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

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.