Screenshots improve articles by illustrating important concepts. Sometimes a user needs to see a logo or a button, not just read about it. Take a screenshot of the image and add it to the article you’re writing.

This is confusing for readers: “To start a Firefox Hello conversation, click the Hello Button."

Readers don't know what the Hello button looks like.

Try this: "To start a Firefox Hello conversation, click ."

Now readers can visualize what the article is talking about.

Tips for adding screenshots

• Don’t add screenshots to every concept. Just use them for concepts that need illustrations.
• Screenshots should match what the user sees on the screen, which is sometimes different, depending on your operating system. See How to use "For" tags to show different screenshots fo Windows, Mac and Linux users.
• The majority of Firefox users have Windows computers so, if you're not sure which operating system to use to capture an image, use Windows.
• Use a red screengrab to outline important parts of images like this.
• Paint on Windows and Preview on Mac are useful softwares for cropping and adding screengrabs to screenshots. You can also use other screenshot software; for example, GIMP is freeware that's good for more complicated image manipulation.
• Keep screenshots small. Try to make them no larger than 620 pixels high or wide.

Create screenshots on a computer or mobile device

Windows screenshots

To capture the entire screen:

1. Press PrtScn on the keyboard.
2. Open Paint or a similar image editing software.
3. Press Ctrl+V. The screenshot will appear in Paint or whichever software you’re using.
4. If you want to, crop the screenshot to show a smaller part of the image. Or add a screengrab.

To capture one window:

1. Open the window you want to capture. Click on the window.
2. Open Paint or a similar image editing software.
3. Press Ctrl+V. The screenshot will appear in Paint or whichever software you’re using.
4. If you want to, crop the screenshot to show a smaller part of the image. Or add a screengrab.

Mac screenshots

To capture the entire screen:

Press Command+Shift+3. The computer will save the screenshot in your desktop.

To capture part of the screen:

1. Press Command+Shift+4. Your cursor will look like this compass .
2. Click, hold, and drag out a square around the area you want to capture.
3. Let go. The computer will save the screenshot in the desktop.

Linux screenshots

Once you have the screen presented the way you want for the screenshot:

• On Ubuntu, click the Applications menu, go to the Accessories folder, and select Take Screenshot.
• In distributions using the KDE environment (Kubuntu, OpenSUSE, etc.), KSnapshot
• In distributions using the Gnome desktop environment (Debian, Trisquel, Fedora, etc.), Gnome-screenshot

• In most other distributions, depending on your desktop manager, you may also use the Print Screen or Prnt Scrn key to capture your screenshot as follows:
  • Print Screen: whole screen
  • Alt + Print Screen: current window
  • Shift + Print Screen: selected rectangle on the screen
  • Ctrl combined with any of the above will copy the screenshot to the clipboard

iPhone screenshots

1. Open the app on your iphone that you want to capture.
2. Click and hold the Sleep/Wake button. Immediately press and release the Home button. The screen flashes.
3. Find the screenshot in the Photos app.
4. Send the screenshot to your computer. If you want, edit the screenshot in an image editing software such as Paint or Preview.

Android screenshots

1. Open the app on your Android device that you want to capture.
2. Press and hold the Sleep/wake button and the volume-down button simultaneously. The screen flashes.
3. Find the screenshot in the Gallery app.
4. Send the screenshot to your computer. If you want, edit the screenshot in an image editing software such as Paint or Preview.

Add new screenshots to Knowledge Base articles

You can visit the Media Gallery and use the Upload a New Media File button to upload your screenshot image file. To insert an image from the Media Gallery into an article you're editing, type in [[Image:title]] (substitute the actual title of the image, instead of title) at the point where you want the image to appear. For details, see Add images and screenshots to Knowledge Base articles.

You can also upload an image and insert it into an article while editing an article.

To upload the image:

1. Begin writing or editing an article.
2. Click Insert Media on the toolbar.
3. The insert media dialog opens. Click Upload Media.
4. A new tab opens with an Upload New Media File dialog box. Click Browse. Select your image in your computer files.
5. A new dialog box opens. Give your Screenshot a title and a description. Click Upload File.

To add the image to an article:

1. Begin writing or editing an article.
2. Click Insert Media on the toolbar.
3. Select an image from the gallery. Click Insert Media.

Editing images on a Mac system

Cropping images in Preview

Cropping screenshots lets you edit a big image to show the readers only what they need to see.

1. Open the screenshot in Preview.
2. Click on the toolbar. A second toolbar opens.
3. Your cursor now looks like a compass. Use your cursor to draw a rectangle around the area you wish to show up in the final image. .
4. Click Crop.

Making screen grabs in Preview

Screen grabs let you focus on a small portion of a picture inside a larger picture. For example, you may want to showcase one button on a whole toolbar.

1. Open the screenshot in Preview.
2. Click Tools>Annotate>Rectangle.
3. A red rectangle appears. Adjust the rectangle so that it fits around the area you want to showcase. .

Resizing images in Preview

Some screenshots come out large. But it’s best not to use screenshots that are more than 620 pixels long or wide. Here’s how to resize a big screenshot.

1. Open a screenshot in Preview.
2. Click Tools > Adjust Size. A window opens.
3. Check if the height and width are both under 620px. If they’re larger, type a smaller number into either the height or width bar. Make sure Scale Proportionally is checked.
4. Click OK.

Editing images on a Windows system

Cropping screenshots in Paint

Cropping screenshots lets you edit a big image to show the readers only what they need to see.

1. Open the screenshot in Paint.
2. On the toolbar click Select+Rectangular Selection.
3. Your cursor now looks like a compass. Use your cursor to draw a rectangle around the area you wish to show up in the final image.
4. Click Crop.

Making screen grabs in Paint

Screen grabs let you focus on a small portion of a picture inside a larger picture. You may want to show one button on a whole toolbar.

1. Open the screenshot in Paint.
2. In the Shapes toolbar select the rectangle shape.
3. In the Colors toolbar select the color red.
4. Your cursor now looks like a compass. Use your cursor to draw a red rectangle around the area you want to showcase.

Resizing images in Paint

Some screenshots come out large. But it’s best not to use screenshots that are more than 620 pixels long or wide. Here’s how to resize a big screenshot.

1. Open the screenshot in Paint.
2. Click Resize on the toolbar. A Resize and Skew window opens.
3. Check if the height and width are both under 620 pixels. If they’re larger, type a smaller number into either the horizontal or vertical bar.