How to Take Pictures With Your Webcam That You Hooked Up

Taking a picture with a webcam is a simple task.

Webcams are typically used with instant messaging applications, including Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and Skype. A webcam allows you not only to participate in video chatting with your friends or distant family members but also to take snapshots with the software that comes with these devices. The pictures can be captured only while the webcam is connected to the computer, but taking a picture with the webcam is an easy task.

Instructions

1. Connect the webcam to your computer. Webcams typically come with a USB connection. Insert the USB cable of the webcam into an available USB port on your computer. In desktop computer, the USB ports are located on the rear of the CPU. On laptops, they can be on either side of the laptop.

2. Take out the supplied CD from the packaging of the webcam. Insert the CD into the CD drive of your computer. The setup wizard will launch on the desktop automatically. Follow the instructions on the screen to install the webcam software on your computer.

3. Restart your computer after the installation of the webcam software.

4. Double-click the webcam software icon on the desktop. Typically, the webcam software will display a live image from the webcam when the software launches. Adjust the webcam towards the subject that is to be captured. Make sure the camera mode is selected on the webcam software. If not, click the camera icon to switch from video mode to camera mode.

5. Click the button on the user interface of the webcam software to capture an image. Open the webcam picture folder to preview the snapshot.

References

• Microsoft: Webcam Basics -- How Do They Work?