# Save part of a page as an image

Copy or save a rectangular part of a page (a chart, a table, a formula) as an image, save a picture embedded in a document, or take a screenshot of a window.

**Available in [pre-release 3.7](https://www.sumatrapdfreader.org/prerelease)**

**Hold `Ctrl`, drag a rectangle over the page, then right-click it and choose Selection → Save As Image...** At a glance:

- **Copy As Image To Clipboard** (`CmdCopySelectionAsImage`): the selected area, at the current zoom.
- **Save As Image...** (`CmdSaveSelectionAsImage`): the selected area as PNG, JPEG or BMP, at 72 to 1200 DPI.
- **Selected Image** menu: copy, save, crop or resize a picture embedded in the page, at its own resolution.
- **Take Screenshot...** (`CmdScreenshot`): capture the desktop or a window, then crop and save it.

To turn whole pages into images, see [Convert PDF to images](Convert-PDF-to-images.md).

## Select an area

Hold `Ctrl` and drag with the left mouse button. A rectangle is drawn over the page.

- Drag an edge or a corner of the rectangle to resize it, or drag inside it to move it.
- Press `Esc`, or click an empty part of the page, to remove it.

Note: a plain drag over text selects text, and a right-button drag pans the page. The image commands need a rectangle.

## Copy the area to the clipboard

With a rectangle selected, use any of:

- Right-click → **Selection → Copy As Image To Clipboard**
- `Ctrl + K`, then `Copy Selection As Image` in [Command Palette](Command-Palette.md)
- `Ctrl + C`: copies the text inside the rectangle and the image, so a word processor pastes text and an image editor pastes the picture

The image is rendered at the current zoom: zoom in before copying for more pixels. Rotation is kept.

## Save the area as an image file

1. Select a rectangle.
2. Start **Save As Image...**:
   - Right-click → **Selection → Save As Image...**
   - `Ctrl + K`, then `Save As Image...` in [Command Palette](Command-Palette.md)
3. In the **Save Selection As Image** dialog:
   - The path defaults to the document's folder and name with `-sel.png`, e.g. `report-sel.png` (made unique if it exists). Edit it, or use **...** to browse.
   - Pick the format: **PNG**, **JPEG** or **BMP**. The extension follows.
   - Pick the **DPI**: 72, 150, **300** (default), 600 or 1200. The resulting size in pixels is shown next to it. The DPI doesn't depend on your zoom.
4. Click **Save**. The image is written and opened in a new tab.

If the size shows "Too large for this DPI", pick a lower DPI or a smaller area (the limit is 16384 pixels per side).

## Save a picture from the page

To get a photo or figure that is embedded in the document as an image, right-click it and open **Selected Image**:

- **Copy To Clipboard** (`CmdCopyImage`)
- **Save** (`CmdSaveImage`)
- **Crop** (`CmdCropImage`)
- **Resize** (`CmdResizeImage`)
- **Convert to PDF...** (see [Convert images to PDF](Convert-images-to-PDF.md))

You get the image at its own resolution, not at the zoom you view it at. The menu appears only when the mouse is over an image; for text, vector drawings, or a part of an image, use a rectangle and **Save As Image...** instead.

**Save**, **Crop** and **Resize** open the image editing window:

- The path defaults to the document's folder: `<document>_page_<N>` with the image's own extension, e.g. `report_page_3.jpg`.
- Formats: PNG, JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, WebP (when Windows has the WebP encoder) and PDF.
- If you don't change the image and keep its format, the original bytes are saved, with no re-compression.
- **Crop:** drag over the image to draw the crop area, then **Apply Crop**. Arrow keys move an edge by one pixel.
- **Resize:** drag a corner, or use the arrow keys to change width and height by one pixel, then **Apply Resize**.
- **Copy** puts the current (cropped or resized) image on the clipboard.

For an image file open in SumatraPDF (PNG, JPEG, ...), the same commands are in [Command Palette](Command-Palette.md): `Save Image...`, `Crop Image...`, `Resize Image...`.

## Take a screenshot

**Take Screenshot...** (`CmdScreenshot`) captures the desktop and every visible window, including other programs.

1. Press `Ctrl + K` and run `Take Screenshot...`.
2. Thumbnails of the captures appear. Use the arrow keys or the mouse to pick one:
   - `Enter` or a click: open it in the **Crop Image** window, to crop, resize, pick a format and save.
   - `Ctrl + C`: copy it to the clipboard.
   - `Esc`: cancel.

Screenshots are saved by default in the `Screenshots` folder of the SumatraPDF data folder, named after the program (e.g. `SumatraPDF.png`).

### Set a screenshot hotkey

To take a screenshot with a key, even when SumatraPDF isn't in front:

1. Press `Ctrl + K` and run `Set Screenshot Hotkey...` (`CmdSetScreenshotHotkey`).
2. Press the key combination, e.g. `Alt + PrtSc`, and click **Set**. **Remove** clears it.

This saves a `Shortcuts` entry for `CmdScreenshot` with a `Global` key; you can also write it yourself (see [Customize keyboard shortcuts](Customize-keyboard-shortcuts.md)). There is no hotkey by default.

## Tips

- Use **Save As Image...** at 300 DPI or more for print; **Copy As Image To Clipboard** is fine for a chat or an e-mail.
- Use `Ctrl + 4` (**Zoom To Selection**) to fill the window with the rectangle before copying it at a higher resolution.
- Use the image context menu's **Save** for photos: you get the original file, not a re-rendered copy.
- Use [sumatrapdf-tool extract](Tool-x-extract-images-from-pdf.md) to save every image of a PDF at once.

## See also

- [Convert PDF to images](Convert-PDF-to-images.md): whole pages as image files
- [Extract images from PDF](Tool-x-extract-images-from-pdf.md): from the command line
- [Printing](Printing.md#print-part-of-a-page): print the selected area
- [Keyboard shortcuts](Keyboard-shortcuts.md)