[mikehallsted]

basically, i would like press a key and automatically send to the default printer a screen shot of the "active window".
i've looked and looked, and i am not sure how to do this, that is, without having to buy Snapz Pro X. if i must, i will, but it seems like there has got to be an easy way to do this.

and now for the long story behind it

i'm the "computer guy" for a local company with window computers, and a long time ago i found this little program that sits in the system tray waiting for you to press the print screen key; when you do, it prints a screen shot of the active window. small, simple, and it has worked flawlessly across all of the flavors of windows since win95.
basically, i got tired of finding scrawled notes on my desk stating some program error. once i installed this print screen program on everyone's computer, and gave brief instructions ( press "print screen", go to printer, write down the name of program you were using ) i was always able to get a screen capture of the error message. (and it's how i print receipts for any online purchase.)
anyway, now that i use a mac at home, and i have been able to get 2 macs in at work, i've been trying to find a mac program that does the same thing, and unless i am missing something, all i have found so far is Snapz Pro X
thanks,
michael

[griffman]

I thought this might be possible in 10.4 with Automator, so I spent some time on it this morning. I came up with a couple options (print, email) that seem to basically do what you want. Because I thought others might like the workflows (and be able to improve on them), I posted what I came up with as a hint this morning on macosxhints.com:
Automate the capture and printing of screenshots
Please post here if you need any help with the workflows, and watch the above link for any interesting comments that may improve on my efforts.
-rob.

[mikehallsted]

thanks, i'll look into it. i have never used automator before, so this will be a good introduction for me.
for those that are curious, this is the windows program:
printkey
the other nice use for it is in documenting steps taken in programs.
i have made little picture books on how to accomplish certain tasks in programs.
for new users, this makes training easy since they can follow along step by step, where and what to click, by looking at my printed screen captures.