Since we will not proceed with taking photos right in this tutorial, press Cancel to exit the shooting mode. Now, we move on to review the program options.
Options of Snipping Tools
When you start the Snipping Tool, you can click the Options button to set options for how the program works. Below, we have a table that explains the meaning of options and how they affect the images we create. Options are divided into Applications and Selections groups
Applications options :
- Hide hide instruction text: If enabled, hide the introductory content in the main Snipping Tool window
- Always copy photos to clipboard (Always copy snips to the Clipboard): If activated, it will copy all photos to your Windows clipboard, so you can paste them into other applications like trial application document management or other image processing programs
- Include URLs under photos (Include URL below snips (HTML only)) When enabled, if you save the image as a single HMTL file or MHT document, and the image is taken from an Internet Explorer window, it will display the url of the site you captured
- Ask to store Prompt to save snips before exiting If enabled, when you exit Snipping Tool, the program will ask if you want to store the captured images.
- Display the icon on Quick Launch Toolbar (Display icon in the Quick Launch Toolbar): When enabled, an icon for Snipping Tool will be placed in the Quick Lauch Toolbar.
- Display screen when Snipping Tool works (Show screen overlay when Snipping Tool is active): If enabled, when you take a picture, Snipping Tool interface will disappear
Selections options :
- Ink Color (Ink Color): This option will change the color of the selection limit when you create an image
- Display the selected ink after the photo is taken (Show selection ink after snips are captured): when activated, the selection limit will be displayed, using the selected color in the Ink Color option around the captured image
It's best to enable all options in the Applications options section, except for the 'Include URLs under snapshot' option and 'show screen when Snipping Tool works'. For Selectión options, you should remove the 'Show selected ink after taking photos' option to get a better shot.
Once we understand the meaning of the options, we begin to learn about the different types of images we can capture
Images can be taken :
There are 4 different types of snapshot options that you can use to take photos using Snipping Tool. To change the option that the Snipping Tool will use to create an image, click the small arrow button next to the New button as shown below:
A description of each type of option with the following example:
1. Photo frames : This method allows you to draw a frame around your selection using a mouse or stylus. When the selection frame is drawn and you close the frame so that there is no opening, the image will be created and displayed to you.
2. Rectangle image : This method simply allows you to create a rectangular selection frame around a part of the screen and any content in that rectangular frame will be recorded on the image. An example of a rectangular frame image is illustrated below
3. Photo window : When you use this method, Snipping Tool will capture the contents of the selected window. An example of a window image is illustrated below
4. Full screen photo : This method will capture your entire computer screen. An example of a full screen image is illustrated below.
So, we have all the knowledge we need to know about Snipping Tool. Let's learn how to use this program.
Take and store photos with Snipping Tool
In this tutorial, I will show you how to take a rectangular image. In my example, I will use the photos of babies that we used earlier. However, every photo can be used to perform these steps. Please select a photo and get started!
The first step is to open the image we want to capture and start the Snipping Tool as described in the previous section.
When the program is open, we will select the rectangular image by clicking the arrow button next to the New button and selecting the Rectangular Snip Rectangle.
When the Rectangle (Rectangular Snip) option is selected, we click on the image, drag a rectangle around the baby's face by clicking on any point on the image, while holding the left button. Mouse and drag a rectangular box around the area we want to take a picture of. The selection area is illustrated as below:
Once you have created the selection area, we release the left mouse button and the entire rectangular area will be sent to the Snipping Tool. When an image is created, the Snipping Tool will display the image in a small window, where you can save the image as a file, write the word on it with a mouse or stylus or mark the areas in the photo. The image we just captured is displayed in Snipping Tool.
When the photo is taken, if you want to draw on the image with your mouse or stylus, you can click on the Tools menu and select the pen you want to use. If you want to mark some parts of the image, you can click on the Tool menu and select the marker (Highlighter). Finally, if you want to remove any content you drew with a pen or marker, you can click on the Tool menu and select Eraser (Eraser) to delete.
Finally, when you are satisfied with the photo after editing, you can :
- Attach it in an email as an attachment by clicking the message icon () or clicking the File menu, then select Send To
- Save the captured image as a file in the computer by clicking the File menu, then selecting Save As. You can save the file as a JPG, GIF, PNG or HTML file (MHT). For images, I recommend you save the image as a JPG file
Here, you can complete the first photo shoot. Now you can send that photo to friends and family, or post it on your website
So, you know how to use Snipping Tool to create a screenshot from the screen. So nothing can prevent you from creating a snapshot of your photos, the work you are doing or even your entire desktop.