Key” while then pressing the Print Screen key. The entire screen will be saved. The second method is to press “Windows Key + Alt + PrtScn,” all three keys at the same time. This will take a picture of the currently open window and save it as an image file in your computer’s Pictures folder.

The Snipping Tool is a useful small program that comes pre-installed with Windows. It will open when you press “Windows Key + Shift + S,” and you can use it to draw a rectangle around any portion of the screen. The selection is copied to the clipboard so that you can paste it elsewhere. You can choose to capture a single window, the entire screen, any form you draw with your cursor, or a rectangle when it first appears.

Depending on what you want to capture and how you want to save the snapshot, you can select the technique that suits you the best.

On a Windows PC, you can modify a screenshot using a variety of picture editing programs. A simple picture altering software called Paint is included with Windows. By entering “paint” in the Windows search area and selecting the Paint app, you can launch Paint. Press “Ctrl + V” or choose “Paste” from the “Edit” menu after starting Paint to paste the screenshot. The screenshot can then be modified using Paint’s capabilities to crop, resize, draw, add text, and many other things.

Next week we look at ShareX. In my opinion the best free screenshot app that includes editing built-in.