Snipping Tool is an application included in Windows 7, Windows Vista

Windows Vista

Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...

, and Experience Pack for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005. It was originally released as a powertoy for the Tablet PC

Tablet computer

A tablet computer, or simply tablet, is a complete mobile computer, larger than a mobile phone or personal digital assistant, integrated into a flat touch screen and primarily operated by touching the screen...

 launch on November 7, 2002. The program is a screen-capture tool that allows taking screenshots (called snips) of an open window

Window (computing)

In computing, a window is a visual area containing some kind of user interface. It usually has a rectangular shape that can overlap with the area of other windows...

, rectangular area

Area

Area is a quantity that expresses the extent of a two-dimensional surface or shape in the plane. Area can be understood as the amount of material with a given thickness that would be necessary to fashion a model of the shape, or the amount of paint necessary to cover the surface with a single coat...

s, a free-form area, or the entire screen. Snips can then be annotated using a mouse or a tablet

Graphics tablet

A graphics tablet is a computer input device that enables a user to hand-draw images and graphics, similar to the way a person draws images with a pencil and paper. These tablets may also be used to capture data or handwritten signatures...

, save

Computer file management

The term computer file management refers to the manipulation of documents and data in files on a computer.----Specifically, one may create a new file or edit an existing file and save it; open or load a pre-existing file into memory; or close a file without saving it. Additionally, one may group...

d as an image file (PNG, GIF, or JPEG

JPEG

In computing, JPEG . The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality....

 file) or an HTML page

HTML

HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....

, or e-mail

E-mail

Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...

ed.

Options

There are a number of options that can be changed in the Snipping Tool. Clicking on the Options button on the toolbar presents the user with two groups of options:

Application

• Hide instruction text – Hides the instructional text displayed by Snipping Tool.
• Always copy snips to the Clipboard – Places the snipped image on the clipboard, allowing it to be pasted into another program such as a word processor.
• Include URL below snips (HTML only) – If a snip is taken of an Internet Explorer page and saved as a single HTML or MHT file, the URL of the page will be displayed below the snip.
• Prompt to save snips before exiting – If a snip has been taken but not saved, then on exit the user will be prompted to save the snip.
• Show screen overlay when Snipping Tool is active – When the Snipping Tool is active a transparent white overlay will be displayed across the screen; when making a snip, the snip select is shown without the white overlay.

Selection

• Ink color – Sets the color of the Ink used when drawing on a snip.
• Show the selection ink after snips are captured – When checked, a colored selection border is shown around the snip.

Other Options

After a snip has been captured a few more options become available: from the tools menu the user can select Pen and then Customize... Here a custom pen can be created with the option to change the Color, Thickness, and the Tip of the pen. A highlighter option is also available.