Learning Web Design

Taking a Screen Shot

Home > Syllabus > Essential Resources > Taking a Screen Shot

How to take a screen shot

You can use the Print Screen key to take a screen shot of your work. If you have version 1809 (as in October 2018) of Windows, or later, you can use the new Snip and Sketch application. You may ask, "What version of Windows do I have?" To find out, right-click on the Windows Start icon, and select Run. Type winver in the box, and click on the Okay button. A new window will appear, and at the top you should see the words "Microsoft Windows", and below that will be the version number.

NOTE: If you do not have version 1809 or later on your PC or laptop, you can still use the Windows key + Shift + S combination (as shown below in Option #2) to take a screen shot, but those earlier versions of Windows 10 do not have the Snap & Sketch application. So, as the instructions for Option #1 below indicate, you will then need to use the Paint program to save that screen shot image to a JPG or PNG file.

Option #1: Print Screen Key

In the upper right of the keyboard is the Print Screen key:

There are three ways to use the Print Screen key:

To capture the entire screen, press the Windows logo key + PrintScreen key together.
To capture all active windows, press the PrintScreen key.
To capture a single active window, tap or click on the window you want to capture (this makes it the active window), Press the Alt + PrintScreen keys together. This is the recommend way to capture your Flexbox exercise when using the Print Screen key.

Next, open the Paint application. It can be found in the programs list under Windows Accessories. When Paint starts, press CTRL and the letter V to paste the screen shot you just made into Paint. Then click on the File tab, hover your mouse over Save as, and then click on JPEG Picture. Save the image to your "8. First 3rd Quarter Project" folder in Google Drive. If you by chance you clicked on "Save as" instead of hovering over it, not to worry, the screen shot will be saved as a PNG file, which is perfectly fine.

Option #2: Snip and Sketch

Windows 10 version 1809 or later has a built-in keyboard shortcut that you can use to take screenshots. It's called Snip and Sketch. While holding down the Windows and the Shift keys (with your left-hand), press then the Letter S (with your right hand). Press the keys simultaneously on the keyboard.

Once you have pressed Windows + Shift + S, the entire screen dims and, and up on the top-center area, the snipping bar appears:

Once the snipping bar is shown on the screen, Snip & Sketch offers four different ways of choosing which part of the screen is captured:

Rectangular Snip - take a screenshot of a region of the screen by drawing a rectangular shape with the mouse or using touch.
Freeform Snip - take a free-form screenshot of the screen by drawing an unrestricted shape. Drag the mouse cursor on the screen any way you want, to take a screenshot with any shape and size.
Window Snip - take a screenshot of one of the app windows that are found on your screen. This is going to dim the whole screen except the window you hover with your mouse cursor. Click on the window you want to take the screenshot.
Fullscreen Snip - take a screenshot of your entire screen. This will immediately take a screenshot of your entire screen. Once you have taken a screenshot, the Snip & Sketch app opens and shows your newly created screenshot. Now you can use the app to edit the screenshot if you wish so.

By default, the first option - Rectangular Snip - is the one enabled. When you use it, dragging the mouse cursor on the screen takes a screenshot with a rectangular shape.

Once your have taken the screen shot, you will save that image to a file. In the lower right the following notification box will appear:

Click on the notification box. This opens the Snip & Sketch application (app). In the upper right is the save file icon. Press it, and save the image to your "8. First 3rd Quarter Project" folder in Google Drive.

Report abuse