Taking a Screenshot

You will notice in some of my other posts that I used pictures I took of my computer screen to show how to use a tool. These pictures are called "screenshots."

A. In Windows, you can use the Microsoft print function to take screenshots but I prefer the free version of a commercial product called Gadwin PrintScreen (www.gadwin.com/printscreen).

In this post, I will describe how I use Gadwin PrintScreen. Instructions for using the Windows function at this link: http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/general/ht/winscreenshot.htm .

Unfortunately, I can't use Gadwin PrintScreen to take screenshots of myself using Gadwin PrintScreen, so I'll have to describe the process instead:

(1) Download and install Gadwin PrintScreen from the above address. This will disable the Windows function.

(2) To take a screenshot, press the "Prt Scr" (print screen) key on your keyboard.

(3) I like to save my screenshots in the lossless PNG format, allowing me to edit it to my heart's content without degrading the quality of the image. (I save the final, edited version in the smaller JPEG format before uploading it to the blog.)

When you press the print screen key, a menu will pop up. The first time you use the tool, choose your format by:

(a) left clicking on "Change Destination,"

(b) left clicking on the "Image" icon at the left of the next menu,

(c) selecting "PNG Image (*png)" and then OK in the next menu,

(d) and then left clicking on "Continue Output" in the original menu.

The screenshot will be saved to a folder called "PrintScreen Files" in your "Documents" folder. Its name will be "ScreenShot00n," with "00n" being "001, 002, 003, . . .," incremented sequentially as you add screenshots.

(4) Edit the screenshot with GIMP or any other photo editing tool.

B. In Ubuntu, the process is simpler:

(1) Press the print screen key.

(2) A menu will pop up giving you the option of changing the name and the location to save the file.

(a) The screenshot will automatically be saved in PNG format.

(b) The default naming sequence will be "Screenshot," "Screenshot-1," "Screenshot-2," etc.

(3) Navigate to where you saved the file, right click on it and select 'Open with "GIMP Image Editor."

(4) Edit the image as you would when using GIMP under Windows.