| |
|
|
|
Make Screen Shots
Chapter 3: Capturing Web SitesYou can capture copies of your web browser window using the technique
described in Chapter 2.
However, these screen captures will also include the browser's address bar,
toolbar, status bar, etc.
If you have a recent version of Internet Explorer, you should be able to
capture just the web page itself, using this technique:
(Please Note: I have tried this on several computers, and was able to
make it working using Internet Explorer 5.5, and using Internet Explorer 5 on one computer, but not
on another).
- Make sure your screen is set to the same
color depth as you want the screen shot.
For example, if you want a 256 color screen shot, set your screen to 256
color mode.
You can do this, by right clicking on the Windows desktop, picking
Properties... on the pop-up menu that appears, and then going to
the Settings tab.
Please Note: If you plan to put the screen shot on your web site, or in an
eBook,
then you should save the screenshot as
GIF or PNG.
While more sophisticated paint programs
generally support both of these formats, the Windows Paint accessory only supports
GIF. Anyway, the key point is, if you plan
to save the screenshot as GIF, you'll need
to set your screen to 256 colors or less, as
GIF only allows a maximum of 256 colors.
- Load the web page that you want to view into Internet Explorer either
by typing its URL into the address bar, or by navigating to it.
- In Internet Explorer use the options on the View menu to turn
off all the toolbars, status bars, explorer bars, address bars, etc.
- When you're ready to capture the web page, press F11 to make the
web page go full screen.
There may be a floating toolbar with the browser's buttons at the top of the
screen, but if you move the mouse away, it should hopefully disappear.
(On the computers where this technique didn't work, I just couldn't get rid
of the toolbar or status bar no matter what I tried).
Press the Print Screen key to capture the entire screen to the Windows
clipboard.
You can now press the Esc key to switch Internet Explorer back out of
full screen mode (and if you want re-enable the toolbars and so on, using the
options on the View menu).
- You're now ready to paste from the clipboard into your
painting software.
Start the paint program.
More sophisticated paint programs usually have an option to create a
brand new image from the content of the clipboard. Look for an option
called something like New from Clipboard (on the File menu),
or Paste as New Image (on the Edit menu). Select the option,
then Save the image, and you're done.
(Don't forget to save as GIF or
PNG if you want to use your screenshot on
your web site or in an
eBook).
If you only have the Paint accessory program that comes with Windows, then
do this:
- Start Paint.
- Click Attributes... on the Edit menu, and change both the
Width and Height of the image to 1
pixel,
then click OK.
Paint will now look a little odd, with a very tiny (1 by 1 pixel
image).
- Click Paste on the Edit menu.
A message box will appear saying
"The image in the clipboard is larger than the bitmap. Would you like
the bitmap enlarged?". Click Yes in response to this message.
- Paint will now contain an image that is the exact same size as your
capture. Save your work, and you're done.
(Don't forget to save as GIF if
you want to use your screenshot on
your web site or in an
eBook).
I make no bones about the fact that there are some limitations with
this technique:
- As I have mentioned, this techique may not work on some computers.
- Furthermore, if you want to capture a really long web page (one you
would normally have to scroll to see the whole of), you can't capture it
in one go.
To overcome these limitations, I suggest that you take a look at
Mr. Captor.
We'll discuss
Mr. Captor
(and some other handy utilities to help with screen captures), in the
next Chapter.
|
|
|
