# Doing a Screen Capture **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doing-a-screen-capture/233372 **Category:** Factual Questions **Created:** [March 9, 2004, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doing-a-screen-capture/233372 "2004-03-09T23:20:30Z") **Posts on this page:** 8 **Page:** 1
### Author: ![InTransit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47774/32.png) [@InTransit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InTransit) #### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doing-a-screen-capture/233372/1 "2004-03-09T23:20:30Z")
Is there a way to do a screen capture without the use of fancy software programs? i don’t need anything fancy or a sophisticated level of detail in the capture. As long as the larger fonts are legible and I can save the file as a .jpg. (This is not for any illegal purpose. I need to do a screen capture of a trademark on a website for renewal purposes.) Thanks in for any tips. ---
### Author: ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout) #### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doing-a-screen-capture/233372/2 "2004-03-09T23:26:09Z")
In Windows 98 onwards, the \ key takes a screenshot and puts it in the clipboard (fire up the paint app and paste it there) - I think it’s \+\ that takes just the active window, but it might be \. ---
### Author: ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk) #### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doing-a-screen-capture/233372/3 "2004-03-09T23:27:46Z")
On a Windows system, the Print Screen button (on your keyboard) will capture the entire screen, and Alt+Print Screen will capture just the active window. You can then paste the image into whatever graphics program you’re using. I dunno about other OSes. ---
### Author: ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk) #### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doing-a-screen-capture/233372/4 "2004-03-09T23:30:43Z")
Oh, and I’m not sure what you mean by “a trademark on a website”, but if that is itself an image, you should be able to right-click on it in your browser and get a menu option to copy or save it. ---
### Author: ![InTransit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47774/32.png) [@InTransit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InTransit) #### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doing-a-screen-capture/233372/5 "2004-03-09T23:33:35Z")
Thanks to all for your very quick responses. I am off to try it. **Hunter Hawk** , I need to show the trademark on the website because that’s how the mark is registered - on the website. In order to renew, I have to show it “in action” as it were. If it was for something like stationery, I’d just send in a sample. But tha’ts probably more than you wanted to know. Thanks again! ---
### Author: ![InTransit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47774/32.png) [@InTransit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InTransit) #### Post date: [March 9, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doing-a-screen-capture/233372/6 "2004-03-09T23:38:06Z")
It worked! Well, hopefully it will suffice for its intended purpose. ---
### Author: ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian) #### Post date: [March 10, 2004, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doing-a-screen-capture/233372/7 "2004-03-10T01:47:30Z")
Is it legal do get a screen capture from a DVD (I’d like to get a picture of a scene from the LOTR extended edition that I don’t think I can find elsewhere)? If so, how do you do it (Print Screen will just give a black box where the DVD program window is)? ---
### Author: ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave) #### Post date: [March 10, 2004, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doing-a-screen-capture/233372/8 "2004-03-10T02:21:20Z")
When I play movies using WinDVD, it has an option to snap a screen shot. It will save the shot to a pre-determined folder as a jpg. Check your player software for that functionality, because that would be the best way to do it. The reason the Print Screen button doesn’t work in Windows is because Windows doesn’t see the movie. It’s told to paint a black box, while the DVD software communicates directly with the video card. The player software tells the video card to display the frames in the same place as the black box that Windows drew. So, as far as Windows is concered, the only thing there is blank space, so that’s what you capture.