SCREENSHOT PROGRAMS
©2020 Donald R. Snow
This page was last updated 2020-04-10
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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 how to do
this with some free and inexpensive programs.
The information can be on one screen or an
entire scrolling window and the program will
capture it all. This format to save it in
depends on various things and the files need
to be named so you can find them on your
computer later. 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 which is 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 other programs.
SCREENSHOTS
- Some screenshot programs and scanners
allow posting directly to FamilySearch, but
this is NOT recommended 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 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 of your computer to paste into
other programs
SCREENSHOT PROGRAMS IN BROWSERS AND
WINDOWS 10
- 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
webpages
- 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 TOOL) -- easy to use, but limited
in what it will do; can be run 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 screenshots 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.
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Valley Technology and Genealogy Group Home
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Class Listings Page .