Using the print screen key to capture the screen
A screen shot (or screen capture) is an image of what is on the computer screen. They are commonly used to capture an image of a computer program in operation. Some assignments may ask you to include screen shots with your work. You may be required to modify the image as well. Screen shots can be created from the whole screen or from just the active window. Screen shots can be pasted into several programs such as Word, PhotoShop Elements, MS Paint and more.
Creating Screen shots
Creating a screen shot of the entire screen
Press the print screen key (located on your keyboard, along the top on the right). This copies the entire image on the screen into the clipboard.
Open the program you'd like to use (e.g. Word, Paint, PowerPoint, or whatever program you would like to use).
Paste the screen shot by selecting Edit, then Paste from the menu or hold down CTRL+V (control and V).
Creating a screen shot of the the active window
Hold down the Alt button and press the print screen button. This copies the image of the window you are working with into the clipboard. The rest of the steps are the same as above.
See an active window example. Notice that this only part of the other image.
You can now edit or modify these files. The MS Paint tutorial covers some modifications you can make. One common modification would be to include information such as your name, homeroom and date. Click here to see an example of an active window image with this information added.
When adding your name to an assignment, place it near the top or bottom of the image on the right hand side. You may also need to add other information, such as circles or arrows to highlight other information, here is an example.
