Capturing a Screen

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 17, 2016)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


2

There may be times when you need to include a screen shot within your Word document. The easiest way to do this is as follows:

  1. Set up your screen to look the way you want it to.
  2. Press the PrintScreen key. This copies the screen to the Clipboard.
  3. Start Word (if it is not already started) and position the insertion point where you want the screen inserted.
  4. Press Ctrl+V to paste the contents of the Clipboard.

This action results in the entire screen being pasted in your document. If you wanted, instead, to only copy and paste a single dialog box or the active window, simply use Alt+PrintScreen in step 2.

If either of these methods still does not fit your needs (for instance, you want to include only a small part of the screen), you can use the following:

  1. Set up your screen to look the way you want it to.
  2. Press the PrintScreen key. This copies the screen to the Clipboard.
  3. Start your favorite graphics editing program and maximize the screen.
  4. Press Ctrl+V to paste the contents of the Clipboard into the graphics program.
  5. Use the editing tools in the graphics program to change the image as desired.
  6. Use the editing tools to crop the image so that it contains only the portion you want within Word.
  7. Select the entire image in the graphics program and press Ctrl+C to copy it to the Clipboard.
  8. Start Word (if it is not already started) and position the insertion point where you want the image inserted.
  9. Press Ctrl+V to paste the contents of the Clipboard.

You should note that instead of pressing Ctrl+V to paste an image into Word, you can also use the Paste Special option from the Edit menu. This option gives you greater control over how an image is inserted in your document.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1146) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Using Print Preview

The Print Preview feature can be a great way to see how something will look on paper without actually using any paper. ...

Discover More

Copying Found Items to a New Document

Word allows you to use its searching capabilities to easily find multiple items in a document. What if you want to copy ...

Discover More

Understanding Color and Conditional Formatting Codes

When you create custom cell formats, you can include codes that allow you to set the color of a cell and that specify the ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2021 or Microsoft 365. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word Step by Step today!

More WordTips (menu)

Understanding Graphic Linking

Word provides a couple of different ways that graphics can be linked to your document. How you control the method used ...

Discover More

Using Callouts

If you want to put comments in your document, you can use Word's built-in comment feature. Another way is to use callout ...

Discover More

Changing the Size of a Graphic

Word allows you to add more than text to your documents; you can also add graphics. Once added, you can modify the size ...

Discover More
Subscribe

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.

What is one less than 8?

2016-09-18 01:44:38

Colin

Word (like all the new Office products) itself has a built in screen capture (Insert, Screenshot). I put this on the Quick Access Toolbar as this is one of the features I use regularly.


2016-09-18 00:35:32

Bob Aikenhead

For portions of screen its much easier to use a screen capture program - many available. I find Screen Hunter (free) does what I need quickly and simply. Options to include/exclude cursor etc.


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.

Videos
Subscribe

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

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.