SCREENSHOT PROGRAMS
©2020 Donald R. Snow
This page was last updated 2020-02-23
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ABSTRACT: Anything you can see on your computer screen
can be captured to save for your family history. We will
discuss some free programs and how to use them to do
this. The information can be on one screen or an
entire scrolling window and the program will capture
it all. Various criteria determine what format to use
to save them and they need to be named so you can
find the information later wherever it is on your
computer. This will be illustrated with demonstrations
and examples. The class notes and related articles,
all with active Internet links, are on Don's
website
http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html
.
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
- Instructor is Donald R. Snow
( snowd@math.byu.edu
) of Provo and St. George, Utah.
- These note are posted on
http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html
.
- Tips: (1) Easy to put an icon on your desktop
for the URL for these notes or any URL; just drag the icon
from in front of the address in your browser to your
desktop. (2) To open a
link from here in another tab, but keep your place
in these notes, hold down the Control key while clicking the link.
- The problem for today: How to make a scrrenshot
of what you see on your computer screen.
DISPLAYS ON YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN
- As you browse on the Internet or read email or look at pictures on your computer, you may see things you want to keep a copy of, either parts or all of the screen; you do this with screenshots
- We will discuss copying an entire window, but not an entire webpage; that's a subject for another class.
- Before making the screenshot, if you want to make it larger or smaller on the screen, try holding down the CTRL key and rolling the mouse wheel or holding down the CTRL key and pressing + or - . This works for all browsers and some, but not all, otther programs.
SCREENSHOTS
- Some sreenshot programs and canners allow posting directly to FamilySearch, but this is NOT recommend for at least two reasons; (1) They should be edited first, and (2) You need to keep a copy yourself.
- Screenshots can be saved in several formats, e.g. .pdf, .jpg, .tif, .png, etc., depending on your use for it, and some programs will only save in certain formats, so you need to be aware of this
- Screenshots can be captioned before saving and some programs have built-in screenshot editors
- Also, part of the screen or all of it can be saved, depending on the program
- Screenshots can be saved as files or on the clipboard to paste into other programs
SCREENSHOT ITEMS IN BROWSERS AND WINDOWS
- Saving to html -- all browsers can do this
- html is computer jargon for "hypertext mark-up language", the format that browsers, like Chrome, need to display webpagess
- Most webpages can be saved by saving the html file -- right-click anywhere on the page and select Save As > html -- give it a name and tell it where you want to save it
- Clicking on an html file opens it in your default browser and shows it just as if you were connected to the Internet
- Printing to PDF -- WINDOWS now has a built-in Print to Microsoft PDF -- in any program that you can print from, go to Print and Print to Microsoft PDF; tell it what to name it and where to save the file; I leave my default printer set to Print to Microsoft PDF so I don't inadvertently print hard copy of stuff I didn't mean to
- PrintScreen button -- saves the full screen to the clipboard; then you paste the clipboard into a program like Wordpad and name and save that
- WINDOWS SNIP & SKETCH (formerly called SNIPPING TOO) -- easy to use, but limited in what it will do; can run it by Windows key + Shift + S -- then select the area to save and save it with the name and place you want; to put an icon on your destop for it click on the WINDOWS logo (lower left corner) and type Snip in the program search box, right click on Snip & Sketch and drag to your desktop and click Create a Shortcut
- The clipboard can only hold one item at a time and erases it when you save the next item; a program like DITTO -- free from -- https://ditto-cp.sourceforge.io/ -- will allow unlimited items on your clipboard; CTRL+~ (tilde) shows list of all past clips; double click
the one you want to paste
FASTSTONE CAPTURE
- There are many, many, free screenshot programs
- FASTSTONE CAPTURE is the program I use nearly every day
- Current version 8 is shareware for a one-time fee of $20 --
available from
-- https://www.faststone.org/FSCaptureDetail.htm -- last free version was 5.3 and is still available
from --
FastStone Capture 5.3
- Has many useful features that other screen capture
programs don't have
- After installation, when run, there is a small "floating" window with the controls
- Can save in many formats and with many options
- Will even capture entire scrolling window
- Has option to add captions and annotations and even
to do side-by-side images
- Includes a built-in editor that you can save
the clip to and edit it before saving in final
form
- Examples and how to use it
LABELING SCREENSHOTS
- Screenshots need to be labeled as you save them
so you can find them later wherever they are on your computer
- My naming system -- Example: 'RootsTech2020-TECH-MOBILE-
PHOTOS-SmithDavid-UsingTechnologytoHelpInFamilyHistory--
[date and where it came from].pdf'
- Idea is to start with words you want it to alphabetize under and include the titles and tags
or keywords, so you can find it; include where and when you got it
and the type of file it is
- For screenshots pertaining to a person I label
it as -- Exammple:
"SnowDonaldRay(1931-)-1957-09-01-NEWS-UOFU-
ArticleInSaltLakeDeseretNews--UtahDigitalNewspaperCollection--2014-09-04.pdf"
OTHER FREE SCREENSHOT PROGRAMS
- SCREENHUNTER FREE --
https://screenhunter-free.en.lo4d.com/windows -- simple and easy to use, but only saves in a few formats
- IRFANVIEW --
https://www.irfanview.com/ -- free for non-commercial use; mainly an image viewer and editor, but has screen capture under Options > Capture/Screenshot
- How-To Geeks -- https://www.howtogeek.com/349652/the-best-free-screenshot-apps-for-windows/
- Gizmo's Reviews -- https://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-screen-capture-tool.htm
- Software Testing Help -- https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/best-screen-capture-software/
- Freeware Files -- https://www.freewarefiles.com/category_3_40.html
CONCLUSIONS
- Screenshots are extremely useful since about 1/4th
of all websites change or are deleted every year,
so if you see something you want, do a screenshot
now and label it clearly.
- This has only scratched the surface of
what's available, so use what works for you and
keep your eyes open for new things.
Return to the Utah Valley Technology
and Genealogy Group Home Page
or Don's
Class Listings Page .