How to take a screenshot of Windows 8

Do you need to take a screenshot(s) of your PC desktop with Windows 8 installed but you're at arm's length with the computer world and have absolutely no idea how to do it? Did a friend ask you to take a screenshot of an open window on your computer but besides not knowing where to put your hands you didn't even understand what he was talking about? Well, if you're reading this guide right now, it's clear that the answer to at least one of these questions is yes. However, if things are really like that, you have nothing to worry about, in fact I can explain to you what needs to be done in order to rate Windows 8 screenshot.

However, before I show you what you need to do to be able to take Windows 8 screenshots, it is good that you understand what we are talking about. When we talk about taking a screenshot, we mean taking a picture of the PC screen using special services and tools on the computer itself. This is an operation that is generally very useful to be able to easily show third parties, such as friends and co-workers, what is happening on one's desktop at a given moment.

Having clarified this, if you are willing to find out what resources to exploit and what operations to perform to take screenshots in Windows 8, I suggest you get comfortable and carefully concentrate on reading this guide. You see, eventually you will be ready to say that taking screenshots in Windows 8 was anything but complicated.Let it be?

Depending on your needs and preferences, you can decide to capture the screen on your computer with Windows 8 installed using a special tool present "standard" on the PC or by resorting to external resources. The choice, needless to say, is entirely up to you.

Cropping tool

If you do not have the possibility to resort to the use of third-party tools or much more simply do not want to know that you can make screenshots of Windows 8 using a resource called Snipping Tool. This is a tool available in Microsoft operating systems starting from Windows 7 that allows you to capture screenshots and edit them by adding notes and highlights.

To take Windows 8 screenshots with the Snipping Tool, the first thing you need to do is to log in Start screen. Then press the magnifying glass located at the top right, type in the search field displayed strumento di cattura and then click on the available result to launch the tool.

Once you start the Snipping tool, you should see a small window with several buttons on your desktop. To take a screenshot, press the New button and then draw with the mouse, holding down the left mouse button, a rectangle that includes the area of the screen you want to "snapshot".

When the operation is completed, the capture tool editor will open, through which you can edit the screenshot taken using the various tools available on the screen (for example, the pen or highlighter) and save it as a GIF, JPG or PNG image by clicking on the icon 'representing a floppy disk located at the top left and then indicating the format you prefer to use to save the file from the Save As: menu available in the new window that will open.

In addition to this, as I just indicated, you should know that you can take screenshots of Windows 8 also by capturing the entire screen that you visualize you or a single window. To do this, simply click on the arrow located next to the New button on the bar displayed on the desktop when you start the Snipping tool and choose, depending on your needs, the item Capture Window or Capture Full Screen from the drop-down menu that is displayed to you. If you wish, you can also use a free format for the screenshot instead of the classic rectangle. To do this, always press the arrow located next to the New button and then choose the Free Format Capture item from the menu you see.

Regardless of the selected capture format, always use the mouse cursor by holding down the left mouse cursor to take Windows 8 screenshots.

If you want to reset the capture format to the default active one, press the arrow next to the New button and then choose the Rectangular Capture item from the menu that is displayed.

Skitch

If you need to take screenshots of Windows 8 and instead want to resort to using a third-party program, I suggest you turn to Skitch. It is a free application produced by Evernote that allows you to capture your computer screen in an extremely easy and fast way. Once the snapshots have been captured, you can customize and modify them by adding arrows, highlights and much more.

So, if you want to know how to take a Windows 8 screenshot with Skitch, the first thing you should do is click here to connect to the program's download page. Once the web page is displayed, press the green Download for Windows button you see in the center of the screen and wait for the program file download procedure to start first and then complete.

Then double click on the file that has been downloaded to start the program installation wizard and follow the instructions available on the screen by clicking first on Yes and then forward then add the check mark next to the item I accept the agreement, click forward three consecutive times and then final.

Complete the Skitch installation wizard now and wait for the program to run automatically. Once you see the Windows 8 screenshot taking software window, simply press the Ctrl+shift+5 key combination on the PC keyboard and select the part of the screen to be captured with the mouse. To take a snapshot of the entire desktop, you can use the key combination Ctrl+shift+6 instead.

Eventually, you can take screenshots using Skitch also by pressing the snapshot screen voice displayed in the program window and then selecting with the mouse cursor and with the left mouse button pressed the part of the screen you want to capture. If, on the other hand, you need to take a screenshot of the entire desktop, press the arrow you see next to the snapshot screen option and select the Full Screen item from the menu that is displayed.

After taking a screenshot, you can customize it with Skitch's built-in editor. The editor is accessible immediately after the screenshot and has a handy toolbar on the left with arrows, geometric shapes, writing tools, etc. To customize a captured screenshot, all you have to do is click on the tool you want to use and make the changes you want to the screenshot you just took.

To save the final image, simply drag the bar located at the bottom of the window to the folder where you want to export the screenshot or directly to the Windows 8 desktop. Alternatively, you can save the screenshot you have just taken by clicking on the Skitch item at the top left of the program window, choosing the item Save as image ... in the menu that is displayed, indicating a name for the file you are about to create in the File name: field, the format in which you want to save the image by choosing between PNG, BMP, JPG, PDF or TIFF in the Save as: menu, indicating the Windows 8 location where you want to save the file and then pressing the Save button.

If instead of saving the screenshot you want to share it immediately through the social networks you usually use, click on the share item located at the top right and then select the service you want to use from the drop-down menu displayed.

Greenshot

If it is not your intention to use the Snippets tool and in case Skitch was not to your liking, I invite you not to check again and experiment with using Greenshot. It is a free PC program that is happy to take screenshots of Windows 8 and save the images obtained in various ways.

So, if you are willing to try taking Windows 8 screenshots with Greenshot, the first thing you should do is click here to immediately connect to the web page through which to download the program. Once the web page is displayed, press the black Download button.

Once you have downloaded the program on your PC, double-click on the file you just obtained and in the window that opens, click first on OK and then Next. Then accept the terms of use of the software by placing the check mark next to the item I accept the agreement and click first Next six times in a row, then Install and then Finish to finish the installation process and start Greenshot that will go to the notification area.

Now to take screenshots of Windows 8 with Greenshot all you have to do is right-click on the application icon located next to the system clock and choose the option you prefer from the menu that appears. You can create a snapshot of the entire desktop by selecting the Capture Full Screen item, a part through the Capture Region option or you can capture specific windows on the PC desktop by choosing the Capture Window item and clicking on the window to capture or by selecting the program to capture from the Capture Window menu from the list.

After taking screenshots, Windows 8 will not directly see the image obtained, but you can choose which operation to perform from a menu that will appear automatically. Among the available options are direct saving of the screenshot, copying the image to the Windows clipboard, printing, copying to programs installed on the PC, online uploading to Imgur and editing with the internal GreenShot editor.

If you choose to edit the screenshot with the Greenshot editor, know that this is a very useful tool that allows you to edit screenshots immediately after taking them. To make changes to the screenshots, simply use the buttons in the sidebar on the left.

Once the editing process is finished, you can choose whether to save the edited screenshot to the PC, in file formats such as JPG, PNG and BMP, or copy it to the clipboard, upload it online, print it or export it to other applications.