| Also
known as a screen dump, snapshot, or screen capture, a
screen shot or screenshot
is an image that is created from a software program or the
operating
system. Once a screen shot has been captured it can be saved as
a image file, manipulated, and/or printed. For example, the image
to the right is an example of a screen shot in the computer
game Caesar. |
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There are numerous different ways to capture a screen shot
and often each of these methods depend on what
computer operating system you are using and what you intend to take
a screen shot of. Below is a listing of different methods of
creating screen shots.
Microsoft Windows users and
most other operating systems
Most computer users can easily create a screen shot
by pressing the print screen key on
their computer keyboard. This will
usually take the screen shot and place it into the computer
clipboard.
Once in the clipboard, a user can almost always
paste
that screen shot into a graphic program.
Additional tip for
Microsoft Windows users
Pressing and holding the ALT
key with the Print Screen key will enable
you to create a screen shot only for the window
currently active.
Additional short cut keys can be
found
here.
Other software operating
systems, programs, and/or games
If you are unable to successfully create a screen
shot using any of the above recommendations it is likely that you
will need the aid of a third-party software program. Below is a
listing of some screen shot programs you may wish to consider.
http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzpro/
(MAC)
http://www.atlantsoft.com/utils/ssm.htm
http://www.fraps.com/ (Images
and movies)
http://www.screen-capture.net/
http://www.screenshot-utility.com/
http://www.techsmith.com/products/snagit/default.asp
Click here to open a search for additional screen shot / capture
programs.
Games
Many games will include a screen shot option or
setup that enables the players to simply press a key such as the
print screen key or
F11 key. This varies between games and it is
recommended you refer to the game key options and/or the manual
for information about this availability. If this is not
available, see the next section.
Screen shots from movies
When watching a movie or video file you may want to
grab a single screen shot image. To do this in Windows Media Player
see document CH000723.
Viewing, editing, and
saving screen shots
Although many of the above programs will allow you
to capture screen shots not all will allow you to save those
screen shots in any format and/or edit the screen shots. Often you
will need an image editor to perform these tasks. See
document CH000760 for a
large listing of available image editors including many of the
free popular image editors.
Also see: Fraps, Game definitions, Print
screen
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