ITS Technology Tips

If you teach, train or support computer users, using screen captures can be an efficient way to provide instructions.  Taking multiple screen shots and formatting your images in a word processing program can be time-consuming.  Screen Steps is an all-in-one program that allows you to capture images, add text and annotations then export your document to Word, PDF, html or a blog or Web page.

Cost – 39.95 with the option to take an additional 15% education discount: http://www.bluemangolearning.com/screensteps/purchase/

Screen Steps Help Resources:
http://bmls.screenstepslive.com/spaces/screensteps/manuals/screensteps

Instant Eyedropper is a free software program that allows you to easily copy and save any color you see on the Web. With Instant Eyedropper, you can identify and save the HTML color code so that you can use the color on your Web page or in an image editing program, such as Adobe PhotoShop. The best part is that you can do this with just one click and without opening any graphics editing software!

How it Works

Once you install the software, the Instant Eyedropper icon will appear in your system tray.

When you click on the icon, you will see your mouse arrow turn into cross-hairs. Continuing to hold the mouse button down, you can guide the cross-hairs across your screen; you will see a zoom of the pixels under the cross-hairs so that you can select the exact pixel you would like to identify and copy. You will also see the HTML code for that specific color.

Releasing the mouse button immediately pastes the information onto your clipboard.  Additionally, you can change what format the color code is saved as. For example, rather than HTML, you can save the information in Hex or RGB notation. Simply right click over the Instant Eyedropper icon in your system tray to choose from a list of formats.

If you are interested in creating an easy and fun visual aid for a project or presentation, Wordle is a free online tool that allows you to create word clouds from the text you input. The more frequently used words will appear larger and there are also options to change the layout, colors and fonts.  Here is an example:

Read about how to print, share and save your Wordle images in the Wordle FAQ.

If you want to create a professional looking document, the preset styles in Word 2007 make it easy to choose headings, subheadings, and font themes that are designed to complement one another. Using the Quick Styles feature can help save you time and make your document look more polished.  To get started, go to the Home tab and find the Styles box on the right. In this box, you can choose from a range of styles and color schemes. To apply a style to a section, just highlight your text then click on the style you want.  You can also use the Change Styles button to quickly change style sets, colors and fonts.

A screenshot is an image taken of the computer screen or a portion of the screen. These images can be useful for creating a demonstration of a program or even for recording a problem on your computer. You can easily take a screenshot on a Mac or PC without installing additional software.

For PC

1. On the upper right-hand side of your keyboard, press PrtScn.
2. The screenshot will be copied onto your clipboard. Open any image-editing program like Paint and click on Paste or use the keyboard command: Control-V.
3. Save the image.

For Mac

1. On your keyboard, press Command (Apple Key) – Shift – 3, in this order, to capture the entire screen.  Or press, Command – Shift – 4 to highlight and select an area of the screen to capture.
2. The image will be saved to your desktop.

Screen Capture Software

If you are interested in more advanced features for taking screen captures, there are quite a few useful programs out there.   SnagIt, for PC, allows you to edit your image by highlighting areas, adding call-outs, arrows, text and more. Snagit is very useful for creating tutorials; it runs about $50.  SnapzPro, for Mac, enables you to record anything on your screen and save as a Quicktime movie; it runs about $70.

With the increasing amount of information available on the Internet, means for consuming online resources are constantly evolving and becoming more image driven.  Many sites use images to represent news from around the world. Seeing an interesting picture  may expose you to a topic that you wouldn’t have otherwise noticed.  

BBC News posts a daily slideshow in the Day in Pictures section. 

Google News offers the option to put the top news stories into an image view.

Visit the  News in Pictures website to see a comprehensive  listing of websites that feature pictorial news.

With Kwout, a Firefox Add-on, you can take screen shots of any Web page that you’d like to display as an image.  The distinguishing feature of Kwout is the use of an image map, which allows hyperlinks within the screen shot to remain active and clickable. The image above is an example of a screen shot taken using Kwout; notice that the links are active within the image.

To start using Kwout, you will need to first install the Kwout Firefox Add-on.   Users can easily share an image that includes an image map on a blog or social networking site, using the embed code that Kwout provides. There is also the option to post directly to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and other sites.

Creative Kit in Google+ (formerly known as Picnik and has since joined Google) is a free online photo-editing program that offers an array of professional and fun tools. This application provides numerous creative filters and effects such as cinemascope, focal B&W, vignette and many others. A few highlights of the program include:

• - Allows you to upload pictures straight from social networking sites such as Flickr, Facebook, Photobucket and more
• - Access to creative and fun tools such as adding text, stickers and creating collages
• - Provides options to print straight from your computer, order prints online or order other photo projects like books, posters and wrapping paper

Once an image is included in a Word document, it is embedded as part of the file.  If you would like to use an image that is part of a Word document, luckily there is a quick and easy way to extract and save images from Word.  Saving a Word document as a Web page (from Word 2000 on) will separate the text from images as separate files.   

To save your document as a Web page, select (File > Save as) then choose Other Formats.  From the pull-down menu, next to Save as type:, select (Web page *.htm; *.html), then save.  Two components will be saved; a folder, which will contain the image files along with a separate .htm file. Find the image files you’d like to use and you may delete the rest, since you will still have the original Word document.