Screen Capture How-To
Often times a Support person will ask you to provide a screen capture or screen shot showing the problem you're trying to resolve. We ask for a screen capture instead of an in-world snapshot for these reasons:
- An external screen capture doesn't cost anything to make or share.
- External screen captures are much higher resolution, so we can see your problem better.
- Sometimes the issue is in the user interface, or cannot be otherwise captured in a snapshot.
To pass on a screen capture, follow the steps outlined below:
By Operating System:
Windows
Windows has a number of options for taking screenshots.
Built-in
Open your “Snip & Sketch” program that comes with Windows and use the UI to take a screenshot. You can then save it to your disc, or copy to clipboard for upload to places like Imgur by pasting it.
Or:
PrintScreen key:
- Press the “Print Screen” (or equivalent) key on your keyboard to copy a screenshot of your screen to the clipboard.
- Open MS Paint or any other graphics program, paste it in, then save it.
Then, Either:
- Upload it to SL: Build menu > Upload (CTRL-U). Then open an IM with the support member you are talking with. Drag the image from your inventory into the IM window.
or:
- Upload to an image-sharing site. Copy the link to that image from your web browser's address bar, and paste the link into the FS Support group window.
External Programs
You can use a number of other programs to capture screenshots.
- Gyazo is a popular option. You can install their program and it will automatically upload screenshots to their service for sharing.
- ShareX is another popular screenshot tool for Windows. However, it has a lot more options and so there is a bit of setup required for things like automatic uploading to image-sharing services.
- Lightshot is similar to Gyazo. You can install their program and it will automatically upload screenshots to their service for sharing.
Mac
Mac has a number of options for getting screenshots.
Built-in
You can use Mac's built-in screenshot feature, then upload to an image-sharing site such as Flickr or Imgur.
Mojave and Catalina:
- Cmd-shift-5 is the default command for opening the screenshot interface.
- Drag the corners of the rectangle to the shape you want.
- Use the control panel to set various options including the save location.
- Press Capture (or your Enter key) to save the image.
- Upload to an image-sharing site, then copy its link to share in FS support chat.
- See Apple Support: Take a Screenshot on Your Mac for more info.
High Sierra:
- Cmd-shift-4 is the default command for opening the screenshot interface.
- Click and hold, then drag over the area you want to take a screenshot of.
- When you have selected the area you want to capture, just release your mouse button. You’ll hear a sound like a camera going off, and the screenshot will be taken.
- Check your desktop, and you’ll find a new .png file of your screenshot.
- Upload to an image-sharing site, then copy its link to share in FS support chat.
External Programs
For ease of use, we recommend installing one of the free third-party apps that automatically upload the image to an image-sharing site so that you can copy/paste the link into support chat. Some of these also provide tools for drawing/writing on the image.
- Gyazo is a popular option. You can install their program and it will automatically upload screenshots to their service for sharing. Techgyd.com has this good explanation of how it works.
- Lightshot is similar. You can install their program and it will automatically upload screenshots to their service for sharing.
Linux
Built-in
Many Linux Desktop Environments (DEs) have assigned the PrtScr (Print Screen) key to an image capturing application that came with the DE. How they work is generally similar with some exceptions.
GNOME:
Press PrtScr to capture the entire desktop, or Alt-PrtScr to capture the active window (Firestorm, for example). Choose to save the image someplace on your PC, then upload that image to an image-sharing site such as Imgur. Copy the resulting URL and paste it into the support group chat.
KDE:
Press PrtScr to open the capture app (Spectacle). Set the Area to either full screen or active window (Firestorm, for example), click “Take a new Screenshot” where needed. Then click Save to store the image to your hard drive. And then upload that image to an image-sharing site such as Imgur. Copy the resulting URL and paste it into the support group chat.
XFCE:
Press PrtScr to capture the entire desktop, or Alt-PrtScr to capture the active window (Firestorm, for example). In the capture app (Screenshot), choose “Host on Imgur” and click OK. After a moment you will be shown the link to that image. Click the Copy button, or manually copy the link, and paste it into the support group chat
External Programs
There are a number of programs you can install, the availability depends on your distribution's offerings.
Flameshot allows you to add simple art and/or text onto your image, this can be useful to annotate your image with arrows, for example, or labels.
Kazam can create snapshots and videos. It's a few years old, and currently available for Ubuntu, but should work in other Ubuntu-based distributions.
Gyazo for Linux is a port of the popular screen capture program that can be configured to replace your default screen capture application. Techgyd.com has this good explanation of how it works.
Lightshot is a Windows app, but can be run in WINE.