There’s no easy way to take screenshots with an Android phone.  This is due to security issues that could arise if applications were capable of taking screenshots.  For example, imagine an app that would run in the background, take a screenshot every 2 minutes and upload the image to a remote server.  For now, two methods exist but neither are as straightforward as we’d like them to be:

1) Use a rooted phone. Rooting your phone gives you full access to your phone system and therefore it’s possible to access the screenshot functionality.  If you’ve rooted your phone just download ShootMe from the Market and all you need to do is shake the phone to capture a screenshot.

2) Using the Android SDK and a USB cable.

This method involves a few steps but once you’ve completed the setup, taking future screenshots is very easy.

Installation

  1. Install the Android SDK using the instructions provided here
  2. On your HTC Desire go on Settings > Applications > Development.  Check the USB debugging option

Taking Screenshots

  1. Browse to your SDK locations and open the tools folder
  2. Make sure your phone is connected via USB, and run the ddms tool.  You should see something like this:
  3. Make sure you select your device from the box on the right, then go on Device > Screen Capture
  4. The new window will grab your current phone screenshot and display it:
    DDMS Grab
  5. You can use the Refresh, Rotate, Save and Copy options to take the respective action with your screenshot.

Every time you want to take a new screenshot, just follow the 3 steps in the Taking Screenshots section.

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