Capturing a Region

Use this method to capture a rectangular region of your computer screen. You can draw a rectangle over any area of your computer screen and capture that region. This is useful, for example, if you want to capture only a portion of a toolbar or a specific area of a window, but not the entire window.

How to Capture a Region

1. Open the window(s) with regions that you want to capture and/or arrange your desktop exactly as needed. When you initiate a region capture, the Capture application will be minimized, allowing you to capture a region for whatever is directly behind it.
2. (Optional) From the Edit ribbon, click the Select profile drop-down and choose a profile.

   Note Whenever you capture an image, you do so using a profile (which is a collection of settings that are applied to the image in advance). You can use the default profile ("MyProfile") provided for you in Capture (which uses basic settings that you may not even notice), or you can create and use your own profiles. This is a good way to save time and keep your captured images consistent.

3. Do one of the following, depending on the part of the user interface you are using:
   • Ribbon Select File > Capture > New Capture or Edit > Capture > Capture Region.
   • Keyboard Shortcut Press CTRL+SHIFT+R.

   Note If Capture does not minimize, you probably do not have the "Hide on Capture" feature selected in the Options dialog. See Hiding Capture When Recording an Image.

   Intersecting red "crosshairs" are displayed on your computer screen.

4. Move your cursor to the location where you would like to begin the captured region (e.g., the upper-left corner of the prospective region). As you move the cursor, a small window displays the vertical and horizontal position of the cursor (in pixels) on the screen.

5. Click the left mouse button and drag to draw a rectangle, releasing the button when you are satisfied with the region (identified by red borders and a small window displaying the size of the rectangle in pixels). As soon as you release the mouse button, the task bar will appear, allowing you to adjust the size of the region before capturing it.

   

6. (Optional) Adjust the capture region by doing one of the following. As you move the cursor, the task bar displays the vertical and horizontal position of the cursor (in pixels) on the screen.

   Drag Edge

   You can resize the capture area manually by clicking any of the handles (small squares) around the edge of the rectangle and dragging them to resize the width and/or height.

   

   Move Entire Capture Area

   You can move the entire capture area by clicking the size-all icon in the center of the area and dragging the area to a new location on your screen.

   

   Type Width or Height

   You can click in the number fields in the task bar to manually change the width and/or height of the capture window in pixels.

   

   Select Capture Size

   You can click the drop-down arrow and select a preset size for the capture window.

   

   Select an Application

   You can click the down arrow and select Snap to Window to choose an application to capture. This option will capture the application at its current size.

   

   Note Capture will ignore applications that have been minimized. If you want these applications to appear as selections in the Select Window dialog, ensure they are open and have not been minimized.

   Select Move Window Into Rectangle

   You can click the down arrow and select Move Window into Rectangle to choose an application to capture. This option will minimize the application window to fit into the capture area you drew.

   

   Note Capture will ignore applications that have been minimized. If you want these applications to appear as selections in the Select Window dialog, ensure they are open and have not been minimized.

7. Click the red capture button. The image is captured and opens in the Capture Editor.

   

What’s Next?

After you capture or open an image, it displays in the Capture Editor. You can then do the following:

• Edit If you want to enhance the image before saving it, you can perform tasks such as drawing shapes, creating effects, adding callouts, cropping, etc. See Editing Images.
• Save If you do not want to make any enhancements to the captured image, you can simply save it. See Saving an Image.