Master the Screen Shot and DON’T send your CEO your desktop!
Happy Tuesday Morning and here you go, another oldie but goodie. If you hate copying screen shots to your clipboard only to go crop out your desktop afterwards like we used then this tip is for you…
Who wants to send their task bar layered with AOL IM windows and Random Fire Fox Browser Pages on to let the board of directors know how you spend your time?? No I didn’t think so.
If you can relate then this tips for you, faithful Windows User:
Alt + Print Screen
Hit that and BOOM you have a screen shot in your clipboard of only your active window. Leaving behind your slacker goodness and only passing along the relevant stuff. This will work with all Windows OS’s 2000 or better.
Hit or Miss? Do you guys want more tips like this or other stuff?
Edit: Here is the same tip but better for OSx From Reader Sandy:
And also, if you’re running OSX: Command-Shift-4 does the same thing, and also saves the image to your desktopfor easy attachment to e-mails. For windows with rounded borders, the little bits of desktop that would be visible at the corners is automatically removed.
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about 4 years ago
That’s a great tip, I use it all the time.
about 4 years ago
Also a great little freeware proggie for windows called MWSnap, with all kinds of very easily accessible features.
about 4 years ago
And also, if you’re running OS X:
Command-Shift-4 does the same thing, and also saves the image to your desktop for easy attachment to e-mails. For windows with rounded borders, the little bits of desktop that would be visible at the corners is automatically removed.
about 4 years ago
I remember that Alt-PrintScreen works in Windows 3.1 too. Anyone remember that?
about 4 years ago
There was a print screen button on my keyboard – on my 8088? I dont think so but I am going to look! Thanks Ray!
You are truly old skool :)
about 4 years ago
The CEO (or your admin) probably won’t appreciate a lot of shots like this because the files are too big.
Instead – Do the Alt-Print Screen thing then…
1. Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, Paint
2. In Paintbrush, click Edit, Paste
3. Once your picture is displayed, click File, Save As
4. Type a file name (eg: C:\temp\Picture.jpg) and set the Save as Type box to read JPEG (*.JPG;*.JPEG;*.JPE;*.JFIF)
If you attach your file to email then, it will be a lot smaller.
The difference is about 2.25MB versus 197K for a 1024×768 screen.
Paintbrush versions earlier than XP (2000?) won’t let you save as JPEG, so if you’re using an older version of windows, consider getting a freeware paint program.
about 4 years ago
@Gavin I have been pasting directly into outlook 2007 and the emails are under 300k. Hmmm maybe there is some sort of built in compression
about 4 years ago
I know about the built in stuff, but I personally like Irfanview. It’s a free image viewer with all kinds of extra goodies built in, including quite a few ways to grab screenshots.
You can have whole desktop, foreground window or foreground window client area only. It will leave out the mouse cursor if you want, you can have it capture on a user definable hotkey or after a given number of seconds. You can save to a specific location or bring it up in the Irfanview window so you can hand crop, resize, rotate, futz with the colours etc. before saving.
And that’s only a bit of what it can do.
Shane
about 4 years ago
Sorry, 8088 can’t run Windows 3.1, so you can’t try the difference between PrintScreen and Alt-PrintScreen on that.
about 4 years ago
For delivering the information on the screenshot, I’ll prefer saving the file as GIF instead of JPG, which JPG is designed for photos with continuous change of colour.
I’ve tried that at work before and the result is quite good.
about 4 years ago
Thanks everyone that is some good stuff
about 4 years ago
What a perfect tip! Simple, no extra software to add. Brilliant!
about 2 years ago
Screenhunter 5.0 (what I use) sounds similar… the main thing I like is that it also has an option to just capture a rectangle that you draw on the screen. No editing options in the free version tho :(
about 2 years ago
I will have to check it out. Sounds like you have lots of tools in your kit Chris. If you ever want to write for AtA reviewing progies like this let me know.
about 2 years ago
Try Snippy:
http://www.bhelpuri.net/Snippy/
It runs right from the exe and is free.
about 2 years ago
Certainly! I’m pretty busy during the school year between my day job and trying to run my blog and a few sites, but I’d love to contribute during vacations and such.
about 2 years ago
That’s great Chris. Send me an email to info at asktheadmin dot com and we will take it from there.