How to Extract a Photo From a DVD
By Nicole Schmoll
Software programs make extracting still photos from moving video on a DVD simple and quick. Free software is available from Top Drawer Downloads that allows users to take still shots of video, which can then be turned into digital images and printed or saved elsewhere and used in other capacities.
Using VLC Media Player
Download and install the VLC Player from Top Drawer Downloads (see References). VLC Player is a free software application that supports playback of many media file types. It also offers a feature that allows users to grab still photos from the video on DVDs and save those photos to a desired location, such as a hard drive or flash drive.
Insert a DVD into your computer's DVD drive and open the VLC Player. Click "File," "Open Disc." Click "DVD" beneath Disc Type and enter the letter of your DVD drive into the Device Name field. Click "OK."
Click "Video" from the VLC Player's top menu and then select "Snapshot" from the drop-down menu. VLC Player will automatically take a still picture of the video displayed on-screen in a 640-by-480 pixel resolution and will save it to your My Pictures folder on your computer. From there you can open the photo in a photo editing software and make changes to it, rename the file and save it in a desired location, such as an external hard drive, flash drive or CD.
Using Screen Shot Capture
Purchase a media player such as PowerDVD, WinDVD or Camtasia Studio (see Resources). All of these programs make it possible to take screen shots of movie images that are then translated and saved as JPEGs on your computer.
Insert the DVD into the disc drive and wait for the movie or video to begin playing. Minimize the window in which the video is showing so that it is not playing in full screen. Click on "Tools" from the top menu bar, then "Options." From the drop-down menu that appears, click "Performance," "Advanced." Uncheck the "Overlays" box from the DVD Video field. Click "OK" and restart your media player. This will allow you to successfully take screen shots of moving video from DVDs played in your new media player software.
Find the scene or image you want to take a picture of and click "Pause." Hold down the "Screen Print" button (or the "Alt" and "Screen Print" buttons if necessary) on your keyboard. You have now copied a still photo of your movie image.
Open Microsoft Paint or any photo editing software and click "Paste." Your image will appear on screen. Edit as desired and save the image as a TIFF or JPEG to a desired location on your computer.