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Capturing your screen
Screen Captures
Sometimes the best way to demonstrate a process or program on a computer is to simply take picture of what's on screen to show other later. Both Windows and Macintosh computers have built in methods for doing this.
Windows
Windows computers put screenshots into the clipboard. Press Print Screen to take the picture. To capture the active window only, hold down the Alt key when you press Print Screen. If you are writing a tutorial or other documentation, paste the screen shot in. If you want the screenshot on its own in a graphic file, go to the Start menu and choose All Programs | Accessories | Paint. Paste the image into the blank document that appears. If you are prompted to enlarge the image area, click Yes.
When choosing a format to save the picture in, keep in mind that Bitmap will preserve the details best for later editing, while JPEG and GIF are web browser compatible.
Macintosh
Macintoshes save screenshots as files. The files are named Picture 1, Picture 2, and so on. The format and location of the files depend on what version of the MacOS you are using. To capture the whole screen, press Shift-Apple-3. You will hear a camera click. To capture part of the screen, press Shift-Apple-4, then click and drag the crosshairs over the area you want.
On MacOS 9, the screenshot will be saved as a PICT file at the top level of your hard drive. Double Clicking on the file will open it in SimpleText, which will let you copy and paste or print it. To capture just a window, turn on Caps Lock and then press Shift-Apple-4. The mouse pointer will turn into a bullseye. Move the bullseye over the window you want and click it
On MacOS X, the screenshot will be saved as a PDF or PNG on the desktop. Double clicking on the file will open it in Preview, which will let you copy and paste it, print it, or export it to other formats. To capture just a window, press Shift-Apple-4, then release and tap the spacebar. The mouse pointer will turn into a camera. Move the camera icon over the window you want and click it.
Editing ScreenshotsIf you need to crop or scale a screenshot to fit a page or slide, keep in mind that the Office programs, including Word and PowerPoint, have built in tools to do this. Just insert the image into an Office document and right click or control-click on the picture to show the Picture toolbar and see the tools available.
If you need to do make more complex changes, consider Photoshop Elements. It is available through the Form SL at a very reasonable price and offers many editing options.
Advanced capturing
If you need to capture videos of what you are doing on screen or want more flexible screen capture options, prepare a clear explanation of what you want and contact DoTS for information on the software available.
Workstation trouble report
Computer lab trouble report
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