Just about everyone these days has a webcam attached to their computer, mostly due to the proliferation of video-enabled instant messaging clients, like Yahoo Messenger, Skype and, more recently, GoogleTalk. However, once installed, very few people actually use webcams for anything else beside streaming live video and audio, despite of the fact that, typically, the provide other additional features as well.

One of the rather “unexplored” features provided by most webcams is their capacity to take snapshots. Yes, to some people's surprise, webcams are actually modified digital cameras, so it's no wonder that they can also be used for the very mundane task of taking shots around the user's room.

And if you start searching and snooping around the world's various social networking websites and services, you'll probably find out that some of the users' most embarrassing photos are most likely taken with the help of a webcam (second only to photos taken with mobile phone cameras, that is).

So, what do you have to do in order to take your photo using a webcam, whether we're talking about a peripheral connected to your computer via USB or a built-in module, as it's the case with pretty much every portable computing system on the market? Things are pretty simple, actually.

Method 1

Quite a few of the “external” or “peripheral” web cameras have a special “snapshot” button installed somewhere, generally on the top side. By manually adjusting the focus (via the focus ring, typically adjustable in the case of pretty much any webcam out there), and then pressing the button, users can get a pretty decent photo of themselves. However, this solution does have a very serious shortcoming, namely the fact that it will most likely be pretty difficult for you to take a portrait photo, since you'll be reaching for the button in the same time.

Method 2

The second method makes use of your own computer, software, operating system, etc. Hence, you can either use a dedicated photo-capture software (typically, delivered on the installation disc, but you can also find some freeware and shareware applications right here on Softpedia) or apply the following very easy steps:

Step 1: Open a new video chat window in your IM client (don't accept any video conversations, though);

Step 2: Press the PrintScreen button on your keyboard (typically, found immediately after the F12 key on the upper row);

Step 3: Open a image editing application (if you don't have an additional one installed, you can simply go for Windows' own MS Paint);

Step 4: Paste the content of the clipboard (the screenshot) into the editing window;

Step 5: Crop the part of the screenshot you're interested in (presumably, the one containing your photo) and then save it on your hard drive.

Seen that ? Taking a photo with a webcam is actually very simple, although you should always be careful just when you decide to press that snapshot button.