Windows has had a built-in feature to capture screenshots for many releases – it can capture the entire desktop or the active window and place the image on the clipboard. The table below summarizes the feature as it exists in Windows 7.
Windows 8 comes with a very useful improvement. If you press WINDOWS + PRINT SCREEN, it captures the entire desktop and puts the image into the Clipboard AND saves it as a PNG file in your Pictures folder in a folder called Screenshots as shown below.
It also nicely dims the screen momentarily so that it is obvious a screen shot has taken place. This means you won't need use specialized screen capture tools as often.
In related news, the Snipping Tool still exists in Windows 8, but it doesn't have any visible improvements.
My suggestions for this feature (in case anyone is listening)
- I'd like to see the PRINT SCREEN feature and the Snipping Tool become one thing instead of existing as two separate tools.
- Ability to capture an arbitrary region not just the entire desktop or a window
- Ability to “repeat last capture” – critical if you want to capture the same region over and over again
- All the capture methods should provide visual feedback
- All the capture methods should provide audio feedback. Hypersnap, for example, provides a nice “click” sound during every capture.