"Capture a portion of your screen so you can save, annotate, or share the image" is the tag line of the Snipping Tool, a new feature for Windows Vista to capture a screenshot of any object on your screen and save, annotate or share the image. The Snipping Tool is a huge improvement from built-in screenshot functions used by older Windows operating systems by offering a clean, simple and user-friendly functionality.

[edit] Steps

Open the Snipping Tool. Click Start>All Programs>Accessories. The Snipping Tool window will open and a white overlay appears over the screen.
Select the type of snip. Click on the arrow next to the New button and and choose from the options.
- Free-form snip. To draw irregular shapes and lines, such as triangles and circles.
- Rectangular snip. Draw a custom and precise line by dragging the cursor around an object to form a rectangle.
- Window Snip. Capture the browser window or dialog box in a snip.
- Full-screen snip. Capture the entire screen, such as desktop background.
Capture the snip. Use the mouse or tablet stylus to drag around or select an area or program for snipping.
Save, annotate and share the image. The snip will be automatically copied to the mark-up window. The toolbar hosts options for saving, creating, copying, e-mailing and editing the snip.
- To save a snip, press the Save Snip button. In the dialog box enter a name for the file and choose a format if need be.
- Annotations in the Snipping Tool include the ability to draw/write with a customizable pen, use a highlighter and clear selections with the eraser. These are simple to use tools for minor edits.
- To share a snip, click the arrow on the Send Snip button and select an option from the menu.

[edit] Tips

To turn off the white overlay projected on the screen when the Snipping Tool, click Options. Clear the check box Show screen overlay when Snipping Tool is active.
To assign a shortcut key to the Snipping Tool, right click the Snipping Tool icon, click Properties and select the Shortcut tab. Enter your preference in Shortcut key.
Snips can be saved in a range of formats including HTML, PNG, GIF and JPEG. These can be chosen upon saving the snip.
Windows Vista's Snipping Tool is highly customizable. As well as the annotation options, you can also change the color of the ink (border) used to capture snips. Go into Options and choose a color from the drop-down menu under Selection by clicking on the arrow. The standard ink color is black. Ink colors can be removed as a standard feature by clearing the box Show ink selection after snips are captured.