Screen captures have become part of our computer culture… “I’ll send you a screen

shot of the window so you can see what I’m talking about”.   Now it’s just

part of the necessary pace of computer use.  If you need to take a quick picture

of your desktop or a single open window, this is easy enough to do by pressing PrtScr

or Alt-PrtScr and then pasting into an email or document.  However, if you produce

any kind of documentation, learning manuals or publications; this aint gonna cut it. 

Since Vista, Windows even offers a simple screen snipping tool in the Accessories

group of the Start menu but it’s not industrial-strength.  I’m a book author

and have been writing computer training material for several years.  Screen captures

are a fundamental part of authoring and if they’re not done right, even good written

work can look sloppy and unprofessional. 

I’ve been using TechSmith SnagIt for at least ten years and I will not use another

tool.  I know that sounds like a commercial but I’m not on their payroll. 

I’ve paid for the software licensing for years.  As a Microsoft MVP, I do get

NFR copies of this and other software – whether I say good things about their products

or not.  I’m continually impressed at just how much this simple application can

do.  I’m not aware of another software development shop that updates their software

as often nor as effectively as the folks at TechSmith. 

You’d be hard pressed to find a program as intuitive and elegant as SnagIt Pro. 

Once I get rolling, I find myself taking screenshots just for the sheer enjoyment. 

If I’m documenting a series of steps in a process, I can crank through the screen

captures as I do the work with little thought about how to crop windows, where to

save the files or how to name them.  Multi-window composites and fly-out menus

are easy as pie.  I can include the mouse pointer, add drop shadows, separate

the background, create torn page effects, add arrows, shapes, stamps and call-outs

easily and with professional polish.  The new dynamic window selection interface

rocks.  You just wave your mouse around the screen and SnagIt magically highlights

different windows and objects for selection.  With a fully-evolved UI, many if

the core features are accessible without fishing through menus and dialogs. 

I love the auto-scroll targets that capture off-screen content – and one of my long-time

favorite features is the ability to convert a block of on-screen bitmapped characters

to text.

Having a software development background, I’m pretty critical about UI design and

functionality.  Over the years as I’ve used older versions of SnagIt and have

thought “it’s cool that it has this feature but I wish it worked a little differently”. 

To my delight and amazement, in a subsequent release, that feature was improved. 

I haven’t yet figured out where their mind-reading feedback feature is in the software

but I’m not complaining.  Here’s one example:  If I need to capture a small

portion of a window, in the past I had to place the little cross-hair pointer in the

right location and as I clicked the mouse button to grab it, I might end up moving

a pixel or two before the selection was made.  I thought “it sure would it be

nice of there was some kind of zoom window or magnifying glass so I could work with

more precision.”  Low and behold, guess what shows up in version 10?  I’m

sure there’s a checkbox on a configuration screen somewhere labeled “read my mind

and send feedback to TechSmith.”

Cleaning up goofs is easy as well.  Forgot to include the pointer?  Just

add one.  Forgot to move the pointer off of a window?  Just remove it. 

Aside from working with screen captures, the SnagIt Editor has become my tool of choice

for basic bitmap editing.  It’s not PhotoShop but it’s a heck of a lot easier

to use for quick fixes, composite image work and bitmap manipulation.  I haven’t

opened MS Paint on my machine for years.  Now with transparency support, the

editor really does have the whole enchilada for basic bitmap work.  When I start

work on a new book or training manual, one of the first directions I give all the

members of my writing team is to download and install the latest version of SnagIt

Pro.  If you can get your work done within 30 days, it’s free but plan on shelling

out the $50.  It’s well worth the investment.

Weblog by Paul Turley and SQL Server BI Blog.