Grabing a screenshot from Window Media Player is not so easy as it seems. Yesterday I tried to use the extremely useful screen capture by ‘Print Screen Key’ to try to capture a wmv running file on my Windows media player classic V10. But whenever I tried to use the print screen, a blank image was captured from the windows media player.
Windows Media Player Screenshots
Then I thought maybe the running video was posing a problem with capturing a frame. So I paused the movie and tried the print screen technique. But still got a blank screen.
Then I tried to capture paused and running movies in full screen (Full screen shortcut – using Alt+Enter). But again no luck.
So I decided to tweak some advanced options of Window media player. After lot of different combinations of tweaks, still had no luck.
Looking to buy a professional multimedia software to do the job? There are several shareware and paid professional image capture software available which can do the job. But why should I pay when I should try to get a freeware or get a tweak to fix it myself. I tried to see how professional paid software’s for this worked, but I was disappointed the moment I captured the screenshot. It had a big logo on every image it captured. Of course it was shareware and you needed to pay to remove the text messages.
Free simple way to capture Images from Windows Media Player
- Open Window Media Player
- Then go to Tools | Options
- In Options, select the Performance Tab
- Way below you click on the Advanced Button
- Uncheck “Use Overlays’
- Click Ok
- And you are ready.
Now run your movie in any size or screen resolution. Use the standard ‘Print Screen Key’ Method as described and you have captured a snapshot from your favourite movie on windows media player without using any special multimedia software. Enjoy!
More Ways to Capture Screenshots from WMP
Some users have given excellent suggestions in the Comments below which provide an alternate method if this does not work.
- Instead of the Print Screen Method – try pressing “CTRL+I”. This pops up a save as window after capturing the screenshot
- After you open Window Media Player. Go to Tools | Options | Performance Tab. You will see a picture similar to the first image above. Reduce the “Video acceleration” from the default Full to None, click ok and then close down media player. Next open the file you want to take a still using the Print Screen method – from press ALT and the PrintScrn key to copy an image of media player to the clipboard.
It’s people like you that help make the Internet great! I knew someone would have a an answer on how to do this for FREE!
An easier way: In WMP, at least since version 9, you can use Ctrl-I to capture a frame, either when playing or when paused for greater accuracy. It brings up a Save Captured Image dialog which handily defaults to a jpeg.
Well, since this doesn’t work for BSplayer, RealOne player, winamp and other players, i made another thing to do (Windows 2000 and Windows XP ONLY!!)
1. Click Windows Start > Settings > Control Panel, the Control Panel displays.
2. Double-click Display, the Display Properties dialog box displays.
3. Click the Settings tab.
4. Click the Advanced button, the Advanced Settings dialog box displays.
5. Click the Troubleshoot tab.
6. Click and drag the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left, changing the setting from Full to None. This disables all accelerations.
7.Click the Apply button to apply the settings to your desktop.
8. Click the OK button to save your changes and close the Advanced Settings dialog box.
9. Click the OK button to close the Display Properties dialog box.
Et voila! Tu n’as pas de PrtScr anymore!
Disabling overlays will result in poor playback performance on some machines. Not a good long term solution.
If you need to get a full screen shot of everything on the screen, video included, then yeah, disable the overlay and hit the print screen button.
But if you just need a shot of the video, use CTRL-I. Or use another player like VLC or BSPlayer, which can do this too.
I always thought it was something on the hardware level that caused the blank screen to show up. Now I know!
HELLO,
can somebody tell me please if is possible to take capture images from a ram or rm file using Real Player? Thank you!!!
ctrl-I does a fine job. i think setting your hardware acceleration to none also works for the print screen method as well. i don’t recomend keeping those setting tho–
OMG!!! Thank you so much! I’d been fiddling around with my media player for months trying to figure out what was wrong with it. I’m so happy I found your site on google.
Can someone please help me? I tried disabling video acceleration, overlays, and I tried using ctrl-i, and nothing seems to work. The first two, in conjunction with print screen, just result in the same problem, and ctrl-i does nothing.
NOW using camtasia capture and yahoo music we may capture dvd music clips hehe, and burn our oun dvds.
100 BIG THANKS
I Can’t Belive it was that easy, Thanx alot for the tip.
It actual does work in winamp.
Just go into the preferences, then video, and at the bottom it has the overlay option I turned it off and it worked.
thanks 4 this one i’ve been tryin for ages to capture screens from media player
actually, my friend was in a job interview with ATI and the guy asked him why it appears blank and why. My friend drew a blank. The reason as explained by the interviewer is something due to the video card rendering the video directly , but your windows desktop is in 2d mode and that is done seprately, so when you do screen captures, you only get the 2d content. The reason why disabling hardware acceleration works is becasue you are now forcing the computer to render everything in software, the 2d content along with the rendered video.
ohmygod I love you.
No, no, really, I do.
This is a fabulous thing, who knew you could tweak with WMP and be able to print screen things? I Should sell your idea; do you mind? lol
Thanks so much for the tip. Really appreciate your efforts. It works great to save the image to the clipboard, but once I paste it into photoshop it seems that the image and the player are two separate images. If I try to crop the player out, it results in some strange clipping and if I try to save the image as a .jpg it comes up black. If I try to just capture the video image in paint without hte player border using the select function it doesn’t keep the frame of video in the highlighted space. Any ideas?
I tried both ways :
1) unchecking “use overlay”–
still get blank screen
2)pressing Ctrl+I but it does not bring up a Save Captured Image dialog
I am using Window 98 and WMP is version 9.
Could someone assist me?
That was truly a great tip. Capturing screen shots in WMP has eluded me over the years but now I know how to do it. Thanks for sharing. :)
I use WMP 10 with WinXP. The Ctrl-I didn’t do anything though.
Jasmine, I’m not sure what’s wrong there. Could it be a Win98 issue?
It saves to clipboard but once media player is closed the video image goes away and I am left with a black screen with a WMP border. Am I missing something here? Have WMP 10. Thx 4 any help.
Thanks so much, I tried to download a few shareware titles but had no luck.
Now I can screen cap to my hearts content :)
Thanks for the information! It works just great for videos I have on my hard drive, i.e., short interview clips that I’ve downloaded, but when I try to get a screen capture from a DVD playing in my player and import it into Paint, the top half of the image is black, and the bottom half of the image is the half of the image I was trying to capture. Any hints?
There is a much easier solution by just pausing the movie and pressing ctrl-i, which will save a screenshot of the movie. I tried it on WMP10 and it works fine.
Awesome Info, Thanks!!
I too attempted the Ctrl-I option and nothing happens. I have v10 w/XP. Is tehre a setting for this?
However, turning off the Overlay worked great and I use HyperSnap DX (Best screen capture software out there).
Ahhh, I can now take a screen shot! The problem now is, when I try to crop it in Paint (i.e., to crop out the Windows Media Player), whatever I try to crop gets a black bar across half of the picture, and only the top half of the picture comes out at the bottom.
Eh, perhaps I need to consult a Paint expert. Thanks again for the great information!
i love it it is the best thing ever you totaly rock i am loving it. your the best. it took me 5 years to figuire this out. your are the bomb. love ya lov ya. woot. this is the best thing thats hapened in my life love ya
THANK YOU SO MUCH!! in the past ive found that SOMETIMES WMP will let me screencap, and if that doesn’t work (which is most of the time) then sometimes winamp will let me screencap. Sometimes neither work though.. also, winamp doesn’t really play DVDs, so when I need to screencap a DVD i’m screwed! Anyway, bless your heart for posting this info, can’t tell ye how much I appreciate it! Makes all those money-grubbing screencap programs seem a bit silly, huh? :D
On Windows 2000 with Media Player 9, neither the CTRL-I or unchecking overlay methods works.
I’m still bummin.
J
“Can someone please help me? I tried disabling video acceleration, overlays, and I tried using ctrl-i, and nothing seems to work. The first two, in conjunction with print screen, just result in the same problem, and ctrl-i does nothing.”
I have this same problem, maybe the author can figure it out.
woo hoo!
lots of cool desktop wallpapers to be created now…. mwaahhhhhhh
Thanks sooo much! I was looking for this trick forever and finally I found it on your page! Thanks SO much!
I’ve been trying to do this for years and finally someone was able to figure it out and share it.
You deserve a pat on the back and a “Thank You” from all of us that wanted to do this but were unsable . . . until now! Thanks!
Thank you so much!!
You’re such a legend. ^_^ That is by far the best computer tip I’ve ever been given.
With two computers at home i would have thought this tip would work on one of them. Both pc with xp, one with WMP 10 the other 9. Neither worked so i tried advice from a guy on top he said download BSPlayer. Prt Sc works perfectly. No complaints. Thanks to evry1’s input. Awesome sight.
Everything has already been said, but I pose a question.
Why does Ctrl – I work for some people?
Hmmm? Doesn’t work for me.
For those that do not get it to work right away, go into WMP->Tools->Options->Performance tab
then, down where the Advanced button is (like in the screenshot), you NEED to drag the Video Acceleration from Full to None.
Then you will be able to get something other than a black screen! Remember to drag it back, afterwards!
If you can’t drag it, try resetting to your defaults.
Thanks again! As has been said, this is the MOST useful tidbit on the ‘Net!
The suggested method didn’t work for me with a WMV embedded in a webpage, however what worked for that case was:
– start a video playing in WMP with overlays enabled
– open the webpage
– hit alt-printscreen
The reason this works is because most video cards, mine included, can only do one overlay at a time. By using that up with standalone windows mediaplayer, the one embedded in the webpage has to fall back on drawing without overlays.
Presumbably this would work to capture shots from other players (realplayer, quicktime) as well.
Still no luck after trying your method. When I push prt scr, and paste it into an image program, the picture disappears after I turn off WMP. Or if I paste the picture and play WMP the image that was pasted will begin to play.
I’ve tried everything, nothing has worked.
(I have WMP XP)
words cannot express my gratitude for ur help. i am running out of HDD space and just wished to capture some memorable images from anime. thanks to u that dream will be a reality now.
– austen
Just wanted to note that you gotta uncheck the “Use overlays” box under “Video Acceleration” rather than the one under “DVD video” to do the trick. Great tip, though. Thanks!
OMG after trying to capture the screen, and it not working… I had just given up. This page has given me new hope!!! :) Thanks to the creator of this topic thing, and to Arthur for the great tips!!!
For those of you who have tried modifying WMP v10 settings and still got a black screen shot, you need to put the WMP settings back to full (or whatever they were set to) and modify display properties. Do this selecting Control Panel > Display > Settings tab > Advanced button > Troubleshoot tab. Drag the hardware acceleration to None and get your screenshot. I use SnagIt for full control of which screen elements I want to get. Don’t forget to set it back when you’re done. Good luck.
awesome! thanks.
doesn’t work for dvds on my system, but otherwise fantastic.
VERY USEFULL!!!!
Thank you now i can capture the moveis i like most on pictures instead of looking from the internet!!!!
THANK YOU! You’ve no idea how much this has helped.
Usually I just open the files in PowerDVD, but this one wouldn’t open.
This also works for WinAmp, btw–Options>Preferences>Video. And it works well with screencapping utilities.
Thanks again!
Thank you for this advice and for going through the work to figure it out. The closest I came was the advice to reset the “video acceleration” bar to none, which is a complete overkill versus your solution. For those who are lazy, here is the Player Help description of the overlay feature that you turn off:
“Enables the graphics/video display card to display and scale video from an alternate source on top of the image displayed on the monitor. If you select this option and overlay hardware is available, video is displayed using the overlay hardware of the video card.”
Seems like most of us neither have the hardware, nor have the use for this feature at all. Thanks again!
Believe it or not. This question stumped onto my head about two minutes ago.
Off I go onto google and to find this. Amazing.
Thx.
Thankyou, Thankyou, – I was watching CBT Nuggets and was trying to copy some of the screens for my study notes. I thought I was going crazy as it was linking parts of the screen shots to the media, I tried all the options, paste specails, editing tools and even tried using different media players. I don’t no how I missed this one or why MS has it so tucked away. Big ups to you
I really appreciate it! I was able to get my old Windows Media Player to do screenshots, but when I got a new computer, a new OS, and a new version of WMP, I was getting frustrated. Thanks! :o)
Thank you for being Google-able!
You made my night when I was trying to pull screenshots off of a few dance videos for my blog. I don’t see the purpose of overlays anyhow.
Thanks again,
Karen
(PS: tracked my blog post back to you)
This has puzzled me for such a long time, you have the most utter determination on finding the right answer to questions
I have tried all of the abover and i still am only getting a black screen…it’s driving me insane… i have WMP 9 and nothing works..
For WMP 9: Unclick: Use overlays,Use YUV flipping, Use RGB flipping and use primary surfaces. Hope that helps.
Just a word on the Ctrl-I feature:
It works on some files and not on others. One of the tech geniuses could tell you why, but I have no trouble using WMP 10 to caputre DVD video, but it doesn’t work on .WMV files at all.
Thank you for the WinMP tip! I was about to download screencap programs but good thing i found your blog! do you just love google hehehe
Wow! Works great (I have XP and WMP V10). Especially the “Ctrl and I” function since it means I don’t have to do any cropping (which I will need to do if I use the screen capture method).
Also, note that MS Movie Maker has a “Take Picture From Preview” function under the Tools menu which does pretty much the same thing.
Thanks
Thanks alot, worked wonders.
Hmmm… these packages exist for a reason. So although this simple settings tweak will allow about 2% of people to capture videos, for most people it makes no difference at all.
Thank you SO much! It worked perfectly! I’ve only been trying to figure out how to cap from WMP for like a year and a half now :-P
Truuly the best hint i ever seen in internet, simple, easy, and work!!.
De veeerdad la mejor pista que jamás eh visto en internet, simple, fácil, y funciona!!
Bueno con la pista del overlay, probe en otros reproductores, y para el Media Player Classic (ya se k tiene la opción Ctrl-8 pero no queria activarse y el Imp Pant no funcionaba) se van a View>Options>Playback>Output y cambian donde dice DirectShow Video a VMR9 (windowed) si tienen el DirectX9 instalado, no eh probado si funciona cambiando en “VMR 7/9 & DirectX7/9” a “Use regular offscreen plain surfaces”
Well with the hint of the overlay, i test it in other players, and for de Media Player Classic (i know the thing of the Ctrl-8 but for my dont work and the Imp Pant dont work either) you go to View>Options>Playback>Output and change where say “Direct Show Video” to “VMR9 (windowed) if you have DirectX9 installed, i havent test if work changing in “VMR 7/9 & DirectX7/9” to “Use regular offscreen plain surfaces”
Thank you Very Much
Muchas Gracias
Arigatou Gozaimasu
I LOVE YOU AS WELL!!!!
It was so weird. Yesterday I was doing screen captures perfectly fine and then suddenly I started getting shots a few seconds too late or I’d capture another shot and it would replace the previous shot in Photoshop CS before I even opened a new file and pasted (in the previous opened document) and then – and this is really weird – if I just let the video keep running – switched over to photoshop – the document would be PLAYING the video clip IN PHOTOSHOP!! I could NOT believe my eyes.
So I would pause Media Player and print screen and then open new doc. and paste and if I would try to resize the window – the area that was the media player would move around overtop the area that was the image of the video (in photoshop) so I KNEW this was a layer issue as well. And I looked through the preferences – I’ve been up for two days looking around – but I MISSED the overlay tab!
It was simple and I don’t know why I didn’t see that box – if I had it would have made perfect sense to me as well. I was looking for something that would “lock” media player or something to the video because I could tell it was floating over the video by the way it was displaying in Photoshop.
Very strange – but I guess it’s suppose to work that way – now I’m going to find out why Photoshop does this because I’m sure there is a very cool reason.
I also tried Control L (or whatever it was – it’s gone from my memory right at this moment) and it didn’t work for me either – so I guess different things work for different people’s computers.
But THANK YOU – I was going mental!!!
Sorry so long!
LuCynda
Thank for the great tip, it works perfectly only for Video CD (VCD) movie. But it did NOT work for me when I played a DVD movie, I pasted the capture image to the same MS WORD file, this image was playing as Windows Media Player on playing, when I closed the WMP, the pasted image became black screen image. Since we use DVD more than VCD nowadays. Can anyone help me to solve this problem. Many thanks in advance.
Andi
The easiest thing to do is to import the WMV file into the program Movie Maker, and cap from there. It’s included in most Windows computers.
I read this post, and tried this method to get a screen capture from a DVD. It did not work.
I tried this same method again, using a normal *AVI file on my computer. This time it did work.
It seems like other people who have responded have the same problem:
This method works for normal files on your hard drive, but not for taking screen captures of DVDs. :(
Thanks a lot mate – i cant believe something simple like this has annoyed so many other ppl lol
all i wanted was a screen shot for my msn and it was so annoying! anyway thanks – simple , easy instructions – voila
altho the one thing you might need to pointout is (as stupid as it may seem) how to find the tool bar! as i couldnt find it until i madly clicked mediaplayer and it came up with another menu!
anyway less of the moan, thanks for the help on your site
CTRL+I FOR THE WIN
For those who say it still won’t work, and since others have been offering other solutions as well…
What has worked for me for a long while, annoying though it is, is to open up two videos at the same time. Two different ones, or the same one, doesn’t matter as long as you have two videos loaded into two different windows. Then when you print screen, the second one opened will always capture fine. It’s worked for me in WMP, Winamp, DivX… everything.
Speechless I am. I’m not only impressed with the simplicity of the fix, and your generocity in sharing, but with all the great compliments everyone has.
Well done to everyone!
Hi there, i have a new laptop with windows 2000 loaded, earlier i have used CTRL+I while i had my desk top, and it worked fine, however, the same function with on the laptop is not activated, i am wondering why.
however, i have irfan view with me, and it has this cool feature of screen capture. by pressing “C”. a separate window pops up to ask whether we want the entire screen, or the foreground or the foreground with the client area. select the last option i.e. with foreground with client area and press start, and press ctrl +f11, thats it. (hope u guys understood what i meant) anyway, please download irfanview and it is very easy.
thanks for the tip
But this really reduces the video quality. IS there any way we can maintain the vidoe quality when we uncheck ‘User overlay’
regards
Thatks for the incredible tip on how to get genuine, clean screengrabs from WMP…
Before i stumbled on this little tip, i’d use the client area capture function in ArcSoft’s Photo Studio, but the images always came out looking jagged and had artifacting in them.
And also, i noticed by doing this tweak to the setting, the films themselves no longer have that odd rendering with color shading and play more smoothly.
Thanks a whole bunch for this tip! Mucho appreciados!
BRILLIANT!!! At first I was trying all the different things that were suggested on this page, but it wasn’t until Dan(http://www.blogger.com/profile/5212233) pointed out that “you gotta uncheck the “Use overlays” box under “Video Acceleration” rather than the one under “DVD video” to do the trick”….now I can screen capture to my heart’s content!! Oh I’m so happy :D
~Caitlin H.
I could not get any of the above tips to work, including unchecking the overlay options in Windows Media Player, I tried everything in several configurations. Eventually I checked in the VLC Media Player options, and if you go
Settings > Preferences > General Settings > Video > and then make sure the “Overlay video output” option isn’t checked. (You might need to check the “Advanced options” box in the bottom right hand corner of the panel to see all the options.)
Voila! I can now take screencaps from all kinds of media files including DVDs with the PrtSc or Alt+PrtSc options.
It may depend on your video hardware (card) as well. On my laptop (which has a Radeon 9000 display adapter), I wasn’t able to slide the Video Acceleration in WMP 9 under W2K – it was greyed out. I was able to acheive a PrintScreen capture of the video only after unchecking all options to do with Video Acceleration. Later I discovered that if I pressed the ‘Restore Defaults’ button beside the ‘Advanced’ button, I had control of the Video Acceleration slider again and with it at ‘None’ I could get a capture.
However, I can’t get Ctrl-I to work for the life of me – nothing happens (I tried the capital I, the small i, the small l, and the number 1!)
Great!!
I thought it was a protection system so you could not easisly ‘steal’ images of possibly copyrighted videos.
I can’t get Ctrl-I to work for wmv
other formats can
why
i tried this and i can get screen shots kinda but when i move the captured image around it changes as if it is folowing the video so eg if i had a whole face and move the picture down the page i end up with the bottom half of the face! ne help pls?????
Are you surprised? It’s something called XVideo (or Xv) in X Window world (found on popular Unix like distros like Linux), and also called “video overlay”, but not the name is the important thing but the fact that modern video cards have hardware acceleration ability to scale an image and/or convert colour space info (like directly accepted YUV data instead of RGB for example). This feature is designed for displaying displaying video with high performance and quality (scaling). It’s quite normal that you can’t see it on a normal screenshot, since the content of the WMP window is NOT present in the video ram for real either! The video RAM contains only a surface with “colour key” (like some black or blue, or something depends on the software solution). The solution on every platform (even on Linux for example with many open source players) is switching output not to use this video overlay unit (or Xv, or whatever). Than it becomes slower (or at least requires much more CPU power) and maybe uglier (no smooth scale algorithm in the player for example), but the content is shown as “normal” video data.
I’m still having difficulties. I’m doing everything. But I can’t seem to save the picture. When I do that… I only get a black screen.
I can screenshot from music videos but not DVDs… This is very annoying!
Cool! I’ve been trying to capture from WMP for the longest time. Thank you for the tip! :)
Nice, but why would you even consider using Windows media player to capture a screenshot when there is VLC player.
No damn complicated stuff. It plays pretty much everything and capturing a screenshot is very easy
Excellent! I’ve always wondered how to capture from WMP! You are awesome! [bows] Thank you. 8]
does this work on shows like on mtv
Hey yo, for all the people out there that can’t use this method becouse it des not work…maybe you should buy a digital camera and make a picture of your display…That will work on everybody’s computers…Don’t botter to thank me… :))
YOU ARE A GENIUS! THANK YOU! Like you, I tried almost everything. Didn’t want to pay for something that I would eventually figure out myself and after hours and hours of trying all, I finally gave up for the night. THEN, I searched for capturing images and FOUND YOU. Just how lucky can one get!
THANK YOU FOR TEACHING ME SOMETHING NEW TODAY!
Such a simple solution. Thank you for making my day better (and I guess thanks to Google too).
Thanks a million!
You are a genius man.I loved it
One problem with Ctrl+I is that it distorts the aspect ratio :/
Nothing worked for me as I try to capture stills from a school talent show DVD, I have WMP 10 with Windows XP. I’ve read through all the suggestions and tried them to no avail. I can use print screen and then paste but it can’t be cropped because it keeps moving around as I try to crop. Very disappointing.
This is one of the best days of my life. This tip is a godsend.
I’ve just shouted to the rest of the office “Yipee I’ve done it!!”
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I wasn’t going to be defeated so you’ve helped me out big time.
Very useful…….. Thank you
this really was useful for me!!
big thx for you!
keep up posting these kinda stuff ;)
Thanks a lot! I used a program called Hypersnap DX for capturing screenshots from Windows Media Player but now I see that with the help this little tip you can do the job by yourself for free. It saves you lots of time, too. Thanks a lot one more time!
None of them work for me =/
It still brings up either a black screen, or the moving video if its still playing. Ctrl + I does nothing at all either.
OMG!! How friggin’ easy was that…I mean…really. Thanks!!
It worked. Many thanks.
Windows Media Player 11 has a screen capture feature but it does not tell you where it placed the captured screen.
Anyone know where Windows Media Player 11 places the screen capture?
it used to work! Now, it doesn’t! its so strange, erm help?
Where do you go to view the images afterwards????
Don’t know if this is mentioned yet, but none of those methods worked for you, you can just use Media Player Classic (google to download it)
Open the videos using this media player and the option to save image (or thumbnails) is under the file menu.
maybe you should add that this (ctrl-i) works for .mpg but NOT for .wma
Dear Sir,
today i try to capture some snaps from my DVD, i played the DVD and did pause, then i pressed ‘print screen’ the i opened paint brush, then i paste the picture, then i saved bitmap format. then i try open the file (photo) its come blank. please advise me how to do?
i am using windows media player 10
thanks sir
dear sir,
i forgot to tell, VCD capture is ok, but DVD capture is not working the same way.
Kannan
I used this page to edit the settings in Nero Showtime – those of you who have it and had NO LUCK with the stuff listed above:
What worked for me was as follows:
1. Open Nero Showtime, which comes with the full version of (purchased) Nero.
2. Preferences (the little hammer icon)
3. Video: change video mode to “no interlacing”
4. Video quality: select the “off” circle
5. Play DVD, press the camera icon to capture (assuming you have already gone in and selected a place for the frames to be saved to)
*please note that “print screen” still results in a blank image. You’ll have to use Nero’s capture device to be successful. I also recommend Nero in general, as the software has burned CD and DVDs for me flawlessly.
To quote a previous comment…
“THANK YOU!!!!
After a lot of swearing at WMP about not letting me do a screen capture, I hit google and found your site.
That did the trick, thanks!! ”
I couldn’t have worded it better myself.
Thank you, thank you! I needed to capture some screenshots of stills from a number of videos to paste them into a Microsoft Word document to send to a web designer, and I had just about given up trying to do it. I tried it in Windows Media and RealPlayer but I couldn’t capture the images in either one. Then I found this web page, cleared the checkbox you suggested and it now works! Thank you very much for providing this information, it’s extremely helpful.
Thanks for that, it works fine. It will save me using Vlc Media Player to do the same job.
Regards the poacher
Nice! I spent hours looking for commercial products, but never imagine it’s so simple and free of charge!
Thank you.
When I capture a frame and paste into Photoshop, the screenshot is still “live” If I flatten the file, it will go black. If I push “Play” on the media player…the active PS window capture will track along with the video as it plays. If I stop the video, the capture screen in PS will go black as well.
Neither of the above techniques worked in my scenario. The Ctl + I never brings up a capture “save” panel (WMP 10.0). I adjusted the: Tools/Options/Performance/Advanced settings in every concievable fashion. Still no different results
Thanks!!! You’ve made my day!! Ctrl I works fine without changing any settings for me. I’m using Media player 11.
“Kannan | July 27th, 2006
Dear Sir,
today i try to capture some snaps from my DVD, i played the DVD and did pause, then i pressed print screen the i opened paint brush, then i paste the picture, then i saved bitmap format. then i try open the file (photo) its come blank. please advise me how to do?
i am using windows media player 10
thanks sir”
Read the instructions at the top of the page! He already has advised “how to do” so go do it!
Many thanks. [Ctrl]+[I] didn’t work for me, but disabling “Use Overlays” did the trick for Windows Media Player 10.0.
Hey there,
thanks so much for your tip. I used to be able to get screencaptures on my old computer no problem but since I got my new one it’s been driving me insane trying to figure out how to make WMP take screenshots that don’t go blank when I close WMP.
However, it doesn’t seem to work for DVDs. I’ve gone through all the messages above and it seems a lot of people have been having the same problem as I am but no one’s posted a soloution. Does anyone have any ideas?
I struggled with all of these options working. I downloaded VLC player from www.videolan.org, installed and was capturing ‘snapshots’ from DVDs in minutes. Didn’t need to mess with overlays or hardware acceleration, just Ctrl+Alt+s. Saves a .jpg or other to the destination dir of your choice. Options are under settings, preferences, video. Good luck.
the ctrl + i doesn’t work in wmp 11 beta 2 anymore, i just downloaded that last night (ctrl + i works on wmp 11)
can anymore giv some suggestion?
just wanna drop a HUGE HUGE THANK YOU NOTE!!!!!!!!! SWEET!!!!! ive been trying for like EONS!!!! to get a screen cap off win med player!!! KEWL!
yeah i found this via google too and it helped me alot coz i knew that thing with the hardware acceleration but it didnt work coz i cant watch my HDTV movie without it :)
CTRL+I is the best solution ill check latter if i can increase the jpG quality ;)
I have WMP 10 and XP. For me the CTL-I method works fine for mpg files but not at all for wmv or DVDs. I tried some of the other fixes suggested but no luck so far. I downloaded Hypersnap but it seems to have the same problems as PRTSCRN – ie when you try to edit or save the clipboard image it’s not really there. I think I still need the “definitive” tip. TIA!!!
Thank you. Just… thank you. No bs, no complicated instructions… just a straight-forward answer that fixed a big problem.
Thank you thank you thank you!
very good advice!!!! (-not sarcastic!!!) but it didn’t work for me :( can anyone help? I have WMP 11 – turning off overlays AND video acceleration doesn’t work. Also printscreen and ctrl-i don’t work either. Could it be the version or is there something I’m doing wrong? All help appreciated! and I think my version is the same as ‘Flame’s’ one.
O.K. Here’s the problem that I had: horizontal lines across pictures when capturing screenshots.
I record .avi movie files. In case you’re wondering, I receive pictures of “dead” people using video recordings, and the videos have to be viewed frame by frame.
Unchecking the overlay button on WMP resulted in a grainy picture with horizontal lines across the picture. (on one of my computers. So did disabling hardware acceleration (on one of my computers). tried all other kinds of settings, still no luck on that computer.
If you are using Media Player Classic (which allows you to view frame by frame, go to View….Options…Playback….Output……and choose VMR9 (windowed) under Direct Show Video. You can then paste the screenshot (excellent quality) into your photo editing app.
Had the wickedest time figuring out a method that worked. Perhaps the problem with the non-successful computer has to do with the video drivers, as I think I’m using the Microsoft default drivers. Will confirm later.
Thanks,
K
Thanks! I had to try several pieces of advice in the comments to make it work on my PC (XP/WMP 10), but it did work! This was a huge help.
Thanks man!
I’ve been looking for capturing alternative and stumbled on your site with great answer.
Greetz from Croatia :)
dosent work in wmp11
pls come up something for wmp11
-sigh- thank you sooo much! I was almost going crazy, wondering why my wmp screenshots got so weird when I opened them in paint.
can u pls tellme how to take screeenshot in wmp11
tour tweak dosent work in wmp11 pls check
Great article and thanks for the solution!
When I copy and paste it to another program, the movie keeps on playing. Be it paint or PSP. Anything. And when I close the movie, the image disappears. I can’t crop it either! HELP!
This method does not work when trying to capture a still from a DVV movie for Windows Media Player 11. You just get a blank screen.
amazing – thank you so much. You have saved my computer from the pounding it would have taken from my head
Hey i was messing up with this.So i googled it and found this link………
Hurray at last i could do it……Thanks for the info.It worked and was very useful..Keep rocking.
Wow, thanks. This is one of the most exiting discoveries in computerhistory… Print Screen of WMP. I’ve always struggled to make those print screens, but now I can easally make them. (I discovered you can make screen captures with Power DVD, so that was my method for so far.. Now I can make those print screens much more easier)
Great post – thanks for sharing this info (ever so long ago). This page is the authority on it and immediately solved my problem – just my first time trying to capture from WMP and came across this aggravating problem!
Thanks very much for the tips. However, they did not work for capturing images from normal DVD movies played in WMP 10. After I changed the settings in my player, I paused the DVD and captured the image. Then I resumed playing the movie. When I open the image file, it did not show the image I captured. Instead, it displayed the movie as it was playing! Very weird. Thanks very much for the tips, but they did not work for me at all.
I am still having problems getting screen shots from my DVDs. Could that be something else?
I also had troubles with the image capture not working in PhotoShop (image wasn’t flattened and internal image of DVD or video content was still linked back to player being used). I had tried WMP, RealPlayer and a poor version of PowerDVD (v5.x) which came from Dell.
Tip from Tyler #213 works. This is a free player, available at http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ and it sets a .png file under My Pictures. This I sucessfully imported using Copy to Photoshop and then cropped and can be saved into any of the usual formats.
Thanks for this page and good luck all.
Thanks! I had the same problem, till now! Problem solved. Thanks so much.
i love you more then anyone in the world right now, i send you kisses and huggles.
It seems like this method no longer works in the updated WMP 11. O well, VLC works really well.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I have a big Flash project for school. I have to find away to get images from a movie.
Try downloading Media Player Classic. It is open source and has a button to capture movie stills in the File menu. None of the above worked for me but Media Player Classic works.
Thanks SO MUCH! I always knew that there was a way, but I’m not computer-smart enough to figure out HOW to do it.
Thanks!!
Thanks man! that fixed it straight away….
FYI…make sure you press APPLY after you change the Overlay settings, otherwise it just defaults back again!
Thanx for the info. Very clever on your part. Do you or anyone know of any programs or media players that can play back video in a wide range of formats and have a capture video option? I have found some out there, which ones are the best?
OMg!!! Thanks so much for the tip! I really almost downloaded a programme to captures my screens. You are a life saver!!= DD
Sweet!
I knew there was a very good reason for it not displaying, but couldn’t quite pin down what it was…
For those still having issues, try VLC player.
It kicks ass all over WMP!
You could just use VLC which plays any video file, and doesn’t have the stupid overlays.
This worked for me in Windows Media Player 11. I selected Tools>Options, selected the Performance tab, selected the Advanced button. Under “Video Acceleration”, I checked the “Use video mixing renderer”, checked “Use high quality mode” (don’t know if that was necessary), and left unchecked the “Use Overlays” option. At that point, Alt-PrtScn worked for me.
It actual does work in winamp.
Just go into the preferences, then video, and at the bottom it has the overlay option I turned it off and it worked. After changing the preference i closed winamp, reopened it and it took effect. Turning it back on is recommended; the alternative is like rapidly batting your eyelids to watch a movie. :) Thank you anonymous 19.
It was really fustrating trying to capture video, spent many hour playing around with video settings but still no joy until I found this link via google search
Thanks for that keep you the good work
Sunny
Yes – finally a solution.
Tip from Tyler #213 works. This is a free player, available at http://www.videolan.org and it sets a .png file under My Pictures or where you tell it. This then can sucessfully import into any grapic program or straight to a image hosting site.
Thanks for this page and good luck all.
Hi! thank you very much.. I was about to try some shareware when I found your site.
It is very useful, I am actually caputuring the images taken with my ultrasound for my baby, I know have a still picture from it..
Thank you!
My acceleration in Windows Media Player is greyed out these days, and Control I and the traditional Alt-Print Screen method do not work. VLC, meanwhile, puts green and black vertical lines throughout the picture. Anyone come across this before?
Thank you – that sure was handy. FWIW, Video Overlaps did not do the trick but your message gave me the right idea and on my system I turned off “Use YUV Flipping” which then allowed Print-Scrn to make captures. I was able to leave everything else at the default settings. I imagine the exact setting needed will vary from person to person depending on their video drivers and hardware.
Seriously, don’t waste your time with WMP. Download VLC Player, it took about eight seconds to do a screencap.
Thank You very much! I have been looking for a program that could get screen shots of certain videos that I have under “.FLV” format, I didn’t know that just removing the overlay can solve this problem.
Great tip. FYI I found the overlay toggle checkbox in 2 places in the advanced performance dialog box for video acceleration and DVD playback (I have media player 11). Maybe those still having problems could try to check off both. Also for other dummys like me who have trouble working with these playlists etc you can right click the top bar and select classic menu to get the old file – open back.
Tyler, you are awesome. Tip #213 works!!!!!!!!! I tried everything that was posted prior to that post and nothing worked. Nothing nothing nothing. Tyler’s tip worked, and I was amazed at how simple it was. I have been frustrated with this problem for three hours until I tried Tyler’s tip about http://www.videolan.org Thank you! A thousand thanks!!!!!!!!!
Dear all
I was also trying to get a shot from a video taken with my Canon A620. ( AVI format) Finally it worked by using the HP image zone. This came with the software of my HP2350 printer.
Go to the image zone and play the movi. Pause and print screen, paste into power point and crop if needed
Great tips here, but so far no luck for me. :( I’ve tried all variety of methods of the screenshots here in WMP– but the problem is, as soon as I save the screenshot image I’ve captured via Printscreen (which I then open up in Photoshop or in Microsoft Paint), as a JPG or BMP or whatever, it always just appears black whenever I try to open it up. Whether I keep WMP open or close it down after getting the screenshot– it’s always just a black screen file.
I’ve done everything above, too– turned off video acceleration to none, turned off the overlay, nothing works.
What’s even more odd– if I have the JPG or BMP image open in Adobe/Paint, and I have WMP open at the same time and I play it, then the JPG/BMP image in Adobe/Paint– which I’d saved earlier– actually changes as I advance the DVD!!! Unbelievable! All I want is just the still, but it’s like a dynamic JPG, always changing and then, when I close out WMP, just a black screen.
I’ve tried everything else, even using PowerDVD– which is reputed to take good screenshots– but this time, all I get is a lame green screen every time I capture the screenshots.
EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING!! This isn’t even a movie DVD, it’s my own personal DVD made from a picnic I and a bunch of friends had. I can’t believe this is so damn difficult to do.
For #297. Larry B – Did you try print-screen by itself, shift-print-screen, etc. to see if any of them capture a still? If you are getting a moving image then something on your system is causing print-screen to capture a link and not the image.
With my system (windows-2000)
print-screen – captures entire desktop
ALT-print-screen – captures foreground window
Other combinations such as with CTRL, or Shift do not seem to add extra features. Any combination that includes the ALT key gets the foreground window and any combination without it (CTRL-Shift-print-screen for example) gets the whole desktop). I don’t have a way to capture a link to a live image using print-screen but then again I’m on win-2k.
LARRY B – Read my note on #295. I was having the same exact problems you were. Refer to #213, it works!!! I literally tried every single tip up to #213 and nothing fixed it. Do what it says in Tyler’s message. It is so easy, you will be amazed. I am capturing screen shots left and right now.
After reading this tip and fooling around for 10 minutes with various combinations of performance settings in the windows media player options menu. I was unable to get it to work. I then went to Microshaft’s site and did a few minutes worth of reading. Lo and behold I had made a major blunder. It is not CTRL + the number one as I had previously read. It is CTRL + the letter i, as in I’m an idiot. Thanks for the tip, too bad I haven’t learned to read yet.
Umm, I’m trying to capture a screenshot, but there is no tools. There are options, but there’s nothing that even relates to ‘Use Overlays’.
Could somebody help me?
I use Windows 2k, if that helps.
re: #302. Mira – The Tools / Options / etc. are in Windows Media Player (WMP). I’m using version 9 on Windows 2K and the instructions at the very top of this page worked for me other than it was not the Use Overlays option that fixed it but rather Use YUV Flipping which is just below the Use Overlaps option. If you are using a version of WMP other than 9 then the details of how you get to the options screen may be different but the same or similar options should be available. These options control how WMP interacts with the video driver and thus the exact option(s) that work for you is dependent on the version of WMP, Windows, video driver, and video hardware that you have.
If you turn all of the video acceleration options (uncheck everything) then screen shots should work but playing videos will not be as efficient. Thus you want to play with turning the accelerator options on until you find which ones break screen shots for you.
cool! thanks!! i’ve been trying to figure this one out myself for a while :)
Thanks a lot, very helpful. The Ctrl-I version suggested by a commenter works well without extra settings, but the screen shots it gives are rather small.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have been looking for a solution like this for ages, and yours is simple an effective.
*big sigh of relief*
Thank you!
I stumbled upon this solution myself a few years ago when I had to create screenshots with SnagIt on a regular basis. I’ve since forgot all about this until I again had problems creating screenshots of video. Thanks for the reminder and glad to see someone had the bright idea of posting this solution online.
thank you so much
i had been trying to shut off hardware acceleration and then using prt scr with WMP 11 before i found this article
Excellent tip!
This solved an issue I had playing back MPEGs created by the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 1600 inside Windows Media Player. I was getting multi-coloured horizontal bars in WMP only on the MPEGs I created in WinTV.
By turning off the overlay, everything started working.
It is worth noting however that turning off “Use video mixing renderer” completely results in WMP v11.0.5721.5145 hanging
This is a wonderful tip! I use Full shot. After the Media Player adjustment, the capture was perfect! Thank you very much for sharing, and to google too for great indexing!
Thank you so much. Great Great Great!!
what if when you printscreen, copy and paste it,it then comes up with thepicture but when you play the dvd the copied picture plays with it? because thats whats happening to me.
I could do the screen capture until I got the newest version of wmp and now it wont work. I’ve tried doing what you’ve all said but it’s not working.
please help.
thanks
=D
this is a great money and time saver. my sister spent $40 on some software that does that exact same thing. she felt like jumping in front of a bus when i showed her this. it was touch and go for awhile but we think she is going to make it.
thanks,
L7
None of the ways above worked for me, as I have WMP 11, but I found another way besides downloading that program from videolan.org, using Windows Movie Maker. WMM comes standard with all Windows computers, so this should work for anyone that has one. Just import the video into WMM, play it, stretch the frame with the video in it to its biggest site, and click the “Take picture” button (looks like a camera). A window will open and you can name the image and specify where to save it. This option works well if you don’t need an image bigger than 640 x 480.
Sweeeeeeeet!
Googled it and it was the first link I tried. It also works it Winamp as well.
Had quite a time to get a screen capture with the video in it. Now with the right settings can do it.
You’re the Greatest !
For years i’ve been puzzled around this nasty issue, and finally I stumbled on the solution! miraculous…
Some quick notes based on my experience:
With recent versions of WMP (12) branded for URGE, the trick doesn’t work for DVD’s, even if you disable all accelerations on both WM options and in control panel.
So I had to use PowerDVD, and disable the hardware acceleration on its settings menu – and it worked.
Crtl+PrtSc or Alt+PrtSc do not work??? Well, I will try it myself.
THANK YOU INDEED!! people like you are the ones who make me do the same thing and try to share tips with other users, you helped me a lot and I wish you the best, thank you, thaaaaaank youuuuuuuuuuuuu
Like Tyler, I too struggled with -ALL- the above options for a few years to no avail! I now have Windows XP and the only thing that works for me is Tyler’s recommmend solution (see below). Although the saved image is only approximately three quarters screen size, it’s the only freeware solution I’ve found that actually works. No more blank black screens for me! It saves the captured image as a PNG. file, but you can load it into Paint and resave it to any other format you choose. Trust me, I’ve tried every other option and this one WORKS. Thank You Tyler, you’re a Godsend. :)
(Quote) 216. Tyler | September 10th, 2006 #
I struggled with all of these options working. I downloaded VLC player from www.videolan.org, installed and was capturing ’snapshots’ from DVDs in minutes. Didn’t need to mess with overlays or hardware acceleration, just Ctrl+Alt+s. Saves a .jpg or other to the destination dir of your choice. Options are under settings, preferences, video. Good luck. (Quote)
fhew! i tried it at first and it didn’t work and i was all disappointed, but then i saw i didn’t uncheck another radio button and now it does…. ^.^ arigato ^.^
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!
Ive been trying to do this for ages, and could never either figure it out or get it to work. Having all the same problems as everyone else, I decided to give it one more search and found your reply.
Thank the internet and thank you!!
Any suggestions for Mac users? None of what I’ve tried has worked so far. I have WMP 9 Mac version. There is no tools menu that I have found.
I didn’t see this here, maybe I missed it: Has anyone figured out a way to get an image using WMP Classic? I can’t for the life of me figure -that- out. Any help would be cool.
Tyler’s (via Don Daredevil’s) solution works perfectly! I could not get this to work with WMP or any other program, but the VLC Media Player allows you to capture a screen shot either on the fly or when the picture is paused. Control-Alt-S saves it; the screen shows the location where it’s saved. It can be changed into a .jpg easily.
I’m having trouble with a couple of recent DVD releases from New Line Video. I think they’ve put some special encoding in them that prevents screen shots. I can’t get a screen shot with Windows Media Player (regardless of overlays or not) OR with the VLC player (it actually won’t even play the movie), not even with the DVD player that came with my computer (won’t play either). Any ideas? Thanks!
i always use gooogle for searching and finding specified tasks and i also clarify the doubts from google
thank you so much ¡¡¡¡
does anyone know how to record (video) a video conference (e.g. netmeeting).
Thanks! Now I got it. No need to depend on 3rd-party media players which can use screen capturing abilities. Thanks a bunch, again
Works a treat! A workmate was pulling his hair out – 5 mins later we’ve solved it through your note. Legend!
THANK YOU SO FREAKIN MUCH!!! I was d/l program after program trying to do this, had no idea it was so simple!
You wouldn’t happen to know how to capture a video clip while I am playing a dvd in WMP would you? :)
Thanks again!
Great!!! We are now in the year 2007 and still this tip is useful.
YOU ARE MY HERO!
WINDOW MEDIA PLAYER 11 USERS, READ THIS.
the Ctrl + I used to work wonder while i was still using WMP 10. but now that it has upgraded to v.11, that trick doesnt do anymore.
now i will tell you who wins in my case. i’ve tried the entire variety of suggestions given above: nero showtime, Window Movie Maker, etc etc. none worked.
…finally Tyler’s suggestion at #216 made me want to slave myself to him throughout this winter. i wouldnt even mind changing his baby’s nasty diapers (if he had one) if he told me to.
Tyler suggested VLC media player (downloaded from www.videolan.org) and this one blessed thing threw me hard into an awe. screencap can be done EXTREMELY EASY AND FLAWLESS simply by using the Ctrl + Alt + s combo. the program is also as small as 8MB, thus, takes no time downloading.
i bet…that you’d be damned if you missed this out. go ahead and do yourself a favor now.
WOW! VCL media player really works! i understand how you feel chawny! tahnks tyler!
This is awesome, thank you so much for sharing the knowledge and also the comments. I was looking for info on realplayer screenshots and was able to do this seconds after finding your page. I *really* appreciate that you made this available!
Wow, this really works. I’ve been trying to figure it out myself, and your tip is really useful. Thanks so much~
I do have a problem with Windows Movie Maker. I do have reproduce a videofilm to a DVD. Now I want from this disk make some pictures for the outlet book. Even I want print the date to that cover. This is not posible on mine pc. If I start the WMM, I get the following text to read.
E:\Video_TS\VTS_01_1.VOB will not be supported and the file can not be imported in Windows Movie Maker. A moment later I get the next text to read.
The file C:\program files\Movie Maker\Mui409\Moviemk.chm can not be found.
I can not believe that the solusion by Windows Media Players is to find. Hopefully there will be somebody how can help me. I do believe that I have to download some software for this problem. Maybe is there somebody how know what I am missing. Sorry for my failures.
THANK YOU!!
I had to take a few screenshots for a movie review. If I didn’t take it I would be dead! literally!
Thank goodness I found your site!
KEEP UP!
The last method worked for me!
WMP11.
THANK YOU! I was furious earlier today as the Media Player would not let me make a screen shot. The bmp or jpg file looked fine until I closed the Media Player. How terribly annoying. Your trick saved my day. Thank you!
I don’t know what’s up with my WMP. The CTRL+I trick worked for me for quite a while. But for some reason, it no longer brings up a save window for me even though “Used Overlayers” is unchecked! 9_9 Someone help me, please.
Thanks, I just did an important video and needed a few pics. Your procedure worked perfectly. Saved me a couple hours for sure.
Hi..
I have tried as you expalined:
open movie player, clicked on tools , clicked options , clicked performance..but, i can find the “advance tab ” (the one you said way low down below. Its just not there.
Please kindly help..as i am soso tired trying to take a frame . capshot form WMP.
I am using ME
Thank you so much for helping..
kind regards
robert K
TO EVERYONE WHO IS STILL HAVING TROUBLE:
Tip #213 works!!!!
It is the easiest solution to this problem. Stop trying to make WMP work. I tried for hours one day with all the previous directions and never could get it to capture for me.
http://www.videolan.org
Try it, you will be glad you did.
I’m excited to see all the help from more-technically-able people. I’m not a “techie,” but being under the age of 25, this shouldn’t be so tough for me! HELP!
I’m running Windows XP, Media Player 10, and am trying to get screenshots from a DVD with Media Player… I really don’t want to download third-party software.
Disabling overlays doesn’t work, and when I disable hardware acceleration in Control Panel, the DVD doesn’t show up on my screen at all!
Any help would be really appreciated!
Jon
Using WMP v10, I had to check the box for ‘Use video mixing renderer’ (both sub-options were left unchecked). I also had to check ‘Use video mixing renderer’ (again, sub-options left unchecked). I got a screen capture to work that way, albeit at low res and poor quality, but it still worked.
thanks much, I’ve been trying to take screencaps in WMP for ages
Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU!!! You have no idea how much this helps me!
I need someone’s help BADLY?
I’m really not the brightest when it comes to these kind of things but I have still tried everything to get a screenshot off of my home DVD.
I don’t get a blank screen when I use the “print screen key” it comes out fine, but how do I save the images as jpeg files? When I paste the print screen I get the whole screen, the pause, play button etc when I just want the image?
Please can someone help?
Claire, crop the image you want (in any program such as Paint or Photoshop) by selecting the exact area with your mouse, then click Edit, Cut. Then click File, New, Edit, Paste. You should have your image and be able to save in into any format you’d like.
after all these years, i can now printscreen with WMP. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! :))
Why no Digg button?! This is easily one of the most useful tips I’ve ever found on the net.
Thanks so much for the tip! You saved me hours of frustration. :)
This is what makes the Internet so amazing. In moments my problem is solved.
U rock. Thanks_so_much.
This is the picture. I can’t really explain what’s going on with it, but you see the problem. It won’t let me crop it.
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t190/madeline_063/Untitled2.gif
What you need to do is save the picture and then open it and zoom in and out, and you’ll see the problem.
I tried EVERYTHING and still NOTHING works, this is getting VERY aggravating.
I am using Windows Media Player.
I have videos from a concert that I just went to and hardly and pictures, I am BEGGING you, if you know of any other fullproof way, or SOMETHING, let me know.
Thankyou!
Thank you. I really appreciate this article. It helped me alot. I really thought I was at a dead end with this problem until I found this.
No fuss, no hassle. nothing to adjust. and sends your snaps to file so you just keep on clicking Ctrl + Alt + s
http://www.videolan.org
so after i capture the image where can i expect to find it?
Hi man,
I was always thinking that i would have to download a freeware or purchase a software but u made it so easy, i wonder why this feature is not known to most of us & we struggle for this. keep the good work mate.
you’re my guardian angel thank you …. I’m really speechless right now.. after all I’ve done with no result you came and lightened my way… thaaaank youuuuuuu.. you are THE best
You can also try CapTrue 1.0 (http://www.captrue.com). It is a replacement for Print Screen key combination, but also can capture Windows Media Player window (as well as the other video players)
Thank you :)
Disabling “overlays” helped me.
What are the consequences of this?
by the way… CTRL+I doesn’t work for me.
But… if you get Media Player Classic… it does work, and this Media Player Classic is freeware too and supports many many more video formats :)
Hope that helps peoples, cheerioooo
dude, thanks a lot man you save me so much time.
First site that came to google and bang its there. cheers
Umm I need help. I have a WMP11 and WXP when I click on the performance tab my comp doesn’t have the overlays checked to begin with so that was ineffectual, also the print screen button doesn’t work nor does the ctrl+I button either. When I use this and paste in paint I get the screen minus the picture in the middle. Sometimes the picture appears int he middle but when I close WMP it disappears and if I leave it open it just moves the winodws part and the pictures is fixed to the screen and wont move. I have also downloaded other players and capture screenshot freeware all to the same effect. Can someone please help, it must be something that windows is blocking.
When I click on the icon of any movie, on the left hand side it shows the details of the movie. Is there any way to play the movie on the same left hand side details coloumn. I used to watch the movies on the same window long time back and don’t remember the settings involved. Please suggest a solution…..
big thanks for you, I’ve been googling for 3 hours and I found what I’m searching!! you’re pretty awesome!! God bless you, genius!
No No NO! It does not work!! I have wmp 11 and I have altered everything that you have suggested, and I still get a capture of a blank screen. And only “one” capture even though I have pressed the print screen botton many times before going to clipboard to check. This is so frustrating considering that I am reading all these other users comments about how it “is” working for them.
I just read the first article after having cursed and cursed WMP about this “feature” for some time.
The advice given was a life saver. Thank you. I wish you all luck in life for that.
>_<;
I did uncheck overlays
I did the full to none
nothing worked. Am I missing something?
You can also try
Print Screen Deluxe 6.2
This might work.
Nothing worked for me. I might as well stick with crunchyroll.com, and VEOHTV.
Hmmm. Makes me wonder if I should Upload My DVDS onto VEOHTV and screen shot from there.
Anyway to take multiple scenes in one screenshot.
I’ve been trying to do what you so easily fixed, get still photos from WMP videos. Thanks so much.
This will NOT work in Media Player 11
YOU ARE A LEGENDARY HERO!!!
Oh, and to the person who posted above me… it works PERFECTLY in Media Player 11.
it didn’t work with my player Windows Media 11.
thanks brother…. this was a great tip indeed…. but ctrl + I only gives a single image every time…
is there any way to get 4*4 thumbnail screen shot of the entire file??
media player classic(older version ) had it… the new version doesnt seem to have capture thumbnail option
Yeah…. for some reason when I try to take screenshots using my windows media player, than putting it into photoshop7.0 it still plays the movie or when I try to move the image it moves everything else around it but the image itself.
Thanks so much, your firts tip worked wonderful for me x)
Oh my God, thank you SO MUCH!!!!! It must have taken me 2 hours in failed attempts to get a decent screenshot! Also, it wasn’t just that WMP captured a blank screen, but my screen glitched when I cropped the image.
Thanks again, that was a real help.
I never thought this was possible – like screen prints from windows media player are forbidden due to copyright protection – but it works !! Thanks =)
Hello!
Been grappling with this problem for ages. But as I try skipping the “Use Overlays” box, another problem arises: I get greenscreen in the video window when I play the vids. Has this happened to anyone? Would much appreciate your thoughts.
The ‘Snipping Tool’ in Vista does the job admirably I found.
Thanks for the advice. Worked like a charm!
Thank you for the tip, excellent and easy to follow.
WOW, dude dude…. i cant believe it, i been having this problem for months, so much time wasted alternate methods and desparetely giving up, all in all, i was one click away.
decided to google the problem, you are on 1st page, and phew :-)
problem solved…
YOU ARE WONDERFUL
YOU ROCK :-)
Ash
Been stressing out over this for ages – and all I needed to do was a quick search on google. I love you!
thx alot but i still have a little problem, i use “Window Media Classic” which I’m pretty much sure it’s the same thing but when I go to
“option” -> … I don’t see the “Advanced Button”!! is there anyway you could be more specific for somone slow like me or display a screen shot of it?? PLEASE if you have time!! T^T
and thz very much!! ^_____^
i dit this but now the problem is that i cant position the video where i want to do the screenshot, must watch at normal speed and wait…
Thank you so much! I have had this same freakin’ problem forever! And you helped me fix it! Thank you so much!
You have saved my hair from being pulled out!
Thank you very much for sharing this handy tip!
This tip was posted on March 9th, 2005 and replies are still continuing? Now that’s a really great post worthy of recognition ^_~
Any easier way to do this is to import the video, if you can, into Windows movie maker, there is a screen capture button.
Wow! I just found an awesome way to take a screenshot from Windows Media Player!
1. Just go to Windows Media Player Directory (C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player) and double click on “mplayer2.exe”.
2. Now open your video (for me, it worked just fine on “.wmv”) and simply press at the same time the “Print Screen Key” with the “Alt” key (although the Alt key FIRST).
3. Open your Paint program, Microsoft Word or PowerPoint (for me, it worked on Paint) and simply paste it (press Ctrl + v).
4. Save it as “.png” (that’s the one that worked for me, I guess it would work with any format else too]).
5. Done!
Please tell me if it worked for you, thank you! :D
Hi there, another discover: (From previous comment) it doesn’t work on “.avi” :( But you can perfectly take screenshots of “.avi” videos with this program: SMPlayer. It’s a freeware, and you can find it anywhere on Google ;) See ya! :D
Thank you for your warn suggestion.
It’s very useful tips for me and someone, who need to capture screen shots
Tnx MATE!!!!!
None of these suggestions works on wmp 10.
YOU ROCK! Awesome tip!!
Golly…Why does it happen in the first place?
Anyway, thanks a lot for the info! Ctrl + I works great! I was trying to make a signature for a forum and then I couldn’t get any decent screenies and stumbled on this problem…Thanks! ^^
thank you, it worked <3
A useful and informative technique which overcomes some of the issues I’ve had with Media Player.
neither of it worked in my media player version 11 :(
I’m 4 years late and this still was SO useful to me, thanks so much!!!
Thansk you so much!!! Good tip
Thank you for posting this tip! Very useful.
It’s taking the screenshot but when I save it in my Paint program, it’s either blank, or it opens the frame I’m currently on in the movie. I can’t save or edit any jpg images the way it is. Frustrating.
This tip help me a lot!!!It’s easy and effective. Thank ya!
Thank you so much for your help! Thank god I stumbled across your site :)
The ctrl+I thing used to work on my old computer running with XP, buton my new computer with Vista in it, the Ctrl+I doesn’t seem to work.I wonder why?
You’re a legend… i wasted so much time trying to fine the right freeware for this and it was so easy to do in the end.
i have overlays turned off and video acceleration off and it still won’t work for me.. i’m on wm version 11.
I don’t get it
Turning overlays off didn’t work, but video acceleration DID!!!!!
Man you are MR.WEB!!!
Thanks! Still works even 7 years later.
thank but it doesn’t work, it for window 7
how can i use shortcut key for capture screen with window media player on window 7?