Windows Vista Security: Praxisorientierte Sicherheit für Profis

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Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

Making the Most of Your Computer’s

Accessories

13

If you haven’t already noticed, let me be the first to tell you that Windows Vista has

more accessories than you’ll probably ever use. Hidden among all those accessories

are some true gems, including the Snipping Tool, a handy utility that you can use to

capture screens and windows, and Windows Speech Recognition, a program you can

use to dictate documents and control programs using your voice and a microphone.

You’ll find plenty of extras for both laptops and Tablet PCs too, including the Mobil-

ity Center, Pen Flicks, Sticky Notes, Input Panel, and Windows Journal. You’ll also

find accessories for making your computer more accessible to the handicapped,

including the Ease of Access Center, Magnifier, Narrator, and On-Screen Keyboard.

Capturing Screens and Windows with the Snipping Tool

One of my favorite accessories in Windows Vista is the Snipping Tool. The Snipping

Tool captures any screen elements that you select, including text and images. A cap-

tured element is referred to as a snip, and you can insert snips easily into documents

and email messages.

Creating Snips

You can open the Snipping Tool by clicking Start, clicking All Programs, clicking Acces-

sories, and then selecting Snipping Tool. The Snipping Tool starts in New Snip mode,

which is the mode for capturing snips. The Snipping Tool has four capture modes:

Free-form Snip

In Free-form Snip mode, you outline the area that you want to snip by drawing

freehand around it. You capture a snip in this mode by clicking and then drag-

ging to outline the area you want to capture.

Rectangular Snip

In Rectangular Snip mode, you outline the area that you want to snip by draw-

ing a rectangle around it. You capture a snip in this mode by clicking and then

dragging around the area that you want to capture.

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Chapter 13: Making the Most of Your Computer’s Accessories

Window Snip

In Window Snip mode, you capture an entire window as a snip. You capture a

snip in this mode by moving the mouse pointer over the window that you want

to capture, and then clicking.

Full-screen Snip

In Full-screen Snip mode, you capture the full screen as a snip. When you select

this mode, the full screen is captured automatically.

Figure 13-1 shows the Snipping Tool in New Snip mode. From left to right, the but-

tons on the toolbar are used as follows:

New

The New button starts a new capture using the default mode or the last capture

mode you used.

Capture Options

The Capture Options button to the right of the New button sets the capture

mode.

Cancel

The Cancel button cancels the current capture.

Options

The Options button sets capture options.

You can capture a snip by following these steps:

1. Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, and then select Snipping Tool.

The Snipping Tool is displayed in the foreground, and the rest of the screen is

brightened automatically to make it easier to distinguish the Snipping Tool inter-

face elements from the background elements you are capturing.

2. Click the Capture Options button and select the capture mode you want to use.

3. Capture your snip. As Figure 13-2 shows, you capture a rectangular snip by

clicking and then dragging around the area that you want to capture.

4. When you release the mouse button, the Snipping Tool captures the snip and

shows the editing view. You can then use the editing view to edit the snip, as dis-

cussed in the next section, “Editing and Saving Your Snips.”

Figure 13-1. Using the Snipping Tool to capture windows and screens