Sometimes, you may want to take a picture of a specific portion of your screen rather than all of it. This can be useful when you need to send a picture of an error message, webpage, or application. Windows and Mac both have built in features which allow you to accomplish this.
Intended Audience
This article is intended for Students, Faculty and Staff who would like to take screen shots of all, or a portion of their computer screen. Sometimes it may be useful to take a screenshot of a portion of your screen, for example, if you needed to send a picture of an error message to an ITS Technician.
Requirements
To follow this article you will need a Windows or Mac computer.
Using Snipping Tool With Windows 11
1. Navigate to the windows task bar at the bottom of the screen and type "Snipping Tool" into the search box.
2. Click on the Snipping Tool application.
3. The Snipping Tool will now be on your screen
4. Before taking a screenshot, a few options are available.
- The two camera icons allow you to switch between taking a picture or recording a video of your screen.
- The Snipping Area button will allow you to select how the area is selected. "Rectangle" will allow you to take a screenshot of a rectangular portion of the screen. "Window: allows you to select a specific app window. "Full Screen" simply takes a snip of your entire screen, including if you have multiple monitors. "Freeform" will allow you to draw a region for a screenshot to be taken in.
- The "Delay snip" button will allow you to place a delay before the screenshot is taken, similar to the timer feature on a digital camera.
- The "Options" tab has numerous other options, such as if the screenshot should be saved to your clipboard or to a specific folder automatically, among other options.
5. Once you have configured the settings, you can press the "new" button to create a new screenshot. Snipping tool will freeze your computer screen and the colors will fade.
6. If you selected rectangular snip, or free form snip, you can now click and drag the cursor to select the portion of the screen you would like to snip. If you selected window snip, you can click on the window you would like to snip.
7. After taking your screenshot, the snipping tool window will reopen with a few extra options.
- The marker tool lets you draw on your snip, and choose the color and thickness of the lines.
- The highlighter works similarly to the marker, with the same color and line thickness options.
- The eraser lets you erase any markups you have made.
- The shapes tool lets you click and drag to create a shape on the snip. Useful when you want to draw attention to a specific area of your snip.
- The crop tool lets you trim or adjust the visible area of the image. Useful if you want to remove the edges of your snip.
- Text options allow you to select text within your snip. Useful if you want to copy specific text, or redact something from your snip.
- The two arrow symbols function as 'undo' and 'redo' buttons.
- The floppy disk icon allows you to save to your local device. You can also copy the snip to your clipboard (allowing you to paste the image), or share it with a specific app like an email service.
Taking Snips on MacOS
1. Make sure the window or application you want to capture is on screen.
2. Use the shortcut "Shift + Command + 4" to begin taking your screenshot.
- Alternatively you can use "Shift + Command + 4 + Space" to take a screen shot of a specific window.
3. Your cursor should now be a crosshair icon, click and drag over the region you would like to take a screenshot of. When you have selected the region you want, release your mouse button, or trackpad.
4. A thumbnail should appear in the bottom corner of your screen, you can click this to edit your screenshot. Alternatively, you can open the screenshot by finding the file on your desktop. By default, MacOS saves screenshots to the desktop.
Troubleshooting
If you have any questions or experience any issues with this article or would like more assistance with these applications, please visit or contact the ITS Helpdesk for assistance.
Location: 206 Murchie Science Building
Hours: go.umflint.edu/hours
Phone: (810) 762-3123
Email: flint.its.support@umich.edu