Capture menu help

If you need help about the Capture settings tab, there's an entire section of this file dedicated to that complex dialog. This section covers the remaining menu items on that menu. Hot keys for each function appear to the right of the menu item (just as on the menu itself). If you don't change the program's Hot keys (see the Keyboard tab) those listed here won't change.

If you need help regarding those hard-to-do special captures, see also DirectX or Glide Capture (for computer games) or Video Player Capture.

Full Screen - CTRL+SHIFT+F - capture the image of the entire desktop and all applications visible on it. This is basically like the Print screen function that's built into Windows itself.

Virtual Desktop - CTRL+SHIFT+V - capture the desktop, including those on multiple monitors or in regions currently not visible that are provided by video drivers with "enhanced" desktops. Such captures are impossible with the built-in Print screen function in Windows, which only captures the current desktop, not the entire (even invisible) regions that may be scrolled off to the sides, top, or bottom, or on other monitors altogether.

Window or Control - CTRL+SHIFT+W - as you move your mouse, a blinking frame will appear around the target object. You can capture an entire window or just a predefined area within a window such as a control or button.

1. Move to the window you want to capture.

2. Click with your left mouse button to select and capture the region around which the blinking frame surrounds.

3. Click your right mouse button to abort this function.

Button - CTRL+SHIFT+B - this function will capture a button, including toolbar buttons in many applications, most buttons on web pages etc. You may use it in 3 different ways:

1. Select Capture/Button from the menu or corresponding toolbar button (if you customized a toolbar to have this function).

2. After a short delay the cursor will change to a + symbol. Move it over the button you want to capture and click the left mouse button.

3. Wait for a short while until the capture finishes and the HyperSnap-DX window reappears. This will capture a button in it's natural "resting" state, as if no mouse cursor was over it.

Or...

1. Move your mouse cursor over the button you want to capture, and press your pre-selected hot key combination to activate Button capture. (By default, if you didn't change it, it's CTRL+SHIFT+B).

2. This will capture a button in its highlighted, or "active" state, as if the mouse cursor was over it. Note that some buttons do not change appearance when you move the mouse cursor over them. Some perform what's called a "flyover" change, and may alter their color, font, and so forth.

Or...

1. To capture a button depressed, move the mouse cursor over it, press and hold down the left mouse button, then press the hot key or key combination to initiate button capture.

2. Note that now you'd need to press the hot keys with only one hand, so it may be wise to reassign the button capture hot key to be just one key, not the default CTRL+SHIFT+B combination. For example you can briefly make it just the F8 function key. You may reassign hot key under the Options menu.

Active Window - CTRL+SHIFT+A - capture only the "topmost" window, or the window that currently has focus. This is similar to the ALT+Print screen function that's built into Windows.

Active Window without Frame - CTRL+SHIFT+C - capture the "topmost" window, but do not capture its window frame, just the portion of the window inside of the frame. Great for grabbing the contents of a window without such things as toolbars, menus, and so forth. For example you can grab a terminal screen from an on-line session (or web browser) without getting the button bar or status bar.

Region - CTRL+SHIFT+ R - when clicked, a large cross cursor + will appear.

1. Click using your left mouse button to indicate where you want to start the capture area, and then release it.

2. Drag the outline to enclose the area you want to capture, and click the mouse button again. The size (in pixels) of the capture will be shown within the area.

3. Click the left mouse button to complete the capture.

Free Hand - CTRL+SHIFT+H - this type of capture allows you to freely draw a bounding area (non-rectangular) around any part of the screen that you wish to capture. When you engage this mode, the cursor will change to crosshairs and you'll see a magnified preview of what you're capturing. Draw around the area you wish to capture and then press ENTER or right-click and select "Finish Capture" form the popup menu. You may also click close to the starting point to finish Free Hand Capture.

The capture will then appear inside HyperSnap-DX's window, with the area outside of your bounding region filled with the pre-defined background color you set on the Drawing Tools palette.

Pan Last Region - CTRL+SHIFT+P - you can capture a region the same size as before, but from any part of the screen. In effect, this function is like taking your previously defined region box and allowing you to "slide" it around the screen to choose another same-size area.

Using frames?

Multi-region capture - CTRL+SHIFT+M - this is an advanced form of capture, perhaps the program's most powerful. It allows you to grab multiple regions of the screen, with the unwanted space filled with a background color. See the Advanced tutorial about this for a comprehensive walk-through on how to use this feature.

Repeat Last Capture - F11 - this function repeats the last capture (including all settings and ranges) exactly as it was executed. Great for tracking a specific window that you want to track over time without repeatedly selecting it, etc. By selecting this multiple times or repeatedly pressing its hot key, you can grab the same region, window, or control over and over to display program progress, repeated terminal screens, or anything that changes within the same area or type of capture.

Extended Active Window - CTRL+SHIFT+X - this function is available only when running on Windows XP or newer. It captures the last active window, but before capturing it, prompts you how big you want to make this window first. You may specify any size you want, optionally even a size much bigger than the screen. Note that this will work only for resizable windows, or those windows which you may also resize with your mouse.

Use this function to grab a web browser window that shows the entire web page, even if it would be 4000 pixels high, or a spreadsheet table, even if you'd have to make the window 5000 pixels wide to fit it. The resulting capture may be quite large, though—and may consume a lot of RAM if sent to the clipboard.

Enable Special Capture - see DirectX or Glide Capture (for computer games) or Video Player Capture.

Capture Settings - loads the configuration tabs that allow you to define the options for capturing, making possible (for example) rapid repeat capturing with auto renaming, and other advanced features. The Capture settings tabs have their own entire help chapters, due to their many powerful features.