Snipping Tool

Snipping Tool is an application included in Windows 7, Windows Vista

Windows Vista

Windows Vista is a line of operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...

, and Experience Pack for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005. It was originally released as a powertoy for the Tablet PC

Tablet PC

In general terms, tablet PC refers to a laptop or slate-shaped mobile computer, equipped with a touchscreen or graphics tablet/screen hybrid to operate the computer with a stylus or digital pen, or a fingertip, instead of a keyboard or mouse....

 launch on November 7, 2002. The program is a screen-capture tool that allows taking screenshots (called snips) of an open window

Window (computing)

In computing, a window is a visual area containing some kind of user interface. It usually has a rectangular shape. It displays the output of and may allow input to one or more processes....

, rectangular area

Area

Area is a quantity expressing the two-dimensional size of a defined part of a surface, typically a region bounded by a closed curve. The term surface area refers to the total area of the exposed surface of a 3-dimensional solid, such as the sum of the areas of the exposed sides of a polyhedron...

s, a free-form area or the entire screen. Snips can then be annotated using a mouse or a tablet

Graphics tablet

A graphics tablet is a computer input device that allows one to hand-draw images and graphics, similar to the way one draws images with a pencil and paper...

, save

Computer file management

The term computer file management refers to the manipulation of documents and data in files on a computer.----Specifically, one may create a new file or edit an existing file and save it; open or load a pre-existing file into memory; or close a file without saving it. Additionally, one may group...

d as an image file (PNG, GIF, or JPEG

JPEG

In computing, JPEG is a commonly used method of compression for photographic images. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality...

 file) or an HTML page

HTML

HTML, which stands for Hyper Text Markup Language, is the predominant markup language for web pages. It provides a means to create structured documents by denoting structural semantics for text such as headings, paragraphs, lists etc as well as for links, quotes, and other items. It allows images...

, or e-mail

E-mail

Electronic mail, often abbreviated as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages, designed primarily for human use...

ed.

There are a number of options that can be changed in the Snipping Tool by clicking on the options button on the menu, once clicked you will be presented with two groups of options.

• Hide instruction text - Hides the instructional text displayed by snipping tool.
• Always copy snips to the Clipboard - Places the snipped image on the clipboard allowing you to paste it into another programs such as a word processor.
• Include URL below snips (HTML only) - If you take a snip of an Internet Explorer page and save the snip as a Single HTML or MHT file, the URL of the page will be displayed below the snip.
• Prompt to save snips before exiting - If the snip has not been saved then on exit of the program the user will be prompted to save the snip.
• Show screen overlay when Snipping Tool is active - When the Snipping Tool is active a transparent white overlay will be displayed across the screen, when making a snip, your snip select is shown without the white overlay.

• Ink color - Sets the color of the Ink used when drawing on a snip.
• Show the selection ink after snips are captured - When checked it shows a colored selection border around the snip.

After a snip has been captured a few more options become available, from the tools menu you can select Pen and then Customize....

Snipping Tool is an application included in Windows 7, Windows Vista

Windows Vista

Windows Vista is a line of operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...

, and Experience Pack for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005. It was originally released as a powertoy for the Tablet PC

Tablet PC

In general terms, tablet PC refers to a laptop or slate-shaped mobile computer, equipped with a touchscreen or graphics tablet/screen hybrid to operate the computer with a stylus or digital pen, or a fingertip, instead of a keyboard or mouse....

 launch on November 7, 2002. The program is a screen-capture tool that allows taking screenshots (called snips) of an open window

Window (computing)

In computing, a window is a visual area containing some kind of user interface. It usually has a rectangular shape. It displays the output of and may allow input to one or more processes....

, rectangular area

Area

Area is a quantity expressing the two-dimensional size of a defined part of a surface, typically a region bounded by a closed curve. The term surface area refers to the total area of the exposed surface of a 3-dimensional solid, such as the sum of the areas of the exposed sides of a polyhedron...

s, a free-form area or the entire screen. Snips can then be annotated using a mouse or a tablet

Graphics tablet

A graphics tablet is a computer input device that allows one to hand-draw images and graphics, similar to the way one draws images with a pencil and paper...

, save

Computer file management

The term computer file management refers to the manipulation of documents and data in files on a computer.----Specifically, one may create a new file or edit an existing file and save it; open or load a pre-existing file into memory; or close a file without saving it. Additionally, one may group...

d as an image file (PNG, GIF, or JPEG

JPEG

In computing, JPEG is a commonly used method of compression for photographic images. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality...

 file) or an HTML page

HTML

HTML, which stands for Hyper Text Markup Language, is the predominant markup language for web pages. It provides a means to create structured documents by denoting structural semantics for text such as headings, paragraphs, lists etc as well as for links, quotes, and other items. It allows images...

, or e-mail

E-mail

Electronic mail, often abbreviated as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages, designed primarily for human use...

ed.

Options

There are a number of options that can be changed in the Snipping Tool by clicking on the options button on the menu, once clicked you will be presented with two groups of options.

Application

• Hide instruction text - Hides the instructional text displayed by snipping tool.
• Always copy snips to the Clipboard - Places the snipped image on the clipboard allowing you to paste it into another programs such as a word processor.
• Include URL below snips (HTML only) - If you take a snip of an Internet Explorer page and save the snip as a Single HTML or MHT file, the URL of the page will be displayed below the snip.
• Prompt to save snips before exiting - If the snip has not been saved then on exit of the program the user will be prompted to save the snip.
• Show screen overlay when Snipping Tool is active - When the Snipping Tool is active a transparent white overlay will be displayed across the screen, when making a snip, your snip select is shown without the white overlay.

Selection

• Ink color - Sets the color of the Ink used when drawing on a snip.
• Show the selection ink after snips are captured - When checked it shows a colored selection border around the snip.

Other Options

After a snip has been captured a few more options become available, from the tools menu you can select Pen and then Customize.... Here you can create a custom pen with the option to change the Color, Thickness and the Tip of the pen.
you can also "highlight" on the snip.