 Screenshot of a KDE desktop. A screenshot, screen capture, or screen dump is an image taken by the computer to record the visible items displayed on the monitor or another visual output device. Usually this is a digital image taken by the host operating system or software running on the computer device, but it can also be a capture made by a camera or a device intercepting the video output of the computer. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1024x768, 110 KB) Image rename requested, original image Image:Screenshot1. ...
Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1024x768, 110 KB) Image rename requested, original image Image:Screenshot1. ...
KDE (K Desktop Environment) (IPA: ) is a free software project which aims to be a powerful system for an easy-to-use desktop environment. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into image (disambiguation). ...
This article is about the machine. ...
A computer display monitor, usually called simply a monitor, is a piece of electrical equipment which displays viewable images generated by a computer without producing a permanent record. ...
This article is about the photographing device. ...
Screenshots, screen dumps, or screen captures can be used to demonstrate a program, a particular problem a user might be having or generally when computer output needs to be shown to others or archived.
All three terms are often used interchangeably; however, some people distinguish between them as follows:
- Screenshot
- Outputting the entire screen in a common bitmap image format such as BMP, PNG, or JPEG.
- Screen dump
- The display system dumps what it is using internally upon request, such as XWD X Window Dump image data in the case of X11 or PDF in the case of Mac OS X. As of Mac OS X 10.4, pictures are no longer saved as PDF. They are saved as PNGs.
- Screen capture (screencaps)
- Capturing the screen over an extended period of time to form a video file. (see video capture)
Imagine the smiley face in the top left corner as an RGB bitmap image. ...
DIB redirects here. ...
PNG (Portable Network Graphics), sometimes pronounced as ping, is a relatively new bitmap image format that is becoming popular on the World Wide Web and elsewhere. ...
JPG redirects here. ...
In computing, the X Window System (commonly X11 or X) is a windowing system for bitmap displays. ...
“PDF†redirects here. ...
Mac OS X (IPA: ) is a line of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
Video capture usually refers to the various methods of capturing video on a computer. ...
History Screenshots have been used since the 1970s to help market video games. Many game players have come to expect to turn over the game box in order to find out what the game looks like when you are playing it. They were never as widely used for computer applications, instead people relied on lists of features to determine if the program was interesting. Throughout the history of screenshots, there have been some deceptive practices, such as using a screenshot from a computer platform with better graphics on the box of a port to a lesser platform. Some games for the Commodore 64 would have screenshots from the Commodore Amiga version of the game and so on. Due to complaints by consumers, software companies began putting captions below games such as "Screenshot from Amiga version" or "Actual C64 screenshot". The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ...
This article is about computer and video games. ...
C-64 redirects here. ...
Amiga is the name of a range of home/personal computers using the Motorola 68000 processor family, whose development started in 1982. ...
In the 1990s, when pre-rendered or filmed videos became a part of intermissions in games, some game boxes included screenshots from the in game videos, which deceived consumers as to what the actual in game play looked like. Like before, consumer complaints brought about changes to the way screenshots appeared on boxes and in reviews. Screenshots began to have captions like "Actual in-game play". For the band, see 1990s (band). ...
Today, screenshots are expected for application software as well as games, especially when downloading software online that is graphical. More than before, decisions to use a piece of software are based on screenshots.
Internet uses It has become popular in the internet fandom culture to use screencaps of movies and television shows in the creation of fanart, most commonly as icons for LiveJournal, MSN Messenger, and Internet forums about those topics. Websites and various communities have been created to distribute these screencaps. Fandom (from the noun fan and the affix -dom, as in kingdom, dukedom, etc. ...
For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as...
Fan art or fanart is a type of artwork that is based on a person or item that the artist did not create. ...
LiveJournal (often abbreviated LJ) is a virtual community where Internet users can keep a blog, journal, or diary. ...
MSN Messenger is a freeware instant messaging client that was developed and distributed by Microsoft between 1999 and 2005 for computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, and aimed towards home users. ...
A typical Internet forum discussion, with common elements such as quotes and spoiler brackets A page from a forum showcasing emoticons and Internet slang An Internet forum is a web application for holding discussions and posting user generated content. ...
A website, Web site or WWW site (often shortened to just site) is a collection of webpages, that is, HTML/XHTML documents accessible via HTTP on the Internet; all publicly accessible websites in existence comprise the World Wide Web. ...
Built in screenshot functionality
Pressing Command-Shift-3 takes a screenshot of the entire screen, and Command-Shift-4 takes a screenshot of a chosen area of the screen or if you press Space afterwards you can choose a window on the screen to individually screenshot. These images are saved to the desktop, but if you hold down the control key with the rest of the keyboard shortcut, the pictures are copied to the clipboard instead. These shortcuts also work in Mac OS Classic. Mac OS X (IPA: ) is a line of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. ...
This article relates to both the original Classic Mac OS as well as Mac OS X, Apples more recent operating system. ...
You can also use the Grab application to take screenshots. Grab is an application by Apple Computer used to make screenshots of the users computer. ...
A shell utility called "screencapture" (located in /usr/sbin/screencapture) can be used from the Terminal application or in shell scripts to capture screenshots and save them to files. Various options are available to choose the file format of the screenshot, how the screenshot is captured, if sounds are played, etc. The manual page (available via the command "man screencapture") explains all the options. This utility might only be available when the Mac OS X developer tools are installed.
Pressing the Print Screen key captures a screenshot of the entire desktop area, and places it in the clipboard. Pressing the combination of Alt-Print Screen captures only the current active window. Screenshots captured this way do not include the mouse pointer. By default, Windows does not save the screenshot to an image file; the user is required to paste the image into a separate imaging program (such as Microsoft Paint which is built-in) for saving. Some programs, however, particularly multiplayer online games, will automatically save screenshots in a specified folder. As of Windows XP, it is no longer possible to take screenshots of full-screen DOS windows without other software. “Windows†redirects here. ...
A 102-key PC US English keyboard layout with the print screen key marked in red. ...
The clipboard is a software program that is used for short-term storage of data as it is transferred between documents or applications, via copy and paste operations. ...
Microsoft Paint (officially titled Paint; sometimes called MS Paint; formerly Paintbrush for Windows) is a simple graphics painting program that has been included with all versions of Microsoft Windows since its first release. ...
The print screen button uses “keybd_event” API to capture screen.
Windows Vista includes a utility called Snipping Tool, first introduced in Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. It is a screen-capture tool, that allows for taking screenshots (called snips) of windows, rectangular areas, or a free-form area. Snips can then be annotated, saved as an image file or as an HTML page, or emailed. Snipping Tool is an application included in premium editions of Windows Vista and Experience Pack for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005. ...
A typical Windows XP desktop. ...
For programmatic access, application developers can use GDI, DirectX or the Windows Media Encoder API to capture the screen. The Graphics Device Interface (GDI, sometimes called Graphical Device Interface) is one of the three core components or subsystems, together with the kernel and the Windows API for the user interface (GDI window manager) of Microsoft Windows. ...
Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. ...
Windows Media Encoder is a production tool developed by Microsoft which enables content developers to convert both live and prerecorded audio, video, and computer screen images to Windows Media formats for live and on-demand delivery. ...
X Window System
 gnome-screenshot (German version) in Ubuntu Linux 6.06 LTS using Gnome 2.14.3 Since X Window System itself is not a desktop environment and only includes a very basic set of programs, methods of taking screenshots vary greatly on the platform. While xwd(1) is the closest "standard" way to do it in the X Window System, most people use other bundled utilities to achieve the task due to their ease of use. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 212 pixelsFull resolution (1002 × 265 pixel, file size: 56 KB, MIME type: image/png) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Screenshot ...
Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 212 pixelsFull resolution (1002 × 265 pixel, file size: 56 KB, MIME type: image/png) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Screenshot ...
“X11†redirects here. ...
In the X Window System, xwd is a program for capturing the content of the screen or of a window and saving it into a file. ...
“X11†redirects here. ...
KSnapshot is a screenshot application for the KDE desktop environment that was created by Richard J. Moore, Matthias Ettrich and Aaron J. Seigo in Qt and C++. Upon opening KSnapshot, often with the print screen key, you can take a screenshot of the entire screen, a selected portion, or one...
KDE (K Desktop Environment) (IPA: ) is a free software project which aims to be a powerful system for an easy-to-use desktop environment. ...
Gnome-screenshot is a utility used in the GNOME Desktop Environment for Unix-like operating systems for taking screenshots. ...
This article is about the mythical creature. ...
Video screen captures None of the major operating systems have built-in mechanisms to record videos of the screen (recording how the user moves his mouse around, clicks icons, types text etc. as a movie). A multitude of utilities have come up to fill this void, though.
recordMyDesktop is a desktop session recorder for Linux that runs as a command line tool or with a GTK or Qt frontend (gtk-recordMyDesktop and qt-recordMyDesktop, respectively). This article is about operating systems that use the Linux kernel. ...
The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ...
For other uses, see Qt. ...
In their most general meanings, the terms front end and back end refer to the initial and the end stages of a process flow. ...
Third party screenshot software There are many third-party programs available on different platforms to take screenshots with advanced functionality. Some computer graphics software (e.g., IrfanView, GIMP, SnagIt, and PSP) can acquire screenshots. Typically, these programs can be configured to include or exclude the mouse pointer, automatically crop out everything but the client area of the active window, take timed shots, areas of the screen not visible on the monitor (autoscroll), and so on. IrfanView is a freeware image viewer for Microsoft Windows that can view, edit, and convert image files and play video/audio formats. ...
For other uses, see Gimp (disambiguation). ...
Paint Shop Pro (PSP) is a bitmap graphics editor and vector graphics editor for computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system that was originally published by Minneapolis-based Jasc Software. ...
Common technical issues
Hardware overlays Screenshots of games and media players sometimes fail, resulting in a blank rectangle. The reason for this is that the graphics are bypassing the normal screen and going to a high-speed graphics processor on the graphics card called the hardware overlay. Generally, there is no way to extract a computed image back out of the graphics card, though software may exist for special cases or specific video cards. A graphics/video/display card/board/adapter is a computer component designed to convert the logical representation of visual information into a signal that can be used as input for a display medium. ...
Hardware overlay is a method that uses dedicated video hardware, as an alternate to software rendering, to display a video image, such as a dvd. ...
One way these images can be captured is to turn off the hardware overlay. Because many computers have no hardware overlay, most programs are built to work without it, just a little slower. In Windows XP, this is disabled by opening the Display Properties menu, then clicking, "Advanced", "Troubleshoot", and moving the Hardware Acceleration Slider to "None."
DVDs are often encrypted using a patented algorithm called Content-scrambling system or CSS, making it much more difficult to take screenshots of them. Many DVD-capable media players will only play them on the overlay layer, where they cannot be captured. Content Scramble System (CSS) is an encryption system used on some DVDs. ...
Screen recording The screen recording capability of some screen capture programs is a time-saving way to create instructions and presentations, but the resulting files are often large.
A common problem with video recordings is the action jumps, instead of flowing smoothly, due to low frame rate. Though getting faster all the time, ordinary PCs are not yet fast enough to play videos and simultaneously capture them at professional frame rates, i.e. 30 frame/s. For many cases, high frame rates are not required. This is not generally an issue if simply capturing desktop video, which requires far less processing power than video playback, and it is very possible to capture at 30 frames/s. This of course varies depending on desktop resolution, processing requirements needed for the application that is being captured, and many other factors. Frame rate, or frame frequency, is the measurement of the frequency (rate) at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. ...
Copyright issues Some companies believe the use of screenshots is an infringement of copyright on their program, as it is a derivative work of the widgets and other art created for the software.[1][2] Not to be confused with copywriting. ...
This montage of different images is an example of a derivative work In copyright law, a derivative work is an artistic creation that includes major, basic copyrighted aspects of an original, previously created first work. ...
Look up widget in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
This is one of the issues "solved" by Trusted Computing. Under Trusted Computing, programs will be able to block the taking of screenshots of their windows. Logo of Trusted Computing Group, an initiative to implement Trusted Computing Trusted Computing (commonly abbreviated TC) is a technology developed and promoted by the Trusted Computing Group (TCG). ...
Screenshots may still be used under the principle of fair use, which (in U.S. law) permits copying of images or text for "criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research".[3][4] Similar laws exist in other countries, such as fair dealing. For fair use in trademark law, see Fair use (US trademark law). ...
Fair dealing is a doctrine of limitations and exceptions to copyright which is found in many of the common law jurisdictions of the Commonwealth of Nations. ...
See also A screencast is a digital recording of computer screen output, often containing audio narration. ...
Video capture usually refers to the various methods of capturing video on a computer. ...
A screenshot map is a map of a video game level compiled from various screenshots. ...
Thumbshots are screenshots of online documents such as web page in small thumbnail sizes. ...
References - ^ Screen Shots (Excluding Xbox). Use of Microsoft Copyrighted Content. Retrieved on 2007-08-22.
- ^ Question: What are screenshots, and is using them copyright infringement?. FAQ about Copyright -- Chilling Effects Clearinghouse. Retrieved on 2007-08-22.
- ^ Copyright in screenshots? Who owns it?. MetaFilter. Retrieved on 2007-08-22.
- ^ Ask the Law Geek: Is publishing screenshots Fair Use?. Lifehacker. Retrieved on 2007-08-22.
Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...
is the 234th day of the year (235th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Chilling Effects is a collaboration between several law school clinics and the Electronic Frontier Foundation to protect lawful online activity from legal threats. ...
Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...
is the 234th day of the year (235th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
MetaFilter, known as MeFi to its members, is a community weblog whose purpose is to share links and discuss interesting websites. ...
Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...
is the 234th day of the year (235th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ...
Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...
is the 234th day of the year (235th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
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