How to Make a Snapshot of a Web Page

Web page designers can send a snapshot to a customer to discuss design ideas.

A snapshot, or screen shot, of a web page can prove useful in a variety of situations. For example, a website visitor may have a different experience due to browser difference or coding errors and can use a screen shot to show these differences to the webmaster. A snapshot can also help a computer user illustrate changes or issues caused by malicious software such as a virus or spyware. Lastly, a person could create a snapshot as proof of achievement, such as a milestone on a visitor counter.

Instructions

Screenshot

1. Open your web browser and navigate to the page that you wish to capture.

2. Press the "Print Screen" key, which may be labeled as "Prt Scr" next to "F12" on your keyboard, to save the image of your screen to your computer's memory.

3. Open an image editing program, such as Microsoft Paint (which comes on Windows systems), Adobe Photoshop or Corel Paint Shop Pro.

4. Press, "Ctrl" + "V" to paste the screen image into your graphics program.

5. Select the "File" menu and press "Save." When prompted, type your desired name into the "file name" field, and choose your preferred image type (e.g., .bmp, .jpg, .gif, .png, .tif) from the "Save as Type" menu. Click "Save."

IESnap

1. Download IESnap 1.2 (see the resources below). Click the link to the trial version and follow the prompts to download and install.

2. Open Internet Explorer and type the web page URL into the address bar to load the web page.

3. Click the star-shaped icon for IESnap in the top toolbar, or click "Tools" and "IESnap."

4. Type your desired file name into the text field and press "Save."

Browser Shots

1. Go to the Browser Shots website (www.browsershots.org).

2. Type the address of the web page you want to capture into the "Enter URL Here" field. Check the browsers and operating systems for which you wish to check compatibility, or check a popular browser, such as Firefox 3.0 or Internet Explorer 7.0, if you do not need the image to check for compatibility.

   Specify screen size, color depth, java and flash compatibility.

   Press "Submit."

3. Wait for users to upload screen shots of the web page. The queue estimate shows how long you can expect to wait for your screen shots.

4. Click "Reload this page" or press "F5" on your keyboard to refresh and view screen shots.

5. Click the screen shot you wish to save to open only that shot on a web page. Right click on the image and select "Save Image" or "Save As" to save the image. Type the desired file name into the field and press "Save."

   Alternatively, press "Download All" from the thumbnail page to save all the screen shots in a zipped archive.

Tips & Warnings

• You can send a screen shot to another person by directly copying the file from your clipboard into an email program or an instant messaging program by pressing "Ctrl" + "V" directly into the message/email screen.

• Press "F11" in your browser window to minimize browser toolbars/menus and maximize the screen space before taking a screen shot.

References

• Windows: Using Paint
• Take-a-Screenshot.org: How Do I Take a Screenshot?

Resources

• ToneC: IESnap v1.2
• Browser Shots: Homepage