Snagit screen capture software is one of my favorite tools. If you spend much time in front of a computer then having feature rich, easy-to-use screen capture software is a must. Published by TechSmith, Snagit provides a combination of features, functionality and power that make it an exceptionally useful tool.
Screen Capturing Options
If you aren’t familiar with screen capture software, the short description is that it creates an image of what you see on all or part of your computer monitor and saves it as a graphic file, usually in a .JPG or .PNG format. In Windows XP a very basic Windows screen capture can be accomplished by pressing the Print Screen key on a Windows computer keyboard and copying the image to the Windows Clipboard. The image can then be pasted into a document or edited in a graphics program.
Windows Vista and Windows 7 include more advanced screen capturing functionality with a Snipping Tool utility that is included as part of Windows. The Snipping Tool allows for more options in the type of screen area to capture, Free Form, Rectangular, Window or Full Screen, along with a Pen, Highlighter and Eraser for modifying the image that was captured. It saves images in a PNG format.
Why Use Snagit for Screen Captures?
With basic screen capture utilities included in Windows and a number of other free screen capture software programs available, what makes it worth paying $50 for Snagit? Put simply, Snagit takes screen capture technology to the next level through its flexibility, features and versatility.
Snagit can capture any part of the screen from a partial image to the entire contents of a scrolling web page or window. You can grab images of web pages, software applications, error messages, drop down menus, pop-up images and screens, the entire computer screen, a specific window, region, or menu, a scrolling window or region, or a rounded rectangular, elliptical or freehand region. Snagit can also capture pictures from scanners and digital cameras. Snagit can also capture video and record screen action in .AVI format.
Below is a screen shot of the default Snagit capture screen including the default capture Profiles. You can also create specific capture modes of your own that are like mini-macros.
Some Favorite Snagit Screen Capture Features
With the wide ranges of features that Snagit provides the odds are pretty good that you may never use all of them. Some of my favorite features include:
- Capture Scrolling web pages – a feature that standard Windows utilities and most free screen capture programs don’t provide.
- Timed Capture – The ability to set a capture delay so that, for instance, you have time to click on one or more drop down menus and expand the menus before the program begins its capture.
- Text Only Capture – Capturing only the text from a web page without any graphics or background images. Text is then fully editable.
- Save to Multiple Formats – Snagit provides a choice of formats to save a captured image to including JPG, PNG, TIF, GIF, BMP, PSD, EPS and PDF.
- Tools & Editing – There are a wide range of annotation tools, shapes, effects and colors that can turn a simple screenshot into powerful information graphic.
These are just of small subset of the many capabilities of Snagit. Your favorite features will vary depending on how you use the program. Common Snagit users include marketing professionals, bloggers, technical writers, support professionals and product documentation creators as well as a wide range of everyday users who want the ability to capture, manipulate, annotate and share items displayed on their computer monitor.
There are a wide range of additional Snagit features such as video capture, image editing and processing, visual effects, and creating custom capture profiles that have only been touched on here. The best way to get your feet wet with the different features and capabilities of Snagit is to download a free 30-day evaluation copy from the TechSmith – Snagit web site. This is one piece of software that is worth spending the time to test drive.
