This\r\ngallery is also available as a TechRepublic article.
Last month, I shared with my take on five effective tools\r\nfor capturing your screen in Windows, and it has attracted quite a few comments\r\nwith suggestions for different utilities to check out. You can never have too\r\nmany options for something as seemingly pedestrian as taking pictures of your\r\ndesktop and windows. For this next round up, here are my five picks sourced\r\nstraight from the TechRepublic community.
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\r\n\r\nThis one definitely caught\r\nmy attention amongst the suggested apps to look at. In addition to effectively\r\nsnapping in whatever I desired, I could also send files directly over FTP to a remote\r\nserver, enable automatic file naming (which can include the time, date and\r\ncomputer name), and a plethora of functions which can easily be mapped to\r\nhotkeys. Heck, there’s even a protractor tool, for measuring angles of objects\r\non screen! A fresh and modern user interface is a nice added touch as well.\r\nPickPic is definitely made out to be a winner. PickPic is free for personal\r\nuse, with a license fee required for commercial use, starting at $21.99 a copy\r\nwith volume discounts.
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Credit: Image by\r\nMatthew Nawrocki for TechRepublic
Credit: Image by\r\nMatthew Nawrocki for TechRepublic
\r\n\r\nPart of a good screen\r\ncapture product is the ability to stay out of the way and be easy to access at\r\nall times. FullShot aims to accomplish this task, by integrating key options,\r\nlike dialog and desktop capture, straight onto the title bars of any window.\r\nNeed to snap a shot of an error message dialog? No need to precision aim your\r\nmouse over the message. Simply click the “W” button and your dialog\r\nbox will be sent over to the editor just like that. The shortcut buttons don’t\r\nshow up on the resulting output either. FullShot is available for a 30-day\r\ntrial period, with full usage licenses starting at $49.99.
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Credit: Image by\r\nMatthew Nawrocki for TechRepublic
Credit: Image by\r\nMatthew Nawrocki for TechRepublic
\r\n\r\nSo everyone knows that you\r\ncan capture content that is directly visible on-screen. But not everyone knows\r\nthat tools like FastStone can fully capture documents and webpages, including\r\noff-screen content. In addition to regular image snagging capabilities, you can\r\nacquire an image of an entire scrolling file or online resource with a few\r\nsimple button clicks. The process can be automatic or you can perform a custom\r\nscroll operation, so that only the content you scroll to will be copied out.\r\nFastStone is available for a 30-day trial period, then for $19.95 thereafter.
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Credit: Image by\r\nMatthew Nawrocki for TechRepublic
Credit: Image by\r\nMatthew Nawrocki for TechRepublic
\r\n\r\nFile this one under the\r\noldie-but-goodie department. Based on its popular predecessor, PrintKey2000,\r\nPrintKey-Pro is a rather capable app. With regular, selection, and timer-delay\r\ncapture also comes configurable hotkeys and an accessible system tray icon for\r\ngood measure. You can also print directly to a printer after capture and send\r\nthrough email right from the main window too. PrintKey-Pro is available for a\r\n30-day trial period, then for $19.95 thereafter.
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Credit: Image by\r\nMatthew Nawrocki for TechRepublic
Credit: Image by\r\nMatthew Nawrocki for TechRepublic
\r\n\r\nAnd lastly, Ashampoo, a\r\npurveyor of fine software products, with generous free licensing for older\r\nversions of their commercial titles, offers the minimalistic Snap 6. You can\r\naccess all capture functionality through a toolbar that tucks itself away at\r\nthe top of your screen. You can capture video, scrolling pages of content in\r\nweb browsers, enhanced image editing, and multi-shot. Snap 6 is available as\r\ntrialware for 40-days, then $19.99 for use thereafter.
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Credit: Image by\r\nMatthew Nawrocki for TechRepublic
Credit: Image by\r\nMatthew Nawrocki for TechRepublic
A former avid technology writer and an IT guru, Matthew is here to help bring the best in software, hardware and the web to the collective consciousness of TechRepublic's readership. In addition to writing for TechRepublic, Matthew currently works as a Customer Success Professional for Ultimate Software in Santa Ana, California.
