You can easily take a screenshot from GoPro video to make a still photo.
This comes in handy when you want to isolate an image to print, use in a blog, or for marketing.
I recently set my GoPro to shoot video, when I meant to take time lapse images. (Whoops!) The plan was to get some fun photos with my daughter in the snow. We wanted some framers, and I was still able to get them taking some stills from the video.
Read more about GoPro settings.
Creating the stills was easy and only took a few minutes.
Here's how I take a screenshot from GoPro video using Photoshop in Windows.
How to Take a Screenshot from GoPro Video
Once your video is copied to your computer, right click on it and choose, Open with —-> Windows Media Player. Make sure to maximize the screen.
Play your video and when you come to the part you want a still from, hit pause. You may have to rewind and pause a few times until you get just the right image.
Once you have a sharp paused image, move your mouse off the control area, this will cause the navigation area (play, pause, and rewind options) to disappear. You can also just crop them out later.
Once those control options are no longer visible, hit the PrtScr button (on my keyboard it's at the top, on the first row of keys on the right hand side).
Your image is now on the clipboard.
Open Photoshop and choose File —> New. The options for your new project will appear. Make sure the Preset field is —> clipboard. The file specs will be chosen based on the specs of the image on your clipboard, so just choose —> ok.
When your new file opens, press Ctrl + V (while holding the Ctrl key down, press V) and your screenshot will appear.
After this, you can crop and edit it however you want. Then save it out as whatever file format you choose. I usually choose —> save as JPG (choosing the largest JPG option) because I usually do some more editing in Lightroom.
To edit my photos in Lightroom, I use an awesome set of presets from DPS. They are fun and easy to use. For these shots I used “Sassy Ladies.”
5 Easy Steps to Take a Screenshot from GoPro Video
- Play your video in Windows Media Player and hit pause at the frame you want.
- Press the PrtScr key.
- Open Photoshop, choose to create a new file. Choose OK on the new file presets.
- Press the “Ctrl” and “V” keys (while holding the Ctrl key down, press V) to paste your image from the clipboard.
- Crop and edit as you like. Save as the file format of your choice.
Shooting at the maximum video resolution will increase picture quality. And if you set your camera to shoot in Protune flat you'll capture more detail in the shadows and highlights, which will give you more flexibility during editing.
You can also use your screenshots to create a Gif.
Your Turn
Do you have any tips about how to make screen shots from GoPro video? Please share by adding them to the comments.
Ready to use your GoPro?