How to Take a Screenshot on Windows 8

A company called SurfCast has sued Microsoft for its Live Tiles feature in Windows 8, because it violates a patent it has for the mosaic of tiles that contains dynamically updated information.

Taking screenshots on earlier versions of Windows 7 involved the use of the Print Screen key to capture a screenshot of the entire desktop. It was then placed in the Windows clipboard from which a user had to paste it in Paint or GIMP to use it. Thankfully, Windows 8 has made taking screenshots much easier. Here are two very simple ways of taking screenshots using the Windows 8 OS.

Using Print Screen and Windows Key
The earlier versions took screenshots when you pressed the PrtScn (print screen) key on your keyboard and saved it into the clipboard so that it could be imported to any graphics program. To save a screenshot of the active window only, and not the whole screen, the Alt and Print Screen key had to be pressed together. Windows 8 has come up with a better shortcut which allows you to extend the basic function of the Print Screen button and a smart new keyboard shortcut that lets you automatically save the captured information on the screen.

? Set the screen which you want to take the screenshot of.

? Press down the Windows Key and the Print Screen key on your keyboard. The Print Screen key is located on the upper right hand corner of a standard computer keyboard.

? The screen should dim for some time to indicate the screenshot is being taken.

? A new screenshot is automatically saved in the Pictures folder of the Library. Open Explorer and navigate to the Pictures library. You will find a newly created Screenshots folder in which the screenshots are saved as JPEG images in chronological order.

The Snipping tool, which is available not only on Windows 8, but also in all versions of Windows Vista (except Basic) and Windows 7, is a handy way of taking screenshots. Snip the desired object from the screen and then annotate, save, or send the screenshot using this tool.

You can select the types of snips by drawing any shape around the object using your fingers, mouse, or tablet pen. Alternately, you can select a rectangular snip by dragging the cursor around the object. You can also choose the full-screen snip to get a screenshot of the entire screen. Choose a browser window or dialog box and use the window snip to take a screenshot.

? Click on the Start button at the bottom left of the Windows Screen.

? Click on All Programs menu and select Accessories. Select the Snipping Tool from the list. Alternately, type Snipping Tool in the Search box and then choose the Snipping Tool option from the list of results.

To Take a Screenshot

? Click the New button on the tool. The drop-down menu on clicking it will allow you to choose the type of snip.

? You can select from Free-form Snip, Rectangular Snip, Window Snip, or Full-screen Snip.

? Select the area of the screen that you want to take the screenshot of.

? The screenshot will directly open in a new window. You can save it on the computer. Just click on the Save As dialog box and enter a file name. Select the file type and location and then click Save.

? Alternately, you can choose to save the screenshot in the clipboard, annotate it with highlighter tools and pens, or email it to someone.

? Once you have saved the image, either as JPEG, HTML, GIF, or PNG, you can also take a print of the screenshot. Double-click it, to open it in the program of your choice. From the menu bar select File and Print.

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