Use the Windows Vista Snipping Tool to take screenshots

One of the great new features in Windows Vista is the Snipping Tool. The snipping tool takes screenshots of your computer desktop. Therefore you can take a snapshot of anything you see on your screen and save it on your computer. You could be in my computer, on the internet, or chatting on MSN, and whatever is on the screen is available for you to capture and save.
Of course we all know how to take a screen shot the old way by pressing the print screen button on the keyboard, however the Windows Vista snipping tool has some extra options available.

How to find the Windows Vista Snipping Tool?

1. Go to the Vista Start Menu.
2. Click on Programs at the bottom of the menu.
3. Look for the Accessories folder, open this.
4. Then choose snipping tool.

What options are available with the Windows Vista snipping tool?

When you have opened the Windows Vista snipping tool you will see a button that says options on it. (Shown in the screenshot above) If you press that button the Snipping Tool Options will open. ( Shown below)

To change your options simply tick or un-tick the appropriate box and then press ok. For example if I wanted to include the URL that the snip was taken from then I would need to make sure there is a tick in that box.

How to use the Windows Vista Snipping Tool?

Using the Windows Vista Snipping Tool is so easy. All you have to do is open the program, and then press on new. Then you can take a shot or picture of something on your desktop.

What are the different ways available to snip a screenshot with the snipping tool?

There are four different ways to use the snipping tool. To change which snipping tool you want to use, simply press the drop down arrow next to the new button as shown above.
Free-form snip: This lets you draw free hand around something on your desktop and save it as a picture.
Rectangular snip: This snipping feature lets you drag a rectangle around the item you want to capture.
Window snip: If you have a Window open on your computer like the one below you can choose this option to only take a screenshot of the window only. In the old days we had to push ALT and then print screen on the keyboard to do this.
Full-screen snip: This takes a picture of your full screen.
Below is a screenshot taken after I had opened the snipping tool, used the rectangle snipping tool, then used the pen and highlighter to write on the screenshot. All I have to do is press on the Save icon and I can choose where to save the picture I see here.

 Below is a screenshot I have taken of my desktop using the free-form snipping tool. This screenshot has already been saved as a .PNG file and ready for the internet.

What file type can you save your screenshot taken with the snipping tool?

You can save your screenshot in PNG, JPG, GIF, and MHT. I use png or gif for my website screenshots as they are built for the internet.

• You can experiment and have fun with the snipping tool.
• You can explore this small program and change a few more options.
• The snipping tool is far more advanced than the old way of getting screenshots. See the video below that shows how to take a screenshot the old way.