Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words.

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 8, 2017)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

If you have ever tried to explain computer configuration or processes to someone over the phone, you know the process can be quite frustrating. You are never quite sure if the person on the other end is looking at the same thing on their screen that you are.

A quick way to ease this predicament is to write up your instructions and include pictures. Word, in conjunction with Windows, makes this quite easy. Try this the next time you are faced with this task:

On your computer, walk through the steps you want to explain.
At appropriate times, capture the entire screen or a single dialog box to the Clipboard. You do this by pressing the Print Screen key to capture the entire screen, or Alt+Print Screen to capture the active window or dialog box.
Paste the captured screen information into Word by pressing Ctrl+V.
Add any explanatory text necessary.
Repeat steps 2 through 4 until you are finished.
Save your document.

At this point you can e-mail the document to the remote site, or you can transmit it in some other way, such as printing or by disk.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1272) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Specifying a Font in WordArt

WordArt is a great add-in that allows you to insert creative wording into your document. This tip shows how you can ...

Discover More

Too Many Rows or Columns in a PivotTable

PivotTables are often used to aggregate lots of information, and they do it beautifully. What do you do if Excel starts ...

Discover More

Years in Which a Date Occurred on a Particular Day

If you need to know the years in which a particular date occurred on a specific day of the week, there are a number of ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Absolutely Positioning a Graphic

Want a graphic to appear at a precise place on the page? It's easy to gain control by following the steps in this tip.

Discover More

Searching and Replacing Graphics

Got a bunch of graphics in a document that need replacing? (Perhaps you need to replace an old logo with a new one.) Word ...

Discover More

Rotating Fractions in a Text Box

Rotating graphics in Word is not always straight-forward, but it can be done. The tools on the Drawing toolbar allow you ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is four minus 0?

2017-04-09 12:47:15

Craig

I agree with the comment below from Allen. The Windows Snipping Tool works well at capturing an image, whole or partial. In addition, the Print Screen buttons on the keyboard never functioned or did what they where supposed to.

2017-04-08 16:23:23

Allan

While this is a convenient way, I think another way offers a better advantage.
Use the Snipping Tool to access ONLY what you want and then place it in the document.
I do this all of the time.
I got a kick out of your I'm not a robot question--What is two less than 7?

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.