The Windows Print Screen Key
The sole function of this key is to take a snapshot or picture of your computer screen and copy it to the clipboard
(the clipboard is an invisible holding area for content that is copied). Its the same thing as if you copied something
from a document and it is now on your clipboard waiting to be pasted in its final destination. You cannot see the clipboard but it holds copied items
(text, graphics, shortcuts) which can be pasted into other applications. Its that simple.
This key is usually located on the top right hand side of your keyboard, often next to the
"Scroll" and "Pause" keys. The key may appear differently depending on the manufacturer
of your PC keyboard.
The Key is often abbreviated to PrtSc.
In this picture it has the full
name of Print Screen.
The Windows Alt + Print Screen Keys
Now, for those who have read this far, I am going to share another neat little feature of the Windows Print
Screen Key. Holding down the Alt key and pressing the Print Screen key will take a screenshot of the currently selected
or active window,
not the entire screen like the normal screenshot function. This allows you to target that specific window that you have
open and nothing else. No more cropping those screenshots to grab the content you were after! Below I show
you how to crop the picture after pasting it into a Word document.
This is a print screen capture of my desktop with the C: drive Properties Sheet using the Print Screen key.
This is a print screen capture of the same desktop using the Alt + Print Screen keys.
It captures ONLY the active window of the C: drive Properties Sheet as a picture. Cool!
Examples of where to paste the screenshot
1. How to paste a print screen capture (screenshot) into a Microsoft Word document.
1. Open Word to a new document or the document you wish to place the screenshot in.
Minimize the Word window. Do this first or you will empty the clipboard for the next steps.
A. Click the Windows Start button
 .
B. Type  "word" in the Start Search bar and
 click on Word under Programs.
I always press the ENTER key several times in a new Word document to make space for text I will add later
above or below the picture I'm going to Paste in.
2. Have what you wish to capture visible on your computer screen.
3. Press the Print Screen key or hold down the Alt key and press the Print Screen key.
4. Maximize the Word document and position the cursor wherever you want the picture of the screenshot to
appear.
5. Click the Paste button in the Menu tab, or using your keyboard hold
down
the
Ctrl key and press the V key, or using your mouse right click the
document and click Paste. Any of these methods will Paste the screenshot into your document.
6. With the picture in the Word document you can now use the Word Crop tool to remove the
excess part of the picture you do not need.
With Word open and the desktop picture showing, double click the picture - you will see the sizing handles.
The sizing handles are the little circles on each corner and the little squares in the center of each side.
You will also see the Picture Tools menu. This is a picture of my desktop using the crop tool in Word.
Click the Crop button in the Picture Tools, Format,
Size menu.
The cropping handles will show
around the picture on the corners and sides as black boxes.
Drag each of the four (4) crop handles to leave the part of the picture you want to keep and
press ENTER.
You could end up with the same picture you would have had if you had used the Alt + Print Screen keys.
7. Save the document which now contains the cropped screenshot.
Click HERE for Save As help.
2. How to paste a Print Screen capture (screenshot) into Microsoft Paint and save it as a picture file.
1. Have what you wish to capture visible on your computer screen.
2. Press the Print Screen key or hold down the Alt key and press the Print Screen key.
(I prefer the
Alt + Print Screen key method)
3. Click the Windows Start button
.
4. Type "paint" in the Start Search bar and
click on Paint under Programs.
5. With Microsoft Paint open click on Paste
 in the Clipboard menu
under the Home Tab,
or using your keyboard hold down the Ctrl key and press the V key, or
right click inside Paint and click Paste to paste in your
screen capture.
6. To save and keep your picture from Paint, click on the Paint Options button
 , Save
as... , JPEG picture.
7. In the Save As dialog box select where to save it, the File name you want to give it,
and the Save as type of file (usually a JPEG type).
This action will save your captured picture as a JPEG (.jpg) file.
Save it where you desire but, be sure to remember where you saved it!
Click HERE for Save As help.
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