Embellishing your work with images, describing how you are doing something with pictures really adds a lot to your work. Did you know that Microsoft Word has it’s own screenshot function that you can use? I’m going to show you how to take a screenshot, a snapshot and see if it is the best method to use.
Taking a Screenshot in Word
In order to take a screenshot in word using the built-in function do the following:
- Navigate to the Insert tab on the ribbon and select Screenshot:
- You may see a variety of different windows that you can select. That is completely dependent on how many different programs and windows you have open and not minimized.
For example, if I have Excel, powerpoint, and publisher open then I will see those windows:
If they are minimized though, you will not see anything at all:
- Simply select the window you want to insert and click it. The screenshot appears in your document as an image that you can manipulate however you wish.
How to Create a Screen Clipping in Word
If you only want to copy part of the screen instead of copying the whole thing and then cropping it, then what you need to use is the screen clipping function instead. What this does is that it allows you to select just the area of the screen that you want to insert into your document. This is how you go about doing this:
- Navigate to the program/window that you want to take a screen clipping of.
- Either press Ctrl + Tab on your keyboard to go back to word or click the Word icon on the taskbar to get back to Word.
- Click on the Screenshot button on the Insert menu.
- Select Screen Clipping:
- If you have followed the instructions till now you will be taken to the that program where you will be able to perform your screen clipping. In my case I want to go to Publisher.
- You will see the screen is slightly lighter and that you have cross hairs in order to make the selection that you want:
- Let’s just compare this to the normal view so you’ll see the difference:
- As you can see, the image is very different when you have the screen clipping on.
- Click and drag your mouse to select the area that you want to appear in your document.
- The screen clipping now appears in your document.
Once the image is inside your document you can interact with it the same way that you do so with any other image.
What’s the Difference Between a Screenshot and a Snapshot?
In general, when people say that they want to take a screenshot, they are actually referring to a snapshot. A screenshot is when you take the image of the entire screen, whereas a snapshot is where you take of just a portion. Before Microsoft introduced this feature, what you had to do was to crop your image. With the snapshot option, you don’t need to do so any more.
Are There Any Limitations to the Screenshot Function on Microsoft Word?
Unfortunately, there are limitations to the screenshot function if you compare them to other options. First of all, the image that you select immediately inserts into Word. Whilst this is definitely helpful if this is all you need, without any annotations, if you need to do something else, you have to do so inside Word. Of course, Word has the capability for you to edit and add things to your images, however, if you just want to simply circle something whilst taking the image, you cannot do so.
Secondly, ensuring that you are taking a snapshot from the correct window can be really annoying. As I wrote, you first have to go to the window you want to take the image from, then back to Word, which takes you back to the window you want. That’s just annoying from my point of view.
Lastly, and perhaps the reason why I personally really never use the function is because you cannot take an image snapshot inside Word using this function. Even if you close all the other windows, you will be taken to your desktop. If you want to take a screenshot inside Microsoft Word with their own function, you simply cannot do so.
For these reasons I can’t really recommend that you use this tool. Besides this, there are much better tools to taking snapshots and screenshots than what Microsoft Office offer.
Are There Any Other Options for Taking Screenshots
On many keyboards, there is a print screen button which you can use to copy the entire screen. This doesn’t just copy the window but rather everything that appears on the screen. This has been around for as long as I can remember and has it’s place in history.
However, if you want something specific, by using the screenshot options that come with Microsoft Word, the proccess is quicker and more simple.
But, and there is a big but here, if you are using Windows 10, there was a feature that they added that makes life more easy. All you need to do is press the Windows key + Shift + s.
When you do this, you will see the entire screen go slightly white with the following appearing at the top of your screen.
Then you can take a screenshot/snapshot by simply clicking your desired area. You will see something pop up on the side of your screen telling you that a screenshot has been taken. Click it and you are then taken to this little but pretty powerful screen:
Here there are a number of different options that you can use here and they are all pretty simple so you can work them out. For example, if I want to circle some words simply click on the pen button:
Then you can easily circle in a rudimentary way whatever you like. you can also adjust the thickness of the line as well.
There are quite a few different options that you can use. I suggest just playing around with it and you’ll get good at it very quickly. It’s a simple but pretty powerful free tool. Once you are ready with the image, simply copy it by either pressing Ctrl + c on your keyboard or by clicking the copy button on the window. Then you can navigate to where you want it in your Word document and you will be good to go.
Are There Any Other Options for Taking Sreenshots and Snapshots?
The answer is most definitely yes! From free and “lite” versions to full blown applications that you have to pay for. The one that I personally use is called Snagit made by Techsmith. The reason I use it is because it is so versatile. I can resize the image, move elements of the image around, magnify parts, add a variety of borders, shapes, and callouts to the image as well as many other things besides. Although not cheap, for me it’s definitely worth it as I use it so often.
In Summary
We have seen how to take a screenshot and snapshot in Microsoft Word as well as going through different other options, both paid and free. I hope this post has helped you. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them below. Good luck in your snapping!
Use this link to get your copy of Snagit and start taking screenshots like a pro.