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Eastern Illinois University

Panthertech

How do I take a screenshot on my computer?

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A screenshot is an image of a computer desktop that can be saved as a picture so it can easily be sent to another person. This is important if there in a error message that needs to be passed along or to simply show someone what is appearing on your desktop.

It is not recommended to paste the screenshot into an email or a Word document because it may reduce the size or quality of the image making it unreadable.

Windows Users:

Using the snipping tool


Using Print Screen

Press the Print Screen button typically located in the upper right-hand corner of your keyboard to capture a screenshot of your entire display or you may press Alt + Print Screen to capture a screenshot of just the active window.

Once one of these above methods are completed, you will need to open an image editor and save the screenshot as a .jpg or .png

To do this using Paint:


For Windows 8 or Windows 10 users, you can click the Windows Key and Print Screen to automatically save a full-screen screenshot in the Screenshots folder located in your picture directory.

For Mac Users:

For Mac users, Screenshots are automatically saved as a .png on your desktop.

To capture a screenshot of your entire display:

To capture a screenshot of a certain item,

  • Press Command (⌘)-Shift-4. The cursor changes to a crosshair cursor.
  • Move the curser to where you would like to start the screenshot.
  • Drag to select an area. While dragging the cursor, you can hold the Shift key, Space bar, or Option Key to change how the screenshot selection moves.

 

CONTACT THE DEPARTMENT

Technology Support

217-581-4357
support@eiu.edu