Weekly quickTIP
Running With Scissors
Vista's snipping tool lets you say in pictures that which often takes a thousand words.
- By Greg Shields
- 07/07/2008
If you've been following my series on Windows Vista's EXEs, you're probably overwhelmed with the sheer number of available tools that enable command-line or GUI-based functionality within the OS. Building that list took a lot of time, research and wrist strain to get all the right parts aligned. But in building it, I found myself going back to one tool that's new to Windows Vista that impressed me more than any other: snippingtool.exe.
If you're like me in that you'd rather take a screen shot instead of writing a thousand words, then you're familiar with the pain in doing screen shots without a tool designed for it. Hitting Print Screen snaps the entire screen, and doing an Alt+Print Screen gives you the currently active window, but that's the limit to the functionality you get.
You can always purchase tools like Snag-It, which enable a rich level of screen shot capability. But your needs may not necessarily justify the purchase. If they don't, take a look at the Windows Vista native tool snippingtool.exe. Launching this tool gives super powers to our old friend Print Screen by enabling "draw-a-rectangle" screenshotting, or or you can get "any window," "gimme' the full screen" or -- my personal favorite -- "just draw a line around what you want" screen shot capabilities.
That last one opens up a new world of free-form screen shots for some zany results.
About the Author
Greg is an independent author, speaker, and IT consultant, as well as a Founding Partner with Concentrated Technology. With nearly 15 years in information technology, Greg has developed extensive experience in systems administration, engineering, and architecture specializing in Microsoft OS, remote application, and virtualization technologies. Greg is a Contributing Editor and columnist for TechNet Magazine, a former columnist for Redmond Magazine and Virtualization Review Magazine, and has authored or contributed to ten books and countless white papers and webcasts. His writing is regularly seen in publications like TechTarget online, e-books from Realtime Publishers, and the UK-based IT EXPERT Magazine. He has also produced numerous video training series for CBT Nuggets.