Using Screenshots
A SCREENSHOT IS EXACTLY what it sounds like. It is a snapshot, or picture, of a screen open on your computer. Any window that has not been minimized is captured by Excel and available for you to use as an image in your worksheet. Screenshots are useful in recording information that might change. If you are collecting data on the traffic to your Website on a given day, for example, you may want to include a screenshot of the home page on that day so that you have a record of what content generated the traffic you are monitoring.
To include a screenshot, choose Insert > Illustrations > Screenshot. Select the screenshot you want from the drop-down menu of available windows (see Figure 12-24).
Figure 12-24. Excel captures an image of every open window on your computer.
As demonstrated by Figure 12-25, Excel inserts the screenshot into your worksheet at the point of the active cell. Screenshot are images and can be edited using the formatting tools described earlier in this chapter.
Sometimes a screenshot captures more information than you need to include on a worksheet. In cases like this, Excel’s screenshot feature includes a Screen Clipping tool at the bottom of the list of available windows. Clicking this tool will open the most recently visited window. Excel then dulls the screen and the mouse pointer changes to a cross. Drag the mouse over the portion of the screen you want to include in the screenshot (see Figure 12-26). When you release the mouse button, Excel inserts that portion of the screen-shot into your worksheet.
Caution
| The Screenshot feature does not include a screenshot of the window you are actively working in. For example, if you are working in Excel and also have Word open, you will see a screenshot of your Word document, but not Excel. |