How to get pictures out of movies
The video tool par excellence for Windows, macOS and Linux: the VLC media player can also pull images from movies. Photo: Zacharie Scheurer/dpa-tmn
However, on the computer with the screenshot in the cache, you always have to take the annoying detour via image editing to save a screenshot cleanly.
VLC has the video snapshot
It’s much easier with the free VLC Media Player, a Swiss army knife app for watching and streaming movies. There you just have to go to pause at the desired location and then select the item “Take a video snapshot” in the menu under Video.
If necessary, you can change the location and file format (jpg, png, tiff) of the snapshots in the menu under “Tools/Settings/Video/Video Snapshots”. The VLC player is not only available for Windows, Linux and macOS, but also for iOS and Android.
Mobile helps the screenshot further
However, VLC does not support video snapshots on smartphones and tablets. In most cases, you can get around this by simultaneously pressing the power and volume down (Android) or volume up (iOS) buttons.
The screenshot then moves directly to the photo gallery, unless you tap the thumbnail of the screenshot, which usually appears short. Then – depending on the smartphone model – you can edit the screenshot immediately or save it in other formats.
