I admit it.  I’ve been using the “PrtScn” key forever.  That’s how I capture my screen shots.

Of course, that means I have to open “Paint” and then crop the captured image for use later.  But, the process works well for me.   And, I then have the images I need to share with you- my clients, add to a document, or to a book or article.

I also have a program that makes things like this somewhat easier.  I’ve been using Thornsoft Development’s “Clipmate” since I dropped MS-DOS and began using Chicago.  (Oh, you don’t know what that was?  It was the alpha or beta (or both) test version of Windows 95.)  I love Thornsoft’s program, so even though Microsoft has finally released it’s own versions of multiple cut and paste, I still stick with Thornsoft.

Microsoft’s tools are the Windows Snipping Tool (this has been around since Windows’ Vista- you know, the terrible operating system between XP and 7) and Snip & Sketch (October 2018 update of Windows 10).  You can find them by typing “snip” in the Windows search bar.

Snip & Sketch not only captures images, but it lets you edit or mark up those captures in the same program.  (In other words, there’s no need to open Paint.)  By the way, if you click (simultaneously) the “Windows Key”, Shift, and S, you can activate Snip & Sketch right away.   (Please note that if you use OneDrive- your images/cuts may be saved there (under Pictures) instead of on your computer directly.  Don’t get me started about OneDrive’s hijacking of my intentions.)

The different icons (shown above) let you perform different actions.  The first icon lets you draw a rectangle about what you need to clip and save.  (This is equivalent to PrtScn and then using Paste.  This really helps if you are like me, using three screens- there is no need to search for that rectangle I need out of the very, very, very wide screen capture I get from using PrtScn*.)  The second icon is pretty cool- this lets you choose a free-form shape you want to save.  (I need to remember to use this more often!).  The third icon captures the entire screen.  (This is equivalent to PrtScn.)

Each of these notifies you that the image has been captured to the clipboard- which is from where we can draw upon the image or add text.  You can use protractor to save part of a circle, draw arrows- you can even tell the system to save another view in 3 or 10 seconds.

The Snipping Tool is a less powerful version of Snip & Sketch.  (Come on- it’s older.  And, when you open it, Microsoft lets you know they are making changes- that’s euphemism for killing it.)  It can make those free-form cuts, rectangular box cuts, window captures, or the whole screen captures.  It has pen and highlighter functions, otherwise you need to use Paint or Paint3D to annotate what you’ve snipped.

I hope that helps you get those images you need to enhance your documents and help sessions.

*That’s my fault.  I rarely remember that I can use the ‘Alt’ button in concert with the PrtScn key.  That modification just captures the active window.  (Yes, simultaneously pressing the “Alt”+”PrtScn” keys only copies the active window.  And, note- you don’t see the capture- you just hear the windows sound that the image has been captured.  Just like for PrtScn,  the image is saved to your Pictures folder- on your computer or on OneDrive.)

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