For the longest time, I thought the “Print Screen” or “PrtScr” Key on my keyboard was a throw back to much older computers with sheet fed dot matrix printers and would just print out the current Dos command shell.

Once I figured out how to use it in windows, it has become an invaluable tool.

I used to create presentations of source code issues. It was a great help to be able to grab a copy of the screen and place it in a Powerpoint slide or Word Doc.

If you need a complete screen capture or even just the current window, here is what you can do.

If you need to capture the complete screen, press the “Print Screen” button located near the top of the keyboard with the scroll lock or Pause key.   It may seem like nothing has happened, but the complete image of your current desktop has been saved into the clipboard in windows.

If you want to just capture the current window, make sure the window you want is active and press the  Alt and “Print Screen” keys together.

Now open Paint, MS Word or any other program capable of handling images, and type Ctrl-V.  This will take the image that has been captured into memory and place it in the program.  Now you can manipulate the image to crop it or use it in your document.

This is a built in function of the MS Windows Operating system.

If you need more control there are other applications that can let you capture portions of the screen at any time and create a file with a simple keystroke, such as SnagIt!

Tags: Utilities