How to take a screenshot on a pc or laptop in Windows

I walk you step by step on how to take a screenshot on a pc or laptop in Windows and how to use those screenshots in your blog posts. I use two free tools to take my screenshots. These tools are free and super easy to use. The first tool is the Paint 3D app. With Paint 3D, you use the print screen key on your keyboard to save the screen, then paste on to a new file and save to your computer. The second tool is the Gimp app. With Gimp, you have a screenshot feature that allows you to take an instant screenshot or a delayed screenshot. Once you have your screenshot, you save the image to your computer.

Let’s begin.

• My first free tool for taking screenshots in Windows is Paint 3D.
• How to take a screenshot with Paint 3D.
• How to save your image in Paint 3D.
• Video tutorial for taking screenshots with Paint 3D
• How to upload a saved image to your blog.
• How to add ALT text to uploaded images.
• My second free tool for capturing screens is Gimp.
• How to take a screenshot with Gimp.
• Tools for editing images in Gimp.
• How to change your image file type from XCF to PNG in Gimp.
• Conclusion.
• Frequently asked questions.

My first free tool for taking screenshots is Paint 3D

My first, and very easy to use tool is ‘Paint 3D’. Paint is installed in Windows so you do not have to download or install Paint 3D.

I use Windows 10, so I will be using Windows 10 to do this walk through.

To find Paint on your PC or laptop, click on the Windows icon on the bottom left of you screen.

Once you do that, you get this.

If you do not see Paint 3D on the right. You can see from my screenshot I have Paint 3D as one of my tiles for easy access.

Then you will need to find it from the A-Z list on the left.

To make finding Paint a little easier, click on one of the main letters. I can see the letter A and C. I will click on C.

After I click on C, I get this.

I am looking for Paint 3D. So I need to click on the letter ‘P’. To get a list of applications on my laptop starting with the letter ‘P’.

Here is my list.

Applications starting with the letter ‘P’ are listed from the top.

To start using Paint 3D you just need to click on the icon in the menu.

Once you do that, Paint 3D will open.

Like this.

For your screenshot, you will need to click on ‘New’. This will give you a platform to paste your screenshot.

I have clicked on ‘New’ and now have this.

How to take a screenshot with Paint 3D.

Now I need to take my screen shot. As an example I will open a Google search page.

Once I open the Google search page. I need to find the key on my keyboard that says ‘prt sc’. This is short for ‘print screen’.

Once I have pressed ‘prt sc’, My laptop will capture the image of the screen that is open at that time. It operates the same way as ‘Copy’. When you copy and paste text.

Next, go back to your open window in Paint 3D and press the keys ‘ctrl’+’v’ on your keyboard.

You are pasting your captured screen into Paint 3D.

How to save your image in Paint 3D

After you have pasted your screenshot. There are some tools that you can use to manipulate the image.

I usually just use the cropping tool and sometimes I blank out some personal information.

Once you have finished with your edits. Click on ‘Menu’ on the top left of the Paint 3D window.

These options will appear in the drop down menu.

Click on ‘Save as’ and then you will need to select the format you want the file to be saved as.

For a screenshot, select ‘Image’.

From that, you will have a new window open. In this window, you can give your screenshot image a name and also select where you want the image to be saved on your computer.

Your image will be saved as a PNG file. Ideal for your blog post. It will only be a few KB. That means it will not take up much room on your server and should load quickly.

Now you have an image you can use in your blog post.

Video tutorial for taking screenshots with Paint 3D

Here is a YouTube tutorial video from Eventech76. He goes the process of using Paint for screenshots.

How to upload a saved image to your blog

Uploading an image to your blog in WordPress Gutenberg is very easy.

To start, you click on the plus symbol in a circle which is on the top left of your WordPress edit page.

Once you click on that, you get a popup option box.

Like this.

Click on ‘Image’. After you click on image. You get this.

Click on ‘Upload’ and choose the image you wish to use.

Don’t forget to add ALT text to all your uploaded images. This will help you with your SEO.

Google will see your images. The ALT text tags will help Google understand what the image is about.

How to add ALT text to uploaded images

After you have uploaded an image to your blog. Click on the image, and a little toolbar menu will appear above the image.

Like this.

Click on the pencil. Then you will get this window.

Your image will be ticked and the details of your image will appear on the right.

At the very least, you will need to fill in the ‘Title’ and ‘Alt Text’ details.

Once you have finished updating your details. Click on ‘Select’. Now your image is SEO friendly.

My second free tool for capturing screens is Gimp

I like using Gimp more than Paint 3D. Gimp has a delay function for taking screenshots. I find that very handy when I am doing a walkthrough.

Sometimes I need to open a menu which takes me a second or two. The delay allows me to complete the necessary clicks before the screenshot is captured.

Gimp is not installed as part of Windows so you will need to download this one.

Gimp’s homepage looks like this.

Once you have downloaded Gimp. Click on the icon to launch Gimp. Gimp has a lot of features so takes a few seconds to load everything.

Once it opens you get this.

How to take a screenshot with Gimp

Taking a screenshot with Gimp is a bit more complicated than Paint 3D. Once you have done it a couple of times it isn’t that difficult.

First, you click on ‘File’ on the top left of the Gimp window.

Once you do that you get these options.

Once you have this menu open. Hover your mouse over the word ‘Create’ and a new submenu will appear.

Like this.

From here you want to click on ‘Screenshot’.

Once you do that, you get this.

There are a couple of options here.

You can take the screenshot of a single window or, you take a screenshot of whatever is on your screen at that time.

There is also the option of delaying the screen capture by as many seconds as you need.

I find the delay option very useful. If I am doing a walkthrough, sometimes I need to open some sub menus before the screen is captured.

Once you have selected your options, you click on ‘Snap’. After you click on snap another small window will appear.

Like this.

On the previous screen option, I selected a single window. So I have this mini window with the crosshair. I need to drag the crosshair to the window I would like to take a screenshot of.

It is just drag and release the crosshair over the window.

Once you release, your screenshot will appear in the Gimp window.

Like this.

Tools for editing images in Gimp

Gimp has so many tools available to you to do so much with this image. For me. I usually just crop the image to cut out any unnecessary details. Sometimes I use a tool to blank out any personal details.

As an example, I will crop the bookmarks out from the top of the screen.

Cropping is the default tool in this window, so I just need to drag the icon over the area I want to keep and then press ‘Enter’ to crop.

After cropping, here is my image.

Once you are happy with you image. It is time to save it.

To do that you click on ‘File’ on the top left.

Like this.

From here, you need to click on ‘Save As…’.

Then you need to select where you want to save the image.

Like this.

The default name is ‘Untitled’. Change the name of your image and select where on your computer you want to keep the image.

Gimp will save your image as an XCF file. You can’t use that for your blog post. But with a couple more clicks in Gimp you can change the file type so that you can use it.

How to change your image file type from XCF to PNG in Gimp

To change the file type you need to click on ‘File’ in your menu bar.

Like this.

From here you need to select ‘Export’. Not ‘Export As…’ Just ‘Export’.

Once you click on ‘Export’. You will need to select where you want the image file to go. As you can see from the next image, the file is now a PNG file.

When you are ready, click on ‘Export’ in the bottom right of this window.

Then you will have another window appear.

You don’t need to change any settings here. Keep everything as the default. To continue, click on ‘Export’ at the bottom middle of this mini window.

Then you are all done. You have a saved screenshot image that you can use on your blog.

Conclusion

I write a lot of blog posts where it is necessary to include screenshots to help explain my point.

If you also have a blog of this type, then finding an simple to use tool will make this task easier for you.

I started using Paint 3D and found it very simple to use. It covered the basics really well.

Then I discovered that I needed an extra function or two. That is when I found Gimp.

I really like using Gimp. Gimp has so many image manipulation features. I know how to use a few of them. At some point I will look at using Gimp to its full potential.

The greatest thing about Gimp is it is free.!

There are other tools but I only write about tools I have used or am using.

Frequently asked questions

How do you take a screenshot on a Windows computer?

I use Paint 3D and Gimp to take screenshots on my Windows computer.

I used Paint 3D a lot in the beginning because it is so easy to use and is already installed in Windows.

Then I needed some extra features so now I use Gimp image manipulation program.

Gimp is not installed in Windows, you need to download and install this application.

My post above has a comprehensive walkthrough on how to take a screenshot on a Windows computer with both Paint 3D and Gimp.

Where do screenshots go on a PC?

To take a screenshot you press the key ‘prt sc’ on your keyboard. The ‘prt sc’ is the same as when you copy text with ‘ctrl’+’c’.

Your computer will save the screenshot image for you so that you can paste it. You can use Paint 3D to paste your screenshot.

How do you take a screenshot on a Windows laptop?

The process for taking screenshots on a PC or laptop in Windows are the same.

My post goes through in detail how you can use Paint3D and Gimp to take your screenshots using your laptop or PC.

How do I send a screenshot in an email?

Once you have taken your screenshot you save the image to your PC or laptop.

Once the image is on your computer you can then send your screenshot as an attachment in your email message.

Comments

What tool do you use to capture your screen?

Have you ever used Paint 3D or Gimp?

What do you think of these free tools?

I look forward to reading your comments.

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