How to Take a Screen Shot

This is for those of you who have Windows XP and want to take a screen shot and are not sure how to do it. If you have Windows 7 you are already set with the Snippet Tool.  This works great if you see something on a website or want to share something in a program with someone. This is one way to do it. For those Cricuteer friends of mine, it is also great for showing everyone what you have drawn in Inkscape, MTC or SCAL or any program for that matter. This is a pretty easy way to do it.

I got this from www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/tips/screenshot.mspx, Just in case you want to go there and look at a better explanation. I added a few of my own tips on here.

1. Click the window you want to capture. Press ALT+PRINT SCREEN by holding down the ALT key and then pressing the PRINT SCREEN key. The PRINT SCREEN key is near the upper right corner of your keyboard. (Depending on the type of keyboard you have, the exact key names on your keyboard may vary slightly.)
Note: You can take a screen shot of your entire desktop rather than just a single window by pressing the PRINT SCREEN key without holding down the ALT key. At this point, it doesn't look like it did anything but wait!
2. Click Start, click Accessories, and then click Paint. Personally, I have a Paint icon ready to go at the bottom of my screen. I use it a lot!
3. In the Paint window, click Edit, and then click Paste. (I just do a “Control V” to paste it)
4. When the image appears in the Paint window, you can decide if you want to keep the whole window or just cut out what you want to show. If you want to cut out a particular part, just use the upper left icon, a box type thing, and pull a line around the part you want and do a “Control X” this will take it out and put it on the clipboard. Go to “File”, “New” and you will have a new Paint screen. (I just do a “Control N”.) Next do a “Control V” which will paste just that selection you wanted on to the window.
Now go to “File”, and then click “Save As”.
5. In the “Save As” dialog box, in the File name box, type a name for the screen shot, and then click Save. (I would recommend saving in GIF if it is a special photo it will look nicer than a JPG)

You can now print or e-mail the saved screen shot just like you would any other picture.

I would recommend reducing the size of the window just a bit because it does such a nice job of capturing the screen that it fills up your Paint screen.