In my role as a programmer, consultant and business owner, I support the software and web sites that we deliver to clients and frequently find that many folks are unaware of many of the handy features built into Windows. One such time saving feature is the built in capability to capture an image of the current screen.
This can be a real life saver when trying to help clients remotely debug applications, I simply have the client capture the screen that displays a problem or error message and e-mail the screen capture to me. I can see what they are seeing, even if I can’t remotely access their computer, there is no additional software required.
In many cases, the person I’m working with was unaware of this simple, but incredibly handy capability and finds that it can be useful in any number of ways, especially when creating documentation or to grab a snapshot of something.
Most keyboards have a Print Screen key (possibly abbreviated as Prt Scn, Prt Scr, Print Scrn, Prt Sc or Prnt Scrn), which is normally situated near the function keys (Fn keys on the top row) or in the numeric keyboard near the break key and scroll lock key.
On some systems, you can simply press the Print Screen key and an image of the entire screen will be captured as a bitmap and copied to the Windows Clipboard. NOTE: there will be no visible indication that anything happened, but an image of the screen will be in the Clipboard ready for you to use!
You can then open up any application that can use an image, for example: Outlook, Word, Paint, Photoshop, etc and paste the image from the clipboard into the application. To paste the image into an application, either choose Edit \ Paste from the menu, right click and choose Paste from the popup menu, or press CTRL + V (hold down the control key and also press the “V” key) on the keyboard and an image of the screen will appear in your application! It’s just that simple!
By default the entire screen is captured including anything visible on the screen as show in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1: Full screen capture using print screen
Alternatively, you can capture just the active window, which is the window on top (the window with focus for you geeks out there).
For example, if you are a multitasker and have several applications open at once, you might want a screen capture of only the active window, say your web browser. You can capture only the active window by pressing and holding the ALT key and then pressing the Print Screen key. This will capture and copy the contents of the open window to the clipboard and you are ready to paste it into your application.
NOTE: As a I mentioned earlier, the labeling of the print screen key on your keyboard may vary. On the notebook I’m using to write this blog, it’s shared with the HOME key and says “prt sc”. My old notebook had a “Prt Scr” key, while my desktop at home has a key that says “Prt Scrn” and is shared with the Sys Req key.
On some computers, you might have to use a combination of keystrokes to activate the screen capture such as the FUCNTION key and the Print Screen key (hold down the function key, usually FN and press the Print Screen key) to capture the screen. For example, on my notebook, the label “prt sc” on the key has a box drawn around it, as does the function “fn” key, which indicates that I must press both to capture the screen. On my desktop, I only need to hit the “Prt Scrn” key.
If you are not sure which key or keys invoke the screen capture function, there are two ways to find out. First, you can try various keyboard combinations and paste operations until you end up with an image pasted into your application. For example, you could just press the print screen button, then go to Word and paste. If you don’t get the image, try CRTL+PrintScreen, then go to Word and paste. If that doesn’t work, try FN+PrintScreen, then go to Word and paste… You get the idea.
Alternatively, you can review the documentation that shipped with your computer and/or review manufacturer’s website for instructions on which key presses will work with your system.
One final note, Windows Vista ships with a handy screen capture application called “Snipping Tool” built in. Snipping Tool is more powerful that the basic screen capture because it has some basic editing capabilities. If you have Vista, you can find is in the Start \ All Programs \ Accessories menu.
There are also several third party screen capture applications like Snagit which have even more functionality, but are not free.
I have found that for all but the most advanced tasks, the native screen capture feature (print screen) is more than sufficient and can be a great time saver!
