Getting Started Tip 2: Add photos & screenshots to OneNote

(Note: This is the second tip in our Getting Started series for OneNote.)

How often can you get to Key West when you’re from its opposite corner—the Pacific Northwest? I went to Key West to dry out, see wildly different flora and fauna, and sample southern and Cuban cuisine.  

I wanted to remember every last second so I created a running travelogue in an OneNote notebook with photos, favorite restaurant info, and my notes. I’ll walk you through how I did that so you can add that type of content to your own OneNote notebook.

 Choosing a theme

OneNote comes with built-in themes, or templates, to match the mood and purpose of your project. Florida's sky is gorgeously blue, so I chose the Blue Clouds template:

To add a template, click the arrow beside New Page, choose Page Templates, then scroll to find one that you like.

Adding photographs

On my first day, I saw giant iguanas, wild orchids, and countless ocean views.  How could I not take dozens of photos?  I whittled them down and chose the best to add to my notebook.

To add photos, click Insert, Picture, then navigate to where you saved them on your computer and choose those to add. 

Adding captions and other text

At some point after I return home, I'll look at those photos and wonder where I spotted the iguana. 

With OneNote it's easy to create captions or add text anywhere on the page. Just start typing and OneNote creates a "container" for the words. You can drag and drop the container to any spot on the page.  

Adding webpage screenshots

Key West is "foodie" heaven. Its chefs serve up all kinds of seafood, Cuban delicacies, and BBQ among other dishes. To remember my best culinary experiences, I took screenshots of the restaurants' webpages and plunked them into OneNote.

 OneNote has just about the coolest tool for "grabbing" and copying webpages. (Explaining it is harder than just doing it.) Just follow these steps: 

1. Open a webpage
2. In OneNote, click Insert, then Screen Clipping 
3. The webpage will automatically pop to the front and appear dimmed
4. The curser changes to a black cross, which is a cropping tool
5. Drag the curser around the area that you want to crop, and when you release your curser, the screenshot is automatically inserted in the notebook page
6. OneNote automatically includes the date and time of the screenshot, and a link to the webpage

Adding hyperlinks

There were so many sights to see in Key West that I couldn't possibly add a photo or link to each one. Instead, I created a list with links and small images.

To add a link, click Insert, then Link, which opens the Link dialog box.  Add the name of the link, then copy the URL into the Address bar.

Saving your notebook

In OneNote, you never have to worry about saving your notebook. As you put content into it, OneNote automatically saves it to the place where you created it, which can include the cloud, your computer, and many tablets and phones. We'll show you how to save your notebook to different locations in an upcoming tip.

Organizing all that stuff               

For my Key West notebook, you probably noticed I created separate pages for my photos, favorite restaurants, and other content. To learn how to create and set up a notebook with sections and pages, read Tip#1 in our Getting Started series.