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iambradleigh

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How do I copy anything on the screen?

Is there a tool that allows you to select anything on the screen and copy it.  I have an application that brings back information, but doesn't allow you to highlight it.  I would like to copy the information from this application and paste it into a form in an access database.  Thanks so much!
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pjcrooks2000

Hmmmm an uneditable region huh!

Well there is one program that claims to do this

http://www.softwarecasa.com/pprod/212401dd.htm

Check it out, best of luck

pjcrooks2000
Incidentally heres a link to the snagit trial program http://www.techsmith.com/download/snagitdefault.asp
I have just tried it and it works on text that has the same color background, it even has formatting capabilities if you should desire.  It is a bit iffy when it comes to text on images with varying background colors
If the Information bought back by that application
is in a spedific "window" on your screen you should
be able to use the combination of the "Alt Key" and
"Print Screen Key" at the same time, i.e. simutaneously, it will create an image of your active window thats open  on your screen.

The only tricky part is that these images aren't immediately shown to you. They are actually stored in the invisible Windows clipboard, as graphics. To see them, you have to open a graphics program, like the free Paint application that comes with Windows. Then, you hit Paste and the image appears. At that point, you can either save it or print it out

You can actually hite "Save As" and designate
the couple of different file extentions and you should also name it and where you are going to Save It to.

I don't know how you get in from there into your
Access Datebase unless it is like "word" and you
have an option to insert something.  
Which application brings back information?  and in which format (extension)?
getting a graphic of the info is easy enough use the prt scrn as above or I use corel capture.  Converting from  a graphic back into text is a bit of fun - this is what I do

Open the graphic in adobe photoshop, trim away the edges and resample it to a decent resulution (screen is 70 dpi and you need 300 ish). Save it as a bmp

Open up some OCR software like scantastic, and ocr it.  My ancient copy of scantastic accepts bmp's and outputs to word / rtf format, it only complains if the resolution is less than 300 dpi

I can even use the method to convert to text documents photographed with my digital camera just like in the spy movies !
I recommend Screen Rip32 http://www.progency.com/other.html#screenrip32
Doesn't get any better than this little gem!
printscreen + recognita program are your best bet.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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pjcrooks2000

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get a screenshot, download a free ocr package and run it through
Why screenshot when he can grab the text direct of the screen?   No need to save you image file then run it through your OCR software Snagit makes it simple.
Snagit can be a good help , but it is most commonly used for documentation process !
Manpreet Brar
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ASKER

Thanks for all the input - let me clarify something.  The goal is for the copying from the "non-highliteable" application and the pasting to an access form to be as quick and efficient as highlighting regular text and pasting it into an access form.  Doing something like taking a screen shot and running it through OCR would not address my "need for speed".   pjcrooks2000 was correct in his/her understanding of what I need.  I'll check out Snagit and get back to you.
Thanks again!
iambradleigh
Much appeciated for the vote of confidence iambradleigh, probably because we think alike and I have wanted to do it in the past ;)  good luck!
I cannot disagree that Snagit is a very capable application, and I'm glad you've mentioned it pjcrooks2000, but for the simplicity required for this solution, I still feel like you can't beat Screen Rip32 http://www.progency.com/other.html#screenrip32. With Screen Rip32 you are capable of capturing ANY section of ANY screen and copy and paste it into other applications as well as save it as some other familiar format. And best of all, it's FREE!

Give it a shot. Use "Grab Rectangle Area" then cut and paste!

Thanks for the comment KingHollis  i appreicate it.  However the asker wants to be able to extract uneditable text regions.  The actual characters. either from images or uneditable text boxes that get displayed by many applications for reporting purposes to the user.

He/she does not want to save screenshots to images as far as I can make out, hope thats all clear now ;)  cheers!
No, pjcrooks2000, that sounds reasonable. I guess I was missing precisely what iambrad was looking for. Well, that is impressive if Snagit can do that! Thanks again!
Yep it sure can I tested it, but within reason.  Like i said above if the text is ona  some weird background then it will not pick up the text but it does on most ocasions...  It then saves it to a text file.  So you can just copy and paste straightout of the text file all within a few seconds.

Thanks for all your help - I think SnagIt is going to do the trick for me.
Well the pleasure and my privilege was mine iambradleigh, thanks for accepting and best of luck to you!

pjcrooks2000