Previously in Windows, you had to use the less-than-intuitive method of pressing the Print Screen key and pasting it into a graphics program if you wanted to add highlighting and save a screenshot. Then Microsoft included a tool called the Snippet Tool in Windows Vista and later Windows versions to make it easier to capture screenshots.
Of course, there are many free screenshot tools for all versions of Windows if your needs are more complex than taking a simple picture of your screen every now and then. But if you don’t want or need to go to that trouble, here’s how to take a screenshot with the clipping tool.
How to use the Windows clipboard drag box
- Select the Start menu or press the Windows key and type “clipping” in the search box.
- Select the clipping tool in the search results. The clipping tool window appears on the screen.
- The clipping tool assumes that you want to create a new clip as soon as you open it. Your screen goes dark and you can click and drag the cursor to select an area you want to copy. The selected area darkens as you drag and a red border surrounds it if you have never changed the Clipboard options.
- You can move it to the edge of the screen so it’s out of the way, but it will also disappear when you start dragging a selection area.
- When you release the mouse button, the captured area opens in the tool window when you release the mouse button. Select New if you want to try again.
- Press the save button to save the screenshot as an image file when you are satisfied with your clip.
Tips
- If your screenshot contains a limited number of colors and you want to keep the lines sharp and the file size small, save it as a GIF file.
- If your screenshot contains many colors and you want to keep sharp lines and full quality, save it as a PNG file.
- If your screenshot contains many colors and you want to keep the file size small, save it as a JPEG file.
- You can use the pencil and overline tools in the crop toolbar to add highlighting to your screenshot before saving it. The eraser tool removes marks with the pencil and the highlighting tools.
- You can send a screenshot via email without saving it first by using the “Send to” button in the clipping toolbar.
- Select the Accessories menu to change how the clipping tool works. You can change the color of the selection plane by selecting a new ink color or turn off the outline completely by unchecking the box for “Show selection color after clipping.”
TinySnap Screen Capture Tool
TinySnap is a tool that Luo and Mufeng envisioned to change the landscape of screenshots and make it easier for anyone to share better screenshots, whether a creator, developer or regular user.
Bid farewell to boring screenshots! You don’t need fancy design skills either. All you have to do is select what you want, adjust the TinySnap preview, and you are good to share. It doesn’t get simpler than this.