GET A SCREENSHOT, JUST IN CASE IT GETS DELETED

I can't emphasize this enough.

If another website is embarrassing itself horribly and you want to point fingers: get a screenshot.

If a website you like has been hacked and defaced: get a screenshot.

If you're the #1 (or #5) Google search for some odd phrase: get a screenshot.

Why?

Because ANY web site that's not under your direct control, or is not controlled by VERY close friends of yours, can be changed at a moment's notice, and your VERY "it's a visual" point will be lost forever once those changes propagate.

Lesson learned at the expense of Graumagus of Frizzen Sparks:

Even Google Cache fades away: get a screenshot.

The Internet Wayback Machine might not have the page you're looking for: get a screenshot.

"Fine," you say, "I am the newest acolyte in the First Church of Screenshottery. Now how do I go about getting one?"

Simple.

On your standard 101-key computer keyboard, there is a button - usually in the top row, just to the right of the F12 key - labeled "Print Scrn".

Bring up the site with the image you want to preserve for posterity, and press the "Print Scrn" button.

What you've just done is copy whatever image is on your screen to your clipboard. It's exactly as if you'd just highlighted a line of text and chose "copy" from the menu, except it's a picture of your screen's contents.

Now you can paste the image into any image-handling software. It doesn't have to be anything fancy - even the wheezy little Microsoft Paint program that came with your computer can handle the job. Once it's pasted, you just save the file in case you need it later.

Final hint: before posting your screenshot, remember to trim off the top & bottom parts of the image that contain your browser menus, toolbars, and taskbar. Wouldn't want to embarrass yourself by revealing personal information, like - for example - the last thing you searched for using the Google toolbar:

Unless, of course, it's relevant to the post.

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