SnagIt – Screen capture never been easier

SnagIt is a screenshot application that functions mostly under Windows platform. With SnagIt you would be able to capture an image, video, text and web. This application is created by TechSmith and was launched in 1990.

SnagIt replaces the basic Print Screen function in a Windows platform with a few additional features. You can also change the captured image to .jpg/ .gif/ .png/ .swf etc. from the drop down list provided in the SnagIt editor. You can also specify the destination folder where the captured image needs to be stored. This tip is only for the 1st time when you use SnagIt, after-which once you hit the “Print Screen” button on your keyboard / click the “Capture” button in SnagIt, the rest of it is taken care of automatically.

It’s never been easier to take a screenshot as it’s just a click away. Let me brief you more on the features that SnagIt offers and its capabilities.

Basic Profiles

SnagIt usually comes with some basic capture profiles. You can select any one of those before you hit the “Print Screen” / “Capture” button. The various profiles listed under the “Basic capture profiles” category is,

Capturing any specific region
Capturing a window
Capturing Full screen
Capturing scrolling window (without web links)
Capturing scrolling window (with web links)

Under “Profile settings” which is found in the bottom pane, once you open SnagIt, you may also select the “Input” (meaning, screen capture of either window/full screen/specific region), “Output” (selecting the captured image to be either printed/ emailed/ copied in clipboard), “Effects” (you can either trim/ add borders/ add caption etc.)

Features of SnagIt:

Image Capture:

This feature enables the capturing of digital image of anything you see on your screen. The capture image can be edited, printed, saved as a standard image file, can be copied to another application like MS Word, MS PowerPoint etc. or also sent as an attachment in the mail.

Text Capture:

This feature will capture editable text from the screen instead of a graphical image. This not only captures the text from a word document or a web-page but also, grab text from areas that don’t offer copy and paste (Eg: My Documents list of files, menu text, status pane information, messages, tool-tips, etc.)

Video Capture:

This feature enables any on-screen activity of your Windows desktop and saves the video as an AVI file. Double click on the SnagIt icon in system tray. You may also choose a specific basic profile available and select the “Video Capture” from the small drop-down arrow next to the “Capture” button.

Web Capture:

This feature pulls every image from any web page you choose and stores them into a folder to view, save, manipulate or even print.

Let me guide all the first timers with the step by step process on how to perform a screen capture using SnagIt. Unlike the primitive version we use to capture screenshot through MSPaint, SnagIt allows you to capture screenshots/text /video /web content in 1 go.

1. Once SnagIt is installed in the computer, it would appear in the system tray
2. Double click on the SnagIt icon in system tray
3. Now, you may get to choose any one of the basic profiles (like the ones I have mentioned earlier)
4. Upon choosing the profile (window/ full screen/ specific region), click on the “Capture” button. Assuming, that we have selected the “specific region” profile
5. You may also select the various capture modes (Image, Text, Video, Web) from the small drop-down arrow next to the “Capture” button. Assume that we have selected the “Image Capture” here
6. Now, once you select the “Capture” button available in SnagIt, left-click and hold the mouse button as you drag to select a specific region
7. Once you have selected the region to be captured, release the mouse button
8. This would capture that specific region and paste it automatically in the SnagIt Capture Preview window
9. You can either add caption/ border/ trim the screen shot and select the format to which the image needs to be saved (from the drop-down list) available and click “Done”
10. This would prompt you to save it in a specified location of your choice, give the destination folder and it’s done.

Follow the link:  http://www.techsmith.com/download/snagit to get a 30 day free-trial of this application. Use it and feel the power of a single click snapshot.

-Avinash