I was asked recently how I take screenshots from BlackBerry devices to create my blog articles...so I thought it was worth a blog article by itself.

There are a number of utilities that enable you to take screenshots on BlackBerry devices themselves, but these don't always work on all screens (nested menus for one) and don't all work on all versions of the BlackBerry device software. There's also the inconvenience of getting the captured images off the device to your PC. If only there was a way of capturing all images directly onto your computer.....

Step in Doug Fisher and his Java Loader Commander!

Download the JL_Cmder ZIP file (HERE) and extract the contents.

Install the BlackBerry Desktop Manager software onto your PC (available for download free from the BlackBerry web site - http://na.blackberry.com/eng/services/desktop/)

Connect your BlackBerry to your PC.

On the PC, browse to the directory where you extracted the contents of the ZIP file and run the "JL_Cmder.cmd" file, the following window will be displayed:

Press any key to continue:

If your device is locked with a password, you'll be prompted to enter the details of the password, otherwise press N:

Press 3 to take a screenshot:

Enter a name for the screenshot file:

You'll be prompted to save or open the file by Windows. Save the file. You'll then be prompted whether or not you want to take another screenshot - all the time this is happening you can control your BlackBerry and navigate to the screen you want to take an image of:

Click Y or N as required. Your screenshot will be saved wherever you selected:

Fantastic.