Why learn to screenshot?
Perhaps you'd like to show someone something you saw on site. Maybe you need to submit a bug report and let staff members know what's going on. Or even more urgently, you need to submit a report to a moderator and the moderator is asking for proof.
Images tell a thousand stories. And a screenshot helps detail what you want to tell someone.
Computers
How do you screenshot?
How your particular computer deals with screenshotting relies on a few factors.
First, check your computer type: Is it Windows or Macintosh? A Windows computer will have the Microsoft "Windows" logo on the corner of your screen, which looks like a rectangle divided into fourths. Macintosh computers will have the Apple located on the top left corner of your computer screen; it literally looks like an apple.
Windows:
Macintosh:
If your computer is a Macintosh, screenshotting is very simple. Press Command+Shift+4, then click+drag over your desired region. Release your mouse and your screenshot should be saved to your desktop under "Picture #".
For Windows, there's a little more workaround but it is still rather simple, and there are multiple ways you can take screenshots.
1 - Press "Print Screen" or "Prt Sc" on your computer keyboard. You may have to activate it by pressing the Fn button depending on what model computer or keyboard you have. Your entire computer screen will be copied to your clipboard as an image. You can either: (a) paste this into your Paint application to save to your computer or (b) directly paste this into an image host (which we will talk about later).
2 - Use the Snipping Tool. Most newer computers should have this software already installed into your computer. If your computer doesn't have it, don't fret. There are several other ways to take screenshots.
Open your Snipping Tool by selecting it in the Start Menu or using the search:
Then go through the various modes until you find what suits you best. Once you've taken a screenshot, you can save it to your computer or upload it to an image host.
3 - Download a screenshot program. There are various ones out there; simply find the one that suits you best. Gyazo and Puush are some pretty popular ones. You can take a screenshot with a click of a button (or with a keyboard shortcut). The screenshots will automatically upload to their respective websites. Just keep in mind they will delete after a couple months if there are no incoming views.
4 - Use a browser extension. I'm not too familiar with extensions that take screenshots. However, the browser I use (Opera) does come with a screenshot system where I can simply copy the screencap to my clipboard and directly upload it to an image host. Take a look at what your browser offers. It might be helpful.
Phones
Will finish someday