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At first glance, you may think that pressing the Print Screen key
will print what's on your screen - a reasonable assumption.
Actually, the function of the Print Screen key is to capture a
screenshot or picture of your computer screen and copy it to the
Windows Clipboard. The Clipboard is a holding place in your
computer's memory where Windows temporarily stores data after you
use the Cut or Copy command until you paste it.
You have two options with the Print Screen key. You can capture a
screenshot of your whole computer screen or just the currently
active window or dialog box. To capture the whole computer
screen, which may consist of multiple overlapping windows and/or
dialog boxes, you simply press the Print Screen key. To capture
just the currently active window, first hold down the ALT key and
then press the Print Screen key. Remember, at this point the
screen capture is just sitting on the clipboard waiting for you
to paste it somewhere.
As an Excel user, I usually paste all my screen captures in Excel
- just click where you want to paste the picture and select Edit,
Paste (or press CTRL+V). You can also paste the picture in most
graphics (i.e. Windows Paint), word processing (i.e. Microsoft
Word or WordPad), or many other programs.
Just try it and see if you can think of cool uses for this often
forgotten tool.
share it with your friends and associates?
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