Print Screen not working

One day it worked, the next it didn't.

I know the print screen button is working, because I can still paste screen shots into MS paint. But when I do the Ctrl+PrintScreen then try to open a new doc. in Photoshop CS2 it doesn't open the correct doc size (it used to open a document the size of my screen dimensions) and the paste option is grey'd out.

Other artists have been having the same problem, and searching the forums for this issue turned up nothing.

HELP!

Anthony Roberts

But when I do the Ctrl+PrintScreen then try to open a new doc. in Photoshop CS2 it doesn't open the correct doc size

Does plain Prt Scr work? That should copy the entire desktop.

Ctrl+PrintScreen is the same as just Prt Scr AFAIK.

Alt+Prt Scr copies the active window (with correct dimensions for new docs in PS).

--
Regards

John Waller

None of these combinations allows me to paste into photoshop.

I tried them all, again, to make sure. The Alt+Prt Scr doesn't give me correct dimensions either. The new document still opens at the default size.

Someone suggested some new windows update could be the issue. This is a corp. environment with WinXP and we roll out security patches regularly.

I do not have permission to uninstall and re-install the programs on my machine, or I'd try that. I really need this to work, as I regularly make tutorials by copying the on-screen windows of programs for visual guides on how to complete tasks in various programs.

Anthony,

When in the Open dialog select "Cipboard" from the drop down menu.

Rob

I can't. It's grey'd out.

I can't. It's grey'd out.

That happens when there's nothing in it.

There is also something in the Preferences. Don't know exactly where, I'm not at my desk right now.

Otherwise, reset the preferences (see forum FAQ)

Rob

thanks Rob,

Not that deleting my preferences file didn't come with some side effects, like all my palette arrangements and what not getting reset, but at least prt scr works.

Quite a few people have had problems with print screen in Photoshop CS3 not being properly accessible from the clipboard (clipboard size grayed out in New, nothing happens when pasted). I had this problem and downloaded a utility called Gadwin Printscreen that lets you print screenshots to a TIF file or the clipboard; it's very configurable and pretty much solves the problem of the clipboard. Available from <http://www.gadwin.com/products.htm?prnscr> -- there's a free version and a "pro" version; the free one works fine for me.

I am still unable to grab a video screen capture, either out of Windows Media Player or through playing a slide show in PowerPoint. I used to be able to do this (via Print Screen key) and get a still pic of the opening or closing frame of a video. Now all I get is a black screen. I downloaded Gadwin Print Screen Pro, but still only got the black screen of the video. Can anyone advise? I'm not sure what's changed, other than installing CS3

Video capture is challenging, because video is often displayed by a separate interface to the graphics card, instead of being bitmapped to the display within the OS. This offloads the video display work to the graphics card, which is designed for this. The way around this (in XP, at least) is to go to the display properties dialog, click on Settings, Advanced, Troubleshoot, and turn the hardware acceleration down all the way. This makes the OS do all the work, and as a result the video -- if it displays at all -- can be screengrabbed. Make sure to turn hardware acceleration all the way back up.

You can also use ctrl+i to capture frames (as JPEG or BMP) in Windows Media Player, without turning off hardware accelleration.