21 February 2008

Print Screen

Ever wish you could take a snapshot of your computer screen in order to show someone the weird messages you have been receiving? With the help of a little-known key, you can. The Print Screen key is located on a standard keyboard between the typewriter section and the numeric keypad, above the Insert key.

It the good old days of DOS, pushing the Print Screen button on your keyboard would send a copy of the screen contents to the printer connected to the back of your computer. Some systems required holding down the shift key before pressing the Print Screen key. Nowadays, you have difficulty getting to DOS and most printers are too dumb to print the screen. (This is basically true. Prior to Windows 95, all printers had built-in memory and could create an image to print. Once Windows took over that task, printers could be made without that capability. This made them less expensive and, well, dumb.)

So, what can you do with the Print Screen key? And, while you're at it, what is the meaning of "SysRq" on the key? The SysRq (SYStem ReQuest) key was used on a terminal keyboard to get the attention of the central computer. The key exists on PC keyboards, but is rarely used by applications.

You can use the Print Screen key to capture an image that is on your screen. When you press the key, it takes a graphical snapshot of the screen. You can open your graphics imaging program (PhotoShop, Microsoft Photo Editor, Paint, etc.), start a new page, and paste the image. You can then save it or print it. To capture an image of the active window (the one that is the front most), hold down the shift key before hitting the Print Screen.