What is Windows Xp Snipping tool?

Hello everyone

I would like to know that what is Windows Xp Snipping tool? Can any one tell me for what purpose it is use and and what are the benefits of using it? Any information on it would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

Snipping Tool is an application included in Windows 7, Windows Vista and Experience Pack for Windows XP. It was originally released as a powertoy for the Tablet PC. The program is a screen-capture tool that allows taking screenshots (called snips) of an open window, rectangular areas, a free-form area or the entire screen. Snips can then be annotated using a mouse or a tablet, saved as an image file (PNG, GIF, or JPEG file) or an HTML page, or e-mailed.

For many Windows users, the only screen-capture tools they'll ever need are the Print Screen key (in conjunction with the Alt key when they want to capture only the active window) and Windows' own Paint utility.

In Windows Vista, you can open the utility by pressing the Windows key, typing snipping tool, and pressing Enter. There's also a Snipping Tool shortcut under Accessories on the Start--> All Programs menu.

If you can't find the program, press the Windows key, type programs and features, and press Enter to open the Programs and Features Control Panel applet. Click "Turn Windows features on or off" in the left pane and click through the User Account Control dialog box, if necessary. Check Tablet PC Optional Components, click OK, and close the Programs and Features applet.

When you open the Snipping Tool, you're asked if you want to put a shortcut to the program on your Quick Launch toolbar. This is a convenient place to activate it, but you can also right-click any shortcut to the program, choose Properties, click in the "Shortcut key" text box under the Shortcut tab, enter your chosen key combination (Ctrl-Alt-P is popular), and click OK.

The Snipping Tool first introduced in Windows XP Tablet edition experience pack and now part of Windows Vista is a useful tool to capture and copy a portion of your computer screen to paste into blogs and documents. It is a basic replacement for the Printscreen method of copying and pasting a screen which is not as granular and gives you a larger item when you paste it. I've seen lots of questions about how to get this functionality under the regular XP version.

The free tool Snippy puts an icon of a pair of scissors in your task tray and when clicked on gives you a pencil cursor that you can use your mouse to trace around the area you want to clip and copy with a mouse click so you can paste it into any type of document. There is no installation required for Snippy, you just save the file and click on it to run. You can even just save it to your desktop.:thumbup1:

Snipping Tool is a useful screen capturing comes included in Windows Vista or Windows XP Tablet edition for free, which can be a total replacement and free alternative for the popular SnagIt screen capture software. However, when using Snipping Tool there is obvious shortcoming, that is unable to capture ‘temporary’ or ‘non-permanent’ or ‘disappear-on-lost-focus’ objects on the desktop.

To start capturing using Snipping Tool, usually users have to run Snipping Tool (which will automatically open in snipping mode) or click on “New” button in the Snipping Tool window. Whichever way, the focus on the objects or windows to capture will definitely be lost. If you’re trying to take snapshot of normal opened window or a portion of the desktop screen estate or whole screen, there won’t be any problem to snip and capture them into image. However, when come to ‘focus-sensitive’ object component on Windows desktop, there will be a hard time to capture the image.