The estimated reading time for this post is 4 minutes
Have you ever wished you could take a picture of what is on your computer screen? Have you wanted to share the image that you are seeing on your computer but think there’s a better way than taking a picture with your camera? You’re right, there is a better way to capture your screen images – by taking screenshots!
Let’s say you’re doing some Internet shopping and you want to send your discoveries to your friend for her opinion. You could send her links, but a picture would be more useful. Instead of sending her a bunch of links, which she may get tired of clicking on, you could email her pictures of your choices.
If you’re preparing a report and find the perfect graph to include, a screenshot is a quick and easy way to plug in an image of the graph to illustrate your point.
Did you get a new high score on Angry Birds online that you want to show your friends? (See, Poll: Do You Want Your Music in the Cloud? Plus More Google News! for news on playing Angry Birds online.) Send them a screenshot to secure your bragging rights!
So how do you get a screenshot? Here are a few ways:
Awesome Screenshot
If you’re busy surfing the Internet and want a copy of the picture on your screen, the easiest way to capture the picture is with an Add-on to your browser. (See, Fun With Browsers! to learn how to get Add-ons for your browsers). My favorite one is Awesome Screenshot, which is available as an Add-on for Chrome and Firefox browsers.
Awesome Screenshot allows you to take a picture of what is on your screen to save as a picture you can then send to your friends, add to Facebook, show the world on Twitter, or do what ever you would do with a picture.
After you download the Awesome Screenshot Add-on, you will see this icon on your toolbar at the top of your screen:
Click on that icon when you see an image on your screen that you want to use. You are then given the choice of copying the visible part of your screen or the full page.
Awesome Screenshot makes it easy to not only capture what you have on your computer screen, but edit it too. With a screenshot, you can add text, arrows and other markings to enhance the image. You can crop the image so you get just the part you want, and draw shapes such as rectangles, arrows, lines and circles on the image if you want to highlight something.
Here is a screenshot of a screenshot, showing you the edit options (I added the text in red):
The crop tool is the one I use most often because I rarely need to include everything on my screen in the screenshot.
Let’s say you found the car of your dreams on eBay. You have been searching for a classic Ford Mustang convertible forever and finally have found one locally. Using Awesome Screenshot, you capture the screenshot of this eBay listing and then crop your favorite picture of the car:
You send this picture to your brother, the avowed car expert, with a link to the listing. But the listing includes about 50 pictures and you don’t want him to scroll through the pictures quickly, missing the details. So you also use Awesome Screenshot to include this picture in your email with the arrow you added to highlight the imperfection in your dream vehicle:
This way, you are sure he sees what you want him to see, which is much more difficult to do if you just send him a link. He is intrigued by the listing, clicks on the link, gives you a thumbs up, and soon you are driving around town in your dream car.
Here is a YouTube video showing how Awesome Screenshot works. The video is for the Chrome Add-on, but applies to Firefox as well:
Windows Snipping Tool
But what if you want to take a screenshot of an image not on the Internet? Awesome Screenshot can’t help you then, but Windows has a handy Snipping Tool that will do the job.
Let’s say you have a daughter in Florida who is a tech expert. She builds her own computers and can solve any problem. But you are living in Ohio and need her help with a software program that keeps crashing. You aren’t using the Internet, so you can’t use Awesome Screenshot. What to do?
Windows comes with a Snipping Tool that allows you to do screenshots of your screen even when you aren’t on the Internet. Snipping Tool has features similar to Awesome Screenshot, such as the ability to draw on the shot with arrows, shapes, text, etc., highlight, and change the color of your markings.
Here is a helpful video from YouTube that explains how Snipping Tool works on Windows 7. What I particularly like about this video is that it explains how to add the Snipping Tool to your bottom toolbar for easy access.
You can now take a screenshot of the error message on your screen and email it to your daughter who can then see the problem clearly. She informs you that you are opening the ReadMe file, instead of opening the actual program. Problem solved.
Bottom Line
Using screenshots is an effective way to get your message across. Awesome Screenshot and Snipping Tool are an easy but powerful tools to make the most of your screen images. Consider how you can use screenshots, as a picture is worth 1,000 words.
Have you used screenshots effectively? What is your favorite way of using screenshots? Let us know in the Comments section below!
* Congratulations to Why So Angry Birds? on your high score!
I never thought of having the ability to capture a picture of my screen. I appreciate your examples. The car idea is cool. I’m already thinking about ways I can use this capability.
It will be so easy now for me to capture a screenshot to send to our computer tech guys next time I encounter an error. Just wish they had let me know of the technology!!
Thanks Carolyn!
Hi Noah, Welcome back to The Wonder of Tech! I’m very glad you found this post helpful. There will probably be all sorts of uses you can have for screenshots, for fun and for work. Screenshots are a valuable tool to have in your tech arsenal! 🙂
Carolyn,
This is a wonderful and timely blog post. Looks like it’s time to upgrade Firefox as it’s not allowing the Awesome Screenshot installation (I’m really looking forward to testing this one). Thanks so much too for the easy access video tutorials in this article.
I’m really looking forward to following your tech tips. It’s awesome to have found you as a resource to help me reach one of my goals this year (getting my arms around the technology opportunities I may be missing).
Hi Nanette, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I am so glad you found this blog post helpful. You are the exact type reader I hope to be reaching with this blog, those who want to catch up with developments in the world of tech. I am happy to help with your tech questions, I think tech should be fun and helpful, not intimidating!
Definitely update Firefox, not only for Awesome Screensaver, but also to stay current with your tech. I hope you enjoy your new Add-on!
Did you get the car?
Hi JT, No, I didn’t get the car, though it is a beauty. I am not in the market for a car, though if I were, I would be very tempted by this one.
Now that’s a really cool tool Carolyn.
I’ve always just done the old way, taken a screen shot, dumped the photo into my graphics program and cut the pic. It’s so easy for me and I’ve been doing it that way for years. But this looks like it could save a lot of time so I just might have to check that out.
Thanks again for sharing.
Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, Welcome back to The Wonder of Tech! I was doing the same thing, so when I found out about these tools, life certainly got easier. I hope you find these new ways to capture screenshots helpful. Thanks for your comment!
Hi Carolyn,
That’s an awesome addition to Firefox and Chrome. I think I’ll give it a shot. (What’s up with the puns? :))
When I’m offline, I use SnagIt (for Windows) and Shutter (for Linux) to grab screenshots within software applications. (I use them when I’m browsing, too, but Awesome Screenshot just might become my replacement.)
Yeah, a car that cool makes you pose for a pic. Vrrrooom!
Hi Vernessa, Welcome back to The Wonder of Tech! Lol, I got those puns, thanks for the smile! Thanks also for the helpful suggestions for other screenshot tools. I’m curious to see whether you prefer Awesome Screenshot to SnagIt or Shutter.
If you get the car, please let us know! I’d love to see a screenshot of you behind that wheel. 🙂
Hi Carolyn,
I am using Mac and it’s very easy to take screenshots, but just to make it a lot better, I bought LittleSnapper. It’s brilliant.
I’m wondering, do you know if it’s possible to take screenshots on iPhone (for instance while playing Angry Birds) ?
Hi Jens, Welcome back to The Wonder of Tech! Thanks for the recommendation of LittleSnapper for screenshots on Macs. Here’s a link to a helpful shortcut for taking screenshots on Macs that allows you to copy the screenshot to your clipboard: The Secret Screen Capture Shortcut
Great question about screenshots on your iPhone. To take a screenshot on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, press the home button and the power button at the same time until you hear the camera sound. This is quick, about a second. If you press these buttons for too long you will power off your device. A photo of your screen will appear in the Photos app on your device. From there you can email it, or do anything else you would do with a photo.
I’m looking forward to seeing your Angry Birds screenshot if you’re willing to share it! 🙂
here are some useful tips too…
1) on the mac – press the Command+Shift+4 to select the area of screen you would like to grab (it will be saved on the desktop as a screenshot)
2) on the mac – press the Command+Shift+3 to grab everything (whole screen)
3) on the iphone – press the middle button (the one and only :)) + the power button – together for a short while. It will take a screenshot too and save to your pictures library.
Hope that helps too 🙂
Hi Lukas, Thanks very much for this helpful information. These handy tips are very useful! 🙂
Carolyn,
This is the post I like best! I generally use the PrintScreen option on my keyboard to take a snapshot – but this one seems far more convenient.
A subscriber I am 🙂
Thanks!
Hi Urooj, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I am glad you like this post. The tools described in the post and comments are much easier to use than the PrintScreen option on the keyboard.
Thank you for subscribing to The Wonder of Tech! I am enjoying your blog too and have subscribed: [email protected].
Hey Carolyn,
Thought I’d drop in to let you know I grabbed the Awesome Screenshot extensions for both Firefox and Chrome.
I do like it! 🙂 I’m so used to using Shutter that I almost forget to use it. I think its a nifty utility and I’m glad you introduced us!
Hi Vernessa, Welcome back to The Wonder of Tech! I’m so glad you’re enjoying Awesome Screenshot. I use it almost daily so I am a big fan of the addon too!
Thanks for the visit, comment and tweet! 🙂
Just used Awesome Screenshot for the 1st time. It is truly awesome! So easy to use and so helpful!! Love it! Thanks for letting us know about it.
Hi Nicola, Welcome back to The Wonder of Tech! Yes, Awesome Screenshot is well-named. I use it daily for the blog and for other reasons as well.
Thanks for your visit and your comment! 🙂
I hadn’t heard of the awesome screenshot, but it sounds like it would be very useful and fun. I really do like the windows snipping tool, though. It words very easily, and adding it to the toolbar is a great idea.
Hi Screenshot, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Both Snippy and Awesome Screenshot are very handy tools. I use both almost daily. Each has slightly different features so I find it handy to have both available. I hope you find them useful too!