If you used Mac OSX before and wanted to take a screen shot, there is a program that comes with OSX called “Grab” I used it a lot when I was in graphic design class to take screen shots of certain pieces on the website I was developing and man did that make life easier.  Now if your a Windows user, like if you use any version under Vista your stuck with the print screen button and paint.  We all done it, even the pros do it.

When Vista was released Microsoft included a tool or Windows application called “Snipping Tool” it is just like the program on OSX called “Grab”  Now when I found this out I was so happy it wasn’t even funny (ok, hypothetically speaking of course.)  I was glad to use this application because it made life so much easier on the windows side of the world.  No more Paint and less use of the print screen button. Lets take a minute and show you how to find the application and how to use it, trust me its very simple!

Remember that this is only on Vista, not sure if its on Windows 7 or not, But I’m pretty sure it is!

Location: Start Menu >  All Programs > Accessories > Snipping Tool

What does it look like?

As you can tell, its pleasant and easy to look at.  They also give tips right below to show you how to use it.  Once you know how to use it, you can remove those tips so the interface is even more cleaner! now isn’t that awesome?

As you can tell the background is grayed out and that means its ready to take a screen shot and all you do is take the courser and make a box around something you want to take a screen shot of, or you can just make the whole screen a big box, once you let of of the mouse button and new window will appear and it will have some simple editing options, such as Pen, Highlighter and eraser.  If you tablet machine you can use the pen and highlighter to write on the screen shots, this is really neat if your a graphic designer or what not.  The eraser will not erase the image, it just removes the pen and highlighted markings.

Once you are happy with the screen shot you are ready to save, just click save and it will ask you were to save, name it, and what kind of file type you wanted to save it as.

That’s all it! Now that wasn’t so hard was it?  The next time your on vista and happen to take a screen shot, always remember the Windows Snipping tool!  It can be a life saver!  Most of all the images I post on my website is done by using the snipping tool.

So if your on Vista, I highly suggest messing around with the Snipping Tool to get the hang of it, and trust me It will not take very long to learn the tool.  So go ahead and use the Windows Snipping Tool.