Overview

There are multiple ways to take good screenshots in SolidWorks that work well for showing to others.

Method Using Microsoft Office Picture Manager

Microsoft Office Picture Manager is included with many bundles of Microsoft Office 2003 and newer products. Because so many SolidWorks users also have this software already loaded, the below method is a good way for users to capture and compress screenshots of solidworks.

The first step is to perform a screen capture. This can be done by:

• View>Screen Capture>Image Capture. This method will copy the current viewing window to the clipboard.
• ALT+Print Screen. Pressing alt with the print screen button will capture the entire SolidWorks window, including your toolbars and Feature Manager Tree.

Then open up Microsoft Picture Manager. Use the tree on the left to navagate where you want the .bmp file to be located, and paste it there (CTRL-V). Now select the picture (named New Picture) by double clicking on it. You will then see "Edit Pictures..." button on the toolbar, click that. This will bring up the options you can use to edit your picture.

Make sure to use the crop tool to crop down to just the portion that you want to keep. I suggest using an even number for the final image size, as .png compression requires even numbered image dimensions. Once you are satisfied with the crop, you can also resize the picture to be the correct size for sharing, just click the back arrow from crop, and then select "Resize".

After you are satisfied with the size of your image, you can use File>Export... to export your image. For sharing on the web, I strongly suggest .png compression. You will not lose any of the detail of your work, and it will do a great job of compressing large areas of the same color. Select your output options, and click OK, you now have a new .png file to share with the world.

Other Methods

Jing http://www.jingproject.com/ <---free and really easy to use

Camtasia and Snagit http://www.techsmith.com <--- expensive but have some great editing capabilities.

Open Source solution http://tinyurl.com/bh9y5

http://www.wisdom-soft.com/

http://www.bhelpuri.net/Snippy/default.htm

http://www.acasystems.com/

**Probably the easiest and quickest method is View->Screen Capture in SolidWorks 2008. Then paste (ctrl+v) into a word doc.**

Note: For those that left these links in the comments section could you please add them to the wiki page? Just hit the edit button and add it at the bottom. It is just as easy as leaving a comment and all will be able to benifit from your vast wisdom

Comments

Poster	Thread
Rod_Uding	Posted: 2008/1/18 9:08  Updated: 2008/1/18 9:08
Quite a regular Joined: 2007/10/24 From: Saint Louis, MO Posts: 65	My Screen Capture Method I use Snippy a lot to crop out an area to the Clipboard. Snippy is a freeware. The website is Snippy

Poster Thread Guido Posted: 2008/1/18 13:05  Updated: 2008/1/18 13:06 Moderator Joined: 2007/4/22 From: Rhode Island, USA Posts: 79  Re: My Screen Capture Method I use ACA Capture Pro, I configured it so that it's small tool bar is always in my task bar from boot -up. I can capture the entire screen or form a window around exactly what I want, for automatic cropping and the image goes into the diretory of your making. I can capture video as well. Guido

Poster	Thread
Gabi	Posted: 2008/1/18 19:26  Updated: 2008/1/18 19:26
Not too shy to talk Joined: 2007/11/1 From: California Posts: 33	Re: Capturing a Screen Shot I use the Snipping Tool that comes in the accesories for Windows Vista. It's really simple to use. It allows you to select the area you want to capture beforehand.

Poster	Thread
kholish	Posted: 2008/1/23 15:59  Updated: 2008/1/23 15:59
Quite a regular Joined: 2007/5/17 From: Posts: 50	Re: Capturing a Screen Shot I use Screen Hunter from http://www.wisdom-soft.com/. I also use the Screen Recorder.

Poster Thread Muggs Posted: 2008/1/25 7:09  Updated: 2008/1/25 7:09 Just can't stay away Joined: 2007/10/22 From: Southampton, PA Posts: 95  Re: Capturing a Screen Shot I'm a big fan of TechSmiths SnagIt! Muggs

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