Snipping tool not able to capture menus in win 7 part 1

itinva

When I open the Snipping Tool I am able to hit print screen on my Vista computer and capture drop down menus or the start menu without a problem. When I use the Snipping Tool in Windows 7 I'm not able to use the Print Screen button because I have to use the Fn Key to activate Print screen which is non-responsive on the Win 7 side. It works on the Vista side on the same laptop just not on the Win 7 side. Just as a side not I can capture using Win 7 just can't get the screen shots of menus because they go away when the capture because available.

Brink

Hello itinva, and welcome to Seven Forums.

You can use Paint that is included in Windows 7 to do so instead.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

itinva

Thanks for the quick reply. The problem is when using a laptop I am not able to capture the Start Menu or any menus in MS Office when they appear because they don't remain on the screen when the cross hair appears to capture the screen. It works on my PC keyboard using Vista just not on my laptops running Win 7. I can capture and maniplute images just fine, just menus like the Start menu or when you press the File to choose print screen. Keyboard works laptops can't capture hidden menus once they are revealed.

Orbital Shark

Hi itinva,

This may sound like a silly question but have tried the conventional [Ctrl]+[Prt Sc] ?

Works every time on my Laptop running Windows 7

itinva

Print Screen works for basic screen shots, but are you able to capture just the Start menu options that are seen when you press the Windows Key? I can make screen captures of the desktop, but can not get the Snipping tool to do a screen capture of the Start menu or show how to to go to Start --> Programs using the Snipping tool. Using my PC it will work just not on my two HP laptops.

Brink

itinva,

You will not be able to take screenshots of menus with the Snipping Tool. You can use Paint to take a full screen screenshot with the menus included, then crop the image as needed to have only what you like out of it for the screenshot.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

itinva

Attached is what I can do with the Snipping Tool in Vista using a PC keyboard. I can not do this using a laptop. The Snipping Tool does have the ability to capture menus. Just not on laptops. I even changed the short cut for Print Screen to Ctrl + Alt + Insert, no luck.
[IMG]file:///C:/Users/THEWAR%7E1/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg[/IMG]

eVox

JUST USE PAINT.
Why are you ignoring Brink's help?

The Cool Guy

Itinva, right click on snipping tool icon in the start menu, click on properties then assign a keyboard shortcut for it; eg. Ctrl+F5 or something like that. Then open up any menu, then press Ctrl+F5 and it works.

Hope this helps,
C.Guy

Orbital Shark

The Snipping tool will not allow for capture of menus (start/context) as they are application sensitive. The Ctrl+Prt Sc is the only way to capture any menu in action.

Start Menu & Context menu captured using 'Print Screen' then editing in Paint as Brink suggested.

Ex_Brit

�� Quote: Originally Posted by The Cool Guy

Itinva, right click on snipping tool icon in the start menu, click on properties then assign a keyboard shortcut for it; eg. Ctrl+F5 or something like that. Then open up any menu, then press Ctrl+F5 and it works.

Hope this helps,
C.Guy

How did you achieve that as it wont let me assign a KB shortcut despite being signed in as an Admin.

Edit: Ignore - I did it and it works, thanks very much.

Barman58

Hello itinva,

Although as the others have said you can get around the limitations of the snipping tool by editing a full screen to show only that which you require, I can understand that it may be frustrating if you have a lot of captures to perform. I normally advise that you use the native tools where possible but sometimes you may need to look at external programs

What you require is I believe available in Faststone Capture (and others) which is available as freeware for personal use and is also available as a portable application. (does not write to registry etc.)

A+ Freeware - Multimedia & Design - FastStone Capture 5.3 (last freeware version)

An example is included

Ex_Brit

The Cool Guy's solution works fine.

The Cool Guy

�� Quote: Originally Posted by Orbital Shark

The Snipping tool will not allow for capture of menus (start/context) as they are application sensitive. The Ctrl+Prt Sc is the only way to capture any menu in action.

Start Menu & Context menu captured using 'Print Screen' then editing in Paint as Brink suggested.
Attachment 12634Attachment 12635

You are wrong, Orbital Shark. I can prove it (I took these from Vista cause I'm currently booted into Vista's partition; if it does work on Vista, it should work on Win7)

Ex_Brit

Yes, since I realised that to enter something in that Shortcut Key slot you actually have to click the keys you want in there...LOL and yet another Doh! moment for me.


Thanks.

Barman58

Hi Guys,

I've tried a few times to do this in Windows 7 and cannot get it to work (rc 7100 x64).

What I get is I open a right click menu and press my assigned hotkey, (Ctrl-F5), and the snipping tools opens, but the right click menu is closed

Of course this may be a "feature" of the 7100 build that is not present in others.

I think as has been said this was not the case with vista, for odd captures the print screen and edit method is fine but if you have a lot to do I believe a 3rd party solution may be better.

At least the choice is there

The Cool Guy

�� Quote: Originally Posted by Barman58

Hello itinva,

Although as the others have said you can get around the limitations of the snipping tool by editing a full screen to show only that which you require, I can understand that it may be frustrating if you have a lot of captures to perform. I normally advise that you use the native tools where possible but sometimes you may need to look at external programs

What you require is I believe available in Fastone Capture (and others) which is available as freeware for personal use and is also available as a portable application. (does not write to registry etc.)

A+ Freeware - Multimedia & Design - FastStone Capture 5.3 (last freeware version)

An example is included

Attachment 12644

Barman's solution is another option for people out there if they didn't get my option to work.

Ex_Brit

Actually - I qualify my earlier statement. The Cool Guy's solution worked fine in Vista where I was booted at the time, but in Windows 7, although I've set it up the same way, when the Snipping Tool appears with a menu already on the screen it doesn't grey out the screen as it would normally do, so the menu isn't "frozen in time" like it was in Vista and I can't capture it that way.

Now the mystery is, why?

The Cool Guy

Guess we can better use this software; A+ Freeware - Multimedia & Design - FastStone Capture 5.3 (last freeware version) if it doesn't work in Windows 7.

jimbo45

Hi there
Another simple way.

1) PRTSCRN
2) Open Wordpad
3) PASTE
4) expand picture to size you want
5) now run the snip tool against the picture in Wordpad
6) save as PNG or JPG file

Cheers
jimbo

Ex_Brit

�� Quote: Originally Posted by The Cool Guy

Guess we can better use this software; A+ Freeware - Multimedia & Design - FastStone Capture 5.3 (last freeware version) if it doesn't work in Windows 7.

I'm not interested in anything involving editing, shrinking, cropping etc.

It would be so much easier if we could find out why Snipping Tool behaves differently in Win 7 (7100).

Barman58

Hi Peter,

I agree with you!

It would be interesting if anyone running the later builds (7137?) could try this out and see if it still happens, and maybe one of the older builds too, (7000?)

It may be that the issue is a bug in the 7100 RC, or it is "by design"

Jacee

I used Irfanview and Faststone Capture

Orbital Shark

�� Quote: Originally Posted by The Cool Guy

You are wrong, Orbital Shark. I can prove it (I took these from Vista cause I'm currently booted into Vista's partition; if it does work on Vista, it should work on Win7)

Then surely you can post a shot of it working in Se7en, it won't happen for me

Orbital Shark

Hi Nigel,

I can confirm it's not working in 7137 & i don't think it has for any build, but i could be wrong.

Ex_Brit

OK, I discovered this online and we have "WindowsITPro" to thank....
I've tested it in Windows 7 and it works..samples below, 1st one is in Firefox.
It's just a variation on what we do in Vista really.

Quote:

When you attempt to capture an image of the Start menu or context menu, accessing the Snipping Tool causes the Start menu and context menu to close.

To workaround this behavior:
1. Start / Programs / Accessories / Snipping Tool, or select New if the tool is already open so it is in capture mode.

2. Press Cancel or minimize the Snipping Tool.

3. Open the Start menu or context menu that you wish to capture.

4. Press Ctrl + PrtScn to copy the window the screen to the clipboard. Since the Snipping Tool is in rectangular capture mode, you can select the portion of the screen that you desire.

NOTE: Selecting New and minimizing the tool allows you to capture another image.

Barman58

Thanks Peter,

That one works here too

Ex_Brit

You're welcome. It was actually an old Vista tip from 2006 according to the article. I tried it and it worked, so all's well that ends well.
Kudos to The Cool Guy for getting me into one of my "determined to solve this" moods.

Dwarf

Contrary to other reports, it IS possible to use the Snipping Tool to capture menus and context menus.

Start the Snipping Tool.
Click New to return the focus to the desktop.
Open the Menu or Context Menu that you wish to capture.
Press Ctrl and PrtScn. This freezes the screen, and returns the focus to the Snipping Tool.
You can now use the tool to capture the required image.

�� Quote: Originally Posted by itinva

When I open the Snipping Tool I am able to hit print screen on my Vista computer and capture drop down menus or the start menu without a problem. When I use the Snipping Tool in Windows 7 I'm not able to use the Print Screen button because I have to use the Fn Key to activate Print screen which is non-responsive on the Win 7 side. It works on the Vista side on the same laptop just not on the Win 7 side. Just as a side not I can capture using Win 7 just can't get the screen shots of menus because they go away when the capture because available.

This could indicate that this is a keyboard driver issue.

Ex_Brit

Dwarf I beat you to it.

Dwarf

Hi Peter,

True, you did beat me to it. However, I also added the bit about a possible keyboard driver issue at the end.

myzr7

�� Quote: Originally Posted by itinva

When I open the Snipping Tool I am able to hit print screen on my Vista computer and capture drop down menus or the start menu without a problem. When I use the Snipping Tool in Windows 7 I'm not able to use the Print Screen button because I have to use the Fn Key to activate Print screen which is non-responsive on the Win 7 side. It works on the Vista side on the same laptop just not on the Win 7 side. Just as a side not I can capture using Win 7 just can't get the screen shots of menus because they go away when the capture because available.

itinva, hello welcome to Seven Forums. Since this works for you on vista the pre installed from the factory os. then stands to reason that you are missing some drivers that win 7 did not load for your laptop when you installed the rc? acpi I think is the device. cp/device manager/system devices/ ACPI feature . you will have to go to your laptops web site and see if you need to install drivers for function buttons, good luck to you. lm

Ex_Brit

�� Quote: Originally Posted by Dwarf

Hi Peter,

True, you did beat me to it. However, I also added the bit about a possible keyboard driver issue at the end.

Correct. I will now fade away into mediocrity once more.



LOL

garysgold

Thanks Ex Brit. That works for me also.

Gary

Ex_Brit

I would still love to know why Win7 behaves differently from Vista in this regard.

itinva

Thanks to all for the great suggestions. I think the driver suggestion might be the way to go. I usually use Camtasia or Snagit when using Screen captures for training manuals and I was hoping that the Snipping Tool functioned the same in Vista as in Win 7. I don't use the Free Paint program (for those that asked) since PowerPoint is way more useful since I can right click on the images as well as the WordArt and 3D effects and Save all the images that I selected as a jpeg, png, or gif. I checked HP's site for the drivers and everything is up to date on my Win7 side. I will continue to look into the ACPI keyboard driver issue, and if anyone is able to capture a drop down menu using a laptop and not a PC (which seems to work) using only the Snipping Tool, and not a full screen print screen cropped to look like a snipping capture I would love to learn how it was done. I think it's a Win7 issue since I can do regular Print screens with the menus remaining visable. Thanks for all the suggestions.

myzr7

Thanks for posting back. could you tell us your lappy's model number so we could also search for a solution. Fucntion buttons should function I would think. lm

itinva

System Manufacturer/Model Number HP Tablet PC tx 1320us
OS win 7
CPU AMD Turion 64 Xs Mobile TL-60 2 ghz
Memory 4 GB Installed
Graphics Card NVIDA 6150

Windows Vista Home Premium Pre-installed
SP2

Windows 7 build 7100 RC

The Cool Guy

�� Quote: Originally Posted by Ex_Brit

You're welcome. It was actually an old Vista tip from 2006 according to the article. I tried it and it worked, so all's well that ends well.
Kudos to The Cool Guy for getting me into one of my "determined to solve this" moods.

Great software, Peter.

itinva

Thanks to all who have researched this. I Noticed all that said it worked seemed to be using keyboards and PC's which I know works with the Snipping tool to capture menus. However, my problem is using the Snipping tool on a laptop. The ACPI drivers are installed and updated correctly but many of the HP models require the Fn key to access Print Screen functionality which is not needed on a keyboard (I did try reassigning the shortcut). I know there are various programs to use and work arounds, but I have to train co workers on using the features of Vista on soon Win 7 and would like to tell them it's a function that can or can not be done on certain brands of laptops. If you are able to get capture menus using a laptop please let me know what laptop you are using, because in all system specs of those that said it worked appear to be using PC's with keyboards which we all know works well.

The Cool Guy

Well, I use my other laptop- Compaq Presario C700

itinva

The problem with the Snipping Tool is not Windows 7 it is user error. My 3 year old daughter managed to find the problem. On laptops when you try to capture a menu you need to hold down Ctrl then Fn then Prt Sc(insert on my laptop) to capture menus in various programs. Without pressing Ctr it would not work. Thanks to all the suggestions and my little girl for randomly pressing the keys to make it work.

The Cool Guy

That's what we were trying to tell you from that time! Lol.
Well, happy to know your problem has been solved. Wish your daughter would be an IT Pro in the future.

Chris H

I have been searching the internet for about an hour and a half looking for a solution. I have a HP HDX16, and all the solutions that everyone else had found would not work for me. Finally, the Cntrl + Fn + PrtScr worked. Thank you.
Chris

antony492

By just clicking the ? on the Snipping tool, I was able to find that all you have to do, is press Esc and you can then open menus.