
The Snipping Tool allows you to capture portions of your screen using four methods and then save these snips as a JPG, GIF, PNG, or MHT file. The Snipping Tool is automatically installed in Windows 7 and Windows 8.īefore we go into more detail on how to use the tool and it's options, I want to explain how the tool works. When you have enabled the feature, come back and follow the rest of these steps. To enable this feature please follow the instructions in our Windows Vista Feature Guide.

Please note, unless you have the Tablet PC Optional Components feature enabled in Windows Vista, the Snipping Tool will not be available on your computer. This guide will walk you through the steps necessary to use the Snipping Tool to save screen shots of your running programs, portions of other pictures, and your desktop as images on your computer. It allows you to take screen shots of only specific sections of your screen rather than the entire window or screen. What makes the Snipping Tool so attractive is that: This screen shot would be placed in your clipboard that you can then paste in another image program of your choice. If you needed basic screen shot capability, past versions of Windows enabled you to take screen shots by pressing the the PrintScreen button to take a picture of your entire screen or Alt-Printscreen to take a screen shot of just the active window.

In the past if you wanted a full featured screen shot program you needed to spend some money to purchase a commercial one. Snipping Tool allows you to take selections of your windows or desktop and save them as snips, or screen shots, on your computer. The Snipping Tool is a program that is part of Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Window 8. Taking and savings snips with the Snipping Tool.
