What is the Snipping Tool and how to use the Snipping Tool in Windows 10?
The Snipping Tool is a handy built-in screen capture tool that comes with Microsoft Windows. It lets you take a screenshot of a selected area on your screen and save it as an image file. You can choose to capture a rectangular or free-form area of the screen, take a full-screen screenshot, or capture the entire window. Once you have captured the screenshot, you can annotate it with text, arrows, and other shapes to highlight specific areas before saving or sharing it. The Snipping Tool has been around since Windows Vista and is still available in newer versions of Windows, although the Snip & Sketch app introduced in Windows 10 has replaced it to some extent.
How to use the Snipping Tool in Windows 10?
To use the Snipping Tool in Windows 10, please do the following:
- Open the Snipping Tool by typing “snipping tool” into the Windows search bar and selecting the app from the results.
- Once the Snipping Tool is open, click “New” to start a new snip.
- Choose the type of snip you want to take from the dropdown menu:
- Free-form snip: draw a free-form shape around the area you want to capture.
- Rectangular snip: drag the cursor to create a rectangle around the area you want to capture.
- Window snip: select a specific window to capture.
- Full-screen snip: capture the entire screen.
- After selecting the snip type, use your mouse or touchpad to select the area you want to capture.
- Once you have captured the area you want, you can use the annotation tools to add text, highlight areas, or draw shapes on the screenshot.
- Click “File” and “Save As” to save the screenshot as an image file.
You can also access the Snipping Tool faster by pressing the keyboard shortcut “Windows key + Shift + S”.
Who needs the Snipping Tool?
Here are some examples of people who could benefit from using the Snipping Tool, which is a useful tool for capturing screenshots or images from the computer screen:
- Students: They can use the Snipping Tool to capture screenshots of notes, lectures, or study materials. They can then annotate the screenshots with additional information or highlight important points.
- Professionals: A variety of professionals can benefit from using the Snipping Tool for work-related tasks. For instance, tech support personnel can easily capture and save screenshots to document issues and provide solutions to customers. Graphic designers can also use the Snipping Tool to capture images for use in their design projects or presentations.
- Social media users: Social media enthusiasts can make use of the Snipping Tool to capture and share images from their screens, like memes or fascinating online content.
- Gamers: Gamers can use the Snipping Tool to capture screenshots of their gaming achievements or record bugs or glitches in games to share with others.
- Anyone who needs to capture and save information from their computer screen: The Snipping Tool is beneficial for anyone who needs to capture and save information from their screen. With the ability to capture rectangular or free-form areas, full windows, or the entire screen, the Snipping Tool is a quick and easy solution for capturing and annotating images.
Pros and cons of the Snipping Tool
Pros of the Snipping Tool include:
- Easy to use: The Snipping Tool is designed to be user-friendly and straightforward to use, making it accessible to individuals with limited computer skills.
- Multiple snipping options: With multiple snipping options available, including free-form, rectangular, window, and full-screen snips, the Snipping Tool enables users to capture precisely what they need.
- Basic editing options: With the Snipping Tool, you don’t need to be a pro at image editing to make basic modifications to your captured screenshots. You can add annotations, highlight important areas, and even use the pen tool to draw attention to specific details. These simple editing options can make your screenshots more informative and visually appealing, without requiring you to have advanced graphic design skills.
- Built-in to Windows: The Snipping Tool is a built-in tool in Windows, which means that it’s free and readily available to Windows users without any additional installations.
Cons of the Snipping Tool include:
- Limited editing capabilities: While the Snipping Tool does offer basic editing capabilities, it lacks more advanced editing features such as cropping or resizing images.
- No video capture: The Snipping Tool is primarily designed for capturing screenshots and does not support video capture.
- Limited file-saving options: The Snipping Tool only saves screenshots in a specific file format called PNG. This may not work for everyone, especially if they need their screenshots to be saved in a different file format such as JPEG or PDF.
- Limited customization options: The Snipping Tool is a simple and straightforward tool designed mainly for capturing screenshots. However, it lacks some advanced features such as video capture capabilities or the ability to customize default settings, like the output file format or folder location. This may limit its usefulness for some users who require more flexibility and options.
- No scrolling capture: The Snipping Tool only captures what is visible on the screen at the time of the capture and does not offer scrolling capture. This can be a limitation for users who need to capture an entire webpage, document, or email thread. They would have to take multiple screenshots and then combine them manually or use a different tool for scrolling capture.
- Glitches and bugs: Some users have reported glitches and bugs when using the Snipping Tool, like freezing or crashing.
The Snipping Tool is a pretty handy tool for taking screenshots and making basic edits, like adding annotations or highlighting areas. But it might not be enough for some people who need more advanced features or customizations. There are other screenshot and screen recording tools out there that offer more options and flexibility.
How is the Snipping Tool on Windows 10 better than previous Windows?
The Snipping Tool in Windows 10 is an improved version of the Snipping Tool found in the previous versions of Windows. Here are some of the ways that the Snipping Tool in Windows 10 is better:
- More snipping options: In Windows 10, the Snipping Tool has been improved with more options for capturing screenshots. You can now choose from different snipping modes like free-form, rectangular, window, and full-screen. These options provide greater flexibility when taking screenshots to meet your specific needs.
- Delayed snip option: Windows 10’s Snipping Tool includes a delayed snip option that allows you to set a timer before the snip is captured. This is useful if you need to capture a dropdown menu or tooltip that disappears as soon as you click away from it.
- Built-in image editor: Windows 10’s Snipping Tool includes a built-in image editor that allows you to annotate your screenshots with a pen, highlighter, or eraser tool. This makes it easy to add notes or callouts to your screenshots before sharing them.
- Snip & Sketch integration: Windows 10 includes a newer snipping tool called Snip & Sketch, which offers additional features compared to the Snipping Tool. Snip & Sketch is integrated with the Windows Ink Workspace and provides more advanced editing options, such as cropping, resizing, and rotating screenshots. It also allows users to quickly share screenshots or save them to the clipboard for easy pasting into other applications.
Overall, the Snipping Tool in Windows 10 offers more snipping options and advanced editing features than previous versions, making it a more powerful and versatile tool for capturing and editing screenshots.
Where do I get the Snipping Tool from?
The Snipping Tool is a built-in program in Microsoft Windows, so you do not need to download or install it separately. It should be already installed on your Windows computer.
To access the Snipping Tool, you can follow these steps:
Click on the Start menu button at the bottom left corner of your screen.
Type “Snipping Tool” into the search box and press Enter.
The Snipping Tool window should appear on your screen.
If you’re on Windows 10, you can use a keyboard shortcut to open the Snipping Tool without having to search for it. Just press the Windows key, Shift key, and S key all at the same time. This will bring up the Snipping Tool so you can start capturing screenshots right away.
Trending of the Snipping Tool in the Future
There are a few trends and possibilities that we can consider:
- Integration with other tools: As technology advances, we might see more ways the Snipping Tool can integrate with other software and tools. In the future, we could see it work together with cloud storage platforms or collaboration tools to make it even easier to share and work together on screenshots.
- Improved editing features: As technology continues to evolve, we may see more advanced editing features added to the Snipping Tool in the future. While the tool currently allows users to add annotations to their screenshots, we could potentially see features like filters and effects to enhance the captured images. This would provide users with even more options to edit and customize their screenshots to better suit their needs.
- Integration with AI and machine learning: As AI and machine learning continue to evolve, it’s possible that the Snipping Tool may incorporate these technologies to provide more advanced and intelligent features, such as automatic object recognition and capture. This could greatly improve the efficiency and accuracy of screenshot capture and editing.
- Replacement by newer tools: It’s also possible that the Snipping Tool may be replaced by newer, more advanced tools in the future. For example, the Snip & Sketch app in Windows 10 already offers more advanced features than the Snipping Tool, so we may see more advanced screenshot tools replace the Snipping Tool altogether in the future.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Snipping Tool is a built-in tool in Windows that allows users to capture and edit screenshots easily. It offers multiple snipping options, and basic editing capabilities, and is easy to use even for those with limited computer skills.
The Snipping Tool does have some limitations, such as the inability to capture videos, limited options for saving files, and few customization options available.
The Snipping Tool is a great built-in program for taking and editing screenshots, but it does have its limitations. If you’re looking for more advanced features or customization options, there are many third-party screenshot and screen recording tools available that might better suit your needs. That being said, for most basic screenshot capture and editing needs, the Snipping Tool is a convenient and user-friendly option on Windows computers.
