New Window/Tab Print/Capture Feature included in Answers

Last fall's release of Answers included a new feature that allows very easily printing or capturing and saving a copy of the current Answers window or tab that you are viewing.  This feature can be accessed by holding down on the <Shift> key and then pressing the <F8> key.  This function captures an image of the currently active window or tab (exactly which depends on the style of program).  Once captured, the user is prompted if they want to Print, Save, or View the captured screen image.   This new built-in feature is intended as an easier to use method and to cut down on the number of steps involved to capture a screen within Answers programs as opposed to the key sequences in Windows which only place the image on the clipboard and must then be pasted into another document and/or program in order to be printed or saved. 

·         If the user selects to “Print”, an image of the active window or tab is printed to the desired printer.  And note that this printing function is not restricted to PCL laser printers and should work with most graphically capable printers including lasers, ink jets, and office jets.  The print function first checks to see if the user is printing in portrait mode or landscape mode and then automatically scales the image to fit the orientation accordingly.   

·         The users can also select to “Save” the image and if this option is chosen, the user is prompted as to where (what folder) they would like to save it and the name to give it.  Note that this saves the image as a Bitmap.  This is the image format used by the AcuCobol Runtime and cannot be changed. 

·         If the user elects to “View” the image, the bitmap is viewed in the default bitmap viewer program assigned by your Windows PC.  This program by default is the Windows Paint program but can be changed or may have been modified by installing other photo editing programs, scanners, cameras, etc. 

·         Users will also notice this option showing up on some pull-down menus and right-click menus.  This was done as a reminder and hint of this new feature and its accessibility via <Shift><F8>, however it is important to realize this feature is available in all Answers windows and tabs, regardless of whether it is explicitly listed on a pull-down or right-click menu or not. 

·         This feature does not attempt to replace similar functions included in Windows or 3^rd-party tools that offer a similar purpose, including the <Print Screen> key to capture the entire desktop into the clipboard, <Alt><Print Screen> to capture the current window into the clipboard, or the Windows Snipping Tool included with Windows 7 and newer. Do note though that the Windows Snipping Tool is neat in that it can capture only certain part of a window or even multiple windows, high-light part of the captured image, or rough draw with a mouse-driven “pen” on the captured image.

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