I have a job where ad-hoc client support via email is a regular occurrence. Taking screen shots of sites and particular screens to help explain the sometimes random and crazy words that come out of my brain is always helpful for the hapless recipient of my ramblings.
So I went on a hunt for a screen capture tool.
Taking a print screen and then photoshopping it or cropping it in some other fashion just isn’t time friendly. And putting in a wide screen screen shot complete with task bar and tool bars isn’t always required.
The others in the office were using a free tool that forces them to have the Yahoo tool bar – I have enough on my machine without some other resource hogging crap.
I took a look at SnagIt and FastStone. Both have trial versions (FastStone – shareware) and cost in the $20 – $30 range. And the feature list is practically the same for both.
Capture Panel, Hotkeys, Capture area as rectangle or custom shape, Alt+Prnt Scrn allows you to select the window to capture, built in editor, sharing options and formats such as jpg, gif, png and the list goes on. Put simply if you always take shots of screens to share or send you need one of these tools.
The best thing is the time saver and the accuracy you gain from using them. You can select anything on the screen, using the zoom tool to get the exact spots, then check it in the editor, hit copy and then paste it into an email – Easy!
The end choice was pretty close, although SnagIt being a commercial product its a little more polished, however you cant go past FastStone for the shareware, and $20 lifetime license. So my money is with FastStone although there isn’t much in it.
