One of the core principles of good tutorial design on MakerHub is to show, don’t tell. The more we use images and pithy instruction the more useful our tutorials will be, and the more likely students will be to follow through on their own. Here are some helpful resources to get you started.

Screenshots

Screenshots on Windows

Snipping Tool
The Windows Snipping Tool is great for taking screenshots of portions of the screen, and for adding simple notes. The Snipping Tool can be found by going to Start > All Programs > Windows Accessories > Snipping Tool.

Windows Key + Print Screen Key
To capture your entire screen and automatically save the screenshot, tap the Windows Key + PrtScn. Your screen will briefly go dim to indicate that you’ve just taken a screenshot, and the screenshot will be automatically saved in the Pictures > Screenshots folder.

Alt + Print Screen Key
To take a quick screenshot of just the active window, use the keyboard shortcut Alt + PrtScn. This will snap your currently active window and copy the screenshot to the clipboard. You will need to open the shot in Paint (or another image editor) to save it.

Snip Editor
While not built-in to Windows by default, Microsoft’s Snip Editor is another great tool for capturing windows, portions of the screen, or the entire display, and adding notes to screen captures. Snip Editor can also be set on a time delay to capture time-based screenshots.

Screenshots on Mac

Shift + Command + 4
The easiest way to take a screenshot on Mac is to tap Shift + Command + 4. This will allow you to take a screenshot of any portion of the screen. For a full-screen screenshot, tap Shift + Command + 3 instead. Apple has a helpful support article on taking screenshots on a Mac.

Grab
Grab is a program that comes pre-installed on all Macs and lets you create screenshots directly from the menu bar. The program also lets you take time-delayed screenshots, just in case you need to set the stage before capturing an image on your display. Launch Grab by opening it from the “Utilities” folder, which is housed within the “Applications” folder. For more information, see the Taking Screenshots with Grab section of this Digital Trends article: How to take a screenshot on a Mac.

Preview
Preview, the default tool that allows you to open everything from photos to PDF files on your Mac, has more than a few hidden features. You can edit images with Preview, for instance, simply by clicking the toolbox icon. Preview can also capture screenshots. For more information, see these Digital Trends articles: How to take a screenshot on a Mac and Mac’s Hidden Paint App.

Screenshots on Webpages

Awesome Screenshot
Awesome Screenshot is an extension for Google Chrome which allows you to capture an entire webpage without needing to scroll through section by section. This extension also includes some helpful image notation tools.

Video Recording

Screencast-O-Matic
Screencast-O-Matic is a free screen recorder and video editor all in one. With one click you can start recording your screen right from your browser on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Free Online Screen Recorder
Apowersoft’s Free Online Screen Recorder is a browser-based tool which will let you record video from your desktop or webcam. You can record the entire screen or just a portion thereof. Note that the ‘Download desktop version’ button links to a program called Apowersoft Screen Recorder Pro. This is a trial version of a premium application, and is more limited than Online Screen Recorder. Also note that this program will require further video editing (see some suggestions below).

FlashBack Express
FlashBack Express is another free tool for recording video from the desktop and/or webcam, along with audio narration. Note that the Express version doesn’t include the ability to provide annotation or edit video. See some suggestions below for video editing tools.

Video Editing

Adobe Spark
Adobe Spark is an online tool which can be used for creating short intro, tutorial, or presentation videos, but it cannot capture video itself. See the Adobe Spark website for examples of what it can do. Adobe Spark requires an Adobe ID (which can be created for free).

Additional Resources
8 Free and simple tools to create video tutorials for Teachers
12 Screencasting Tools For Creating Video Tutorials

GIF Making

Sometimes the best way to communicate information is through a really short animation. Animated Gifs can add some life and dynamism to your tutorials. While I wouldn’t advise using an animated gif for an entire tutorial, gifs work really well for documenting a short sequence of steps, such as documenting how to use a tool in Illustrator, or technique for peeling vinyl.

GIFMaker.me
GIFMaker is a great free, online animated gif maker. Just upload your images, set the size and speed, and you’re all set.

Flowcharts

There’s nothing like a good flowchart when communicating a series of choices or to help someone sort through available options and their respective implications. A flowchart could be a handy addition to a how-to guide for figuring out the best Illustrator tool for a particular task, or when trying to decide between heat transfer with sublimation vs. vinyl.

Draw.io
Draw.io is a handy, free, online flowchart maker which can save an image to your computer (to upload to MakerHub) or to Google Drive and Dropbox.