PI Business Tool, Print Screen Key

The Windows Print Screen Key can be a powerful PI business investigative tool if you know how to use it to its full potential. There are some who think that when they press the Print Screen Key that it will be sent to the printer. If you are using an older DOS based computer, it will be sent to the printer. Where is the key? The key may appear differently depending on the manufacturer of your Windows keyboard. The standard position would be at the upper right hand corner of your keyboard What does the key do? The function of this key is to take a snapshot /picture of your computer screen and copy it to the clipboard, just as you would copy text. It’s that simple.

Now what do you do? How do you access the Screen Capture? The quickest and most effective method is to use an image program. If you don’t that is ok, you can open your word processing program and create a new document. Position your cursor at the beginning of the document or wherever you want the screenshot to appear. Using your keyboard, press Ctrl + V which will Paste the screenshot in your open document or right click and select paste. Now you can save the document to wherever you need to, make sure to name it appropriately so you can easily find it. In most cases to send your screen capture you can open a new email and paste the screen capture into the body. Screen captures can be used in private investigation case when gathering information; you can also create a sequence of screen shots showing how to perform a specific task, etc. Screen shots can also be pasted directly into you case management program or PI software. Saving web site links is not a good practice to save a web site that is a focus of an investigation, web sites change sometime daily or even by the minute. A screen capture of a web site shows what it was displaying at the time of the investigation. The possibilities are endless.

Do I Need a Print Screen Program?

For most Print Screen requirements, users of Windows (XP/Vista/7) and Office (2003/2007/2010) do not need to buy a special Print Screen software.

To Review:

Press Prt Scr to capture the entire screen to the clipboard.

Cool Tips:

Press Alt + Prt Scr to capture the currently selected window, not the entire screen.

(Ctrl+C) to copy

(Ctrl+V) to Paste

Windows print screen images are saved in .bmp (Bitmap) format

Microsoft Windows XP  Help on Print Screen

Microsoft Wndows 7 Help of Print Screen