The Random Access newsletter is a Publication of “The Computer Users Group of Greeley, Colorado”  USA

By Richard Kennon Member Amador Computer Users Group, Jackson, California

Dick Carricato, member of the Tri County Computer User Group in Florida wrote a

good article about copying pictures from your computer screen. Sometimes there are

other things you may want to copy from your screen that may not lend themselves to

the PrtScr method. This is especially true of lists in drop down boxes that require a

scroll bar down the right side. PrtScr will only show the portion of the list that shows.

For instance, I write a (almost) monthly newsletter on the web and usually include a

bunch of pictures. I like to have a hard copy of the picture thumbnails at hand to

remind me of things to say. This is always a scrolling window. Often I want a hardcopy

of a menu, too.

I have found FastStone Capture to be a perfect answer to my needs. You can try it

free by going to http://www.faststone.org/. Then, if you like it, as I do, you can

purchase a lifetime license for $19.95.

You can capture and annotate anything on the screen including windows, objects,

menus, full screen, rectangular/freehand regions and scrolling windows/web pages. Editing tools include annotating,

resizing, cropping, sharpening, watermarking, edge effects and many more. Of course, you can transfer the image to

any editor of choice. You can either print the copy or save it in one of eight different formats. I choose JPEG. Further,

you can choose the resolution of the saved image. I don’t know if it actually improves the resolution or just resizes to

more pixels.

Of course, it features a bunch of hot key combinations but, with my memory, this is not useful. Instead I rely on the small

box of choices at the bottom right of my screen. I find it extremely useful and use it almost every day.