The Simplest Way To Capture / Print Your Computer Screen

*Updated 7/6/2010 with even simpler method*

Want to capture your computer screen and save it as picture or to print it out? Many people already know how to use the PrintScreen but it is tedious and troublesome when you just want to capture part of the screen.. not to mention the lack of features.

Here's a simple and free software to make your printscreen experience much better.

1) Start FastStone Capture. A FastStone can be seen floating on your screen, select one of the functions below to get started:

• Capture Active Window
• Capture Selected Window (point at the window you wish to capture with your mouse cursor)
• Capture Rectangle Region
• Capture Freehand Region
• Capture Full Screen
• Capture Scrolling Window (very useful feature, read this seperate guide on how to use it)

There are shortcut keys binded to each of the functions for easier access.

2) After capturing your screen, it will be opened with FastStone Editor. The simple editor allows you to enter captions, highlight areas, draw boxes and add watermarks directly to the captured image.

3) After you're done, you may save the image by choosing 'Save As', or print it instantly by pressing 'Print'.

End Note:

The download link above is the latest Freeware version of the software (version 5.3). The latest version is now shareware (not free) and can be downloaded here.

Other features include:

• Delay before screen capture (1-10 seconds)
• Capture a window or any defined rectangular area on the fly.
• Set whether to capture mouse cursor. (can't be done with normal print screen)
• Save into different picture formats - JPG, PNG, TIFF etc.
• Autosave feature. (Saves image directly to file instantly)
• Screen Color Picker that shows color code of any color on your screen by pointing it with your mouse. Useful for Designers and Web Programmers.