Windows 7 Snipping Tool

If you’re not comfortable with manually taking a screenshot and pasting it into an application for editing and/or saving or if you often take partial screenshots and want to save time cropping the image, you should try the Windows 7 Snipping Tool. You can find it under > Start > All Programs > Accessories > Snipping Tool.

You can select from taking a free-form Snip, a rectangular Snip, a Windows Snip (same as [ALT] + [PrtScrn]), or a Full-screen Snip (same as just [PrtScrn]). The partial screenshot is pretty neat and something you cannot easily do with the manual method described above.

When you’re done taking your screenshot, the image is opened in the Snipping Tool editing window. Here you can draw with a pen, highlight elements, copy the image for further editing elsewhere, or save it.

You can do all that and more with IrfanView and other tools. For simple screenshots, however, you may find it more comfortable to work with the Snipping Tool.

5 Tips For Optimizing Your Screenshots

1. Avoid Resizing
   When you resize a screenshot image, it tends to become fuzzy and text will be hard to read. Rather than resizing…
2. Crop Images
   This way you eliminate things you don’t really want to show. Use the [ALT] + [PrtScrn] key combination to capture only the current window, then crop further.
3. Annotate
   With annotating I mean highlighting key elements in your screenshot, for example by pointing an arrow to a certain position, circling a button, or highlighting text. You can also add text comments. If you’re using IrfanView, go to > Edit > Show Paint dialog to get a menu with the respective features (also shown in screenshot above).
4. Edit to Perfection
   Sometimes you take a screenshot of something and there is an add in the middle. To enhance your screenshot, cut it out. You can also cut out superfluous space and make your screenshot more compact than what you see on the screen. In IrfanView for example, you can easily copy and paste selected parts of your image and thus re-arrange it.
5. Use Dedicated Screenshot Software
   There are lots of great screenshot tools out there. Some are free, others not.  I would recommend Screenpresso.  also you can use FastStone Capture 5.3.