How-To: Take screenshots on Android devices

While taking a screenshot with iOS devices is as simple as pressing the power and home buttons together, accomplishing the same thing on Android smartphones and tablets is a somewhat cumbersome process. Basically there are two ways to do this:

• To root your phone and download an app for taking screenshots, or
• To use Android SDK.

Today we will talk about the latter method. Here is what you should do to take screenshots without rooting your device:

• First of all you  will need to download, install and configure Android SDK, along with the USB drivers.
• Enable USB Debugging mode. You can do that from Settings -> Applications -> Development.
• Connect your Android device to a PC via USB cable.
• Go to the "tools" folder in Android SDK and start the batch file titled "ddms" to launch the Dalvik Debug Monitor Service. You should be able to see your device connected on top.
• Under the "Device" menu, within the Debugger window, click "Screen Capture" or press Ctrl + S.

Now that you have your screenshot, you can rotate it, save it or copy it to clipboard. If you opt to save the screenshot as a file, it will be saved in PNG format. To save another screenshot, simply click Refresh and finally Done when you are finished.