Taking Screen Captures

Modules >>
Internet II >>
Taking screen captures

To complete the following lesson requirements, you will have to take "screen captures" or "screen shots" of your computer screen and send these images to the coordinator as part of your assignment. Since images can create fairly large files, you will use the program you just downloaded to compress your collection of images before submitting them. Some computers will allow you to take screenshots easily by pressing the "Print Scrn" button on your keyboard, which essentially copies what is displayed on your computer screen. To save this image, you will have to open a word processing program, select "Paste" in the File menu to insert the copied image into your document, then save the document. If this feature is not available or working on your computer, you will have to download a small screen capture off the program.

To download a screen capture program, go to the following software website:

Tucows Downloads
http://www.tucows.com
Once at this website, click on the Desktop Software you are using (i.e., Windows or Macintosh). You may also have to choose a local host that is nearest to your region for accessing a mirror (identical) website of Tucows. Once you get to the main page, in the "Search Software Library For" field, enter "Screen Capture" and click "Go." When I conducted this search, 300 programs turned up. The next thing you have to do is decide on a program that is suitable for you. Many of these programs will allow you to save your screen capture as a type of image file. The results table showing the various programs contains the following columns:

1) Title of program/Info - click this hyperlink to read more information about the program before downloading
2) Date - you should prefer a recent program over an older one
3) Licence - Shareware, Freeware, or Adware
4) Rating - the more cows, the better the program
5) Size - depending on your computer, your needs, and your Internet connection, you may prefer a smaller program
6) Download - the link you will click if you want to begin downloading the program to your computer. This hyperlink takes you to the same page as the "Title/Info" link.

The Tucows website offers the definitions for each licence format. These definitions were found at http://www.tucows.com/help/glos.html and are pasted below.

Shareware - This is software that you can download, try and decide whether or not it's right for you. If you like it, you pay a nominal fee for the full-featured program. If you don't want to keep it, shareware programs usually either stop functioning after a period of time or they continue to work but will never have all of the features that the purchased version would have.

Freeware - Freeware is... free, just as you'd imagine it! The software was developed just for the sake of providing you, the end user, with a cool new application. If you really like the program, you might take a moment to send the author a thank you note, but there are no strings attached to these programs.

Adware - These programs don't cost a penny. The developers support their programs by placing advertisements inside their programs. If you appreciate the work done by these dedicated authors, do them a favor and check out their sponsors. The majority of adware authors have advertisement-free versions of their software available for a small fee. The ads serve as a revenue source for the author, which allows them to stretch their program and update more frequently. A few companies are frequently associated with Adware programs: Cydoor, Radiate, Web3000 and Aureate. If you need help detecting and removing Adware software from your computer, check out Ad-Aware, which is a free removal tool that detects and removes Adware components that are sometimes left on your system after uninstalling Adware programs.

Once you choose the screen capture program you wish to use, you need to download it. Click on the "Download" hyperlink then click the operating system you are using under the text "Download for." The download should begin automatically. Be sure you take note of the file name as it is being downloaded (as described in the previous lesson), find the program and double-click it to install it. If the program you chose was compressed into a .zip file, you will have to skip ahead to the "Compressing Files" lesson in this module to learn how to decompress it before installing the program. Read the instructions or "Readme.txt" file that may have come with the program or check out its Help menu to learn how to use the program. Once you have done this, please continue to the next lesson on Ergonomic Issues.