"screenshot" vs "screen capture"

"screenshot" vs "screen capture"

context : the picture of the screen of a cellphone / desktop

1) Which is the most commonly used ?

2) Is one of the two confusing for some not native speaker ?

Note: Google return way more result for "screenshot", but some official documentation use "screen capture".

EDIT: Thanks guys. You helped me a lot. I choose to use "screenshot". reasons:

  • to avoid confusion with the picture and the action of taking the picture.
  • screen capture could refer to video. I do not want this double meaning.
  • it seem more used (google result count)

I think that the two expressions have different meanings, screen capture refers to the action, screenshot is the result of the action:

  • Screen capture or grabber software allows you to take a snapshot of the computer's screen or part of the screen. You can then paste the picture into a document or save it as a file. If you create presentations or handouts, you may want to copy pictures from the computer screen to put them into your project.

Screenshot:

  • An image of the data displayed on the screen of a computer or mobile device: a screenshot of the band’s Facebook page (ODO)

Screen capture:

  • Refers to the act of copying what is currently displayed on a screen to a file or printer. If the system is in graphics mode, the screen capture will result in a graphics file containing a bit map of the image. If the system is in text mode, the screen capture will normally load a file with ASCII codes.

(Webopedia.com)


Screenshot has more general usage.

The people you'll find use screen capture are people contextually obtaining views from a screen. For instance as a Software Engineer, I often screen capture bugs found with Sprinter.

Screen capture can also refer to a video recording whereas a screenshot only refers to a still image.