Screenshots are often used to save information from a web page on your computer, as well as in cases of software failure: for subsequent calls to tech support, you may want to take a screenshot of the error that occurred. To create a screenshot you can do with operating system "Windows".

To make a screenshot of your laptop screen, you need to:

· Open the Windows and applications that you want to keep, arrange them in the correct order.

· Press Print Screen on the keyboard. Depending on the laptop model, this key may be in different places, but always closer to the top right corner of the keyboard. Typically, the button is her abbreviated name: "PrtSc" or "PrtScrn".

Clicking the button copies the image in the so-called clipboard – the place is the intermediate storage of any data. Now it needs to be moved from the buffer to the hard disk of the laptop. This will help any graphic editor, for example, "Adobe Photoshop" or "Picasa", it will suit even the standard Windows Paint application. To do this:

· Open a graphical program.

· Insert image from the clipboard into the document. Press the key combination "Ctrl+V" or open the menu and select "Paste".

· Save the resulting image by pressing the key combination "Ctrl+S" or selecting "Save" or "Save as" from the menu. In this first image you can edit: cut only the part or optimize the size to prepare for sending via the Internet.

In addition, you can take a screenshot of just the active window of any program. To do this, along with the key "PrtSc" press "Alt," and then save in a graphics editor, just like normal screenshot.

If you want to place the screenshot operate any application in a Microsoft Word document, enough after pressing the "PrtSc" to go to the document window and press "Ctrl+V" (or select the menu item "Paste" and the screenshot will be placed in the document. There you can adjust the image by changing the brightness, contrast, crop or scale the size.

For easy and quick creation of screenshots also created a special program, they not only can save image but also edit it and make a screenshot of such programs, which conventional means can not be removed, for example, with video player.

How to take a screenshot in Windows

Those who photographed the screen of your computer occasionally from time to time, to grab a screenshot use the Print Screen button or PrtScr, which is in the upper register of the keyboard. After pressing the Print Screen the screen image is automatically saved in the computer's memory, and retrieve it from there. You can use any program that works with images, such as utility Paint. To take a screenshot using this program is very simple:

- the screen at bottom left, locate the "start"button;

- in the list, go the following way: "All programs" - "Accessories" - "Paint";

- in the toolbar in Paint select "edit" - "Paste", you can also use the "Insert"button.

In just a few clicks and a picture of the finished screen. It should now save as file: "File - Save as - OK. To take a screenshot this way in any version of Windows.

How to take a screenshot in Windows Vista or Windows 7

Windows Vista or Windows 7 include a special utility "Scissors", which helps to make, save and edit a screenshot. To open it, click "start" and go towards "Programs" - "Accessories" - "Scissors" or "Shipping Tool". Appears on the screen of the active window and the cursor changes from "arrow" on the "plus" sign. To take a screenshot of the entire screen, swipe it to the contours with the cursor, hold the left mouse button if you want to photograph a small fragment of his circle. Releasing the mouse button, you will see that the cut and moved into the program window, we can only save it to the computer in the standard way: File - "Save as..".

Free program for creating screenshots

Special programs not only help to make a screenshot, but edit it to make necessary changes. Thus the user's convenience lies in the fact that most of these utilities do not require installation. For example, the program Screeshot Maker allows you to make screenshots of your entire screen or part of a photo fast, has many features that you can adjust the quality and save the screenshot in different formats. The program can be downloaded from the Internet, save it to your computer or flash drive and, if necessary, just to open it for screenshots.

Floomby – a very handy utility for active users of the Internet that create screenshots in order to upload them to social networks, blogs and forums. A screenshot made with the help of this program, not stored in the memory of your computer, and instantly "gets" the Internet, after that you can place it as a snapshot and link to it in blog, forum or social network.

Screenshot Hot Key is the favorite and popular program for creating screenshots from fans of computer games. It should not be installed, but in order to take a screenshot, you need only press a single key, which you assign yourself. The snapshot is saved in the computer in a subfolder pic. In the same folder as the program itself.