Tag: clipboard

Light No Frills Clipboard Capture With clipLogger

At version 0.3 clipLogger is a new, beta software that takes a no frills approach to capturing and storing clipboard content.

Download and extract contents to a folder, the program will create a clipLogger_settings.ini file in the same folder. Using the usual Ctrl+C text content is captured and listed with a time stamp. Files copied or dropped into the program widow will have their full paths captured. It is possible to uncheck one or the other so only text or file names are captured.

The interface is very minimalist. The program settings include system settings like fonts and start up and close to tray behaviour. The program can also backup to a text file but that is of little use as the backup file resides in the same folder with no way to configure location or back up schedule.

A bug seems to duplicate (or more) captured content and the developer does allude to it. clipLogger is one to follow and hope that it continues to be developed.

clipLogger does not requires installation and is around 130KB unzipped. It requires .NET framework.

October 4, 2016
CLIB: New And Different Clipboard Manager

CLIB is a relative new entry in the freeware clipboard manager space. It uses a different approach than most others in that the interface and settings are within the browser. In the age of privacy violations and concerns the program emphasizes that while it uses the browser it is not using the cloud in anyway, it is only that the program can be accessed locally at http://127.0.0.1:8822/clib/dashboard.do.

CLIB supports images and text items and does automatically tag them based on source and type, clicking on a saved item shows a bigger preview with an option to delete it, edit captured text or add or change tags. Items can be starred and text copied back to the clipboard, the latter is done by clicking the orange icon beside the star icon. To view full captured images the same orange icon can be used and the image is opened in a new tab.

It is also possible to search items and include # with the search term to search tags. There are two view settings, one as a grid like the screenshot above and the other just one item below the next. The program’s settings are accessed from the drop down menu on the top right. There it is possible to add a user and password to protect saved items. Also it is possible to change hot keys for toggling CLIB on and off (from the default Ctrl+Shift+Alt+B), change Ctrl+C to something else and change the program’s snipping tool hot key that is Ctrl+Shift+Alt+F12 by default.

Note that the program runs as a service. CLIB is a 6MB download, requires Windows 7 or newer and works on Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer 9 or newer.

October 30, 2014
CopyQ Clipboard Powerhouse

CopyQ is one of the more powerful clipboard utilities available. It offers several ways to manage and work with clipboard items, be they text or images.

Working with the usual Ctrl+C CopyQ keeps items ordered in a list. This can disabled via it’s tray icon or Ctrl+Shift+X. Click on its tray icon to see the program’s main window. The last item copied is always on top and of course in Windows’ own clipboard. The items stored can be moved up and down to bring them to the top and clipboard items can be moved to new tabs (drag them) as a simple sort of grouping. The tabs can be made to look like a tree on the left side of the window as an alternative to the more traditional tab look.

Of course most importantly clicking on item on the list (via right clicking the tray icon) pastes the item into the active window or form.

CopyQ features a whole set of shortcuts for virtually all operations like Ctrl+N to create a new item manually and F2 to edit an item. Each item can have a note attached to it which make it easier to find it but the interface suffers because of this. For example “copied with format” in the screenshot above is a note for the large font clipboard item. Also because the copied text is shown with formatting intact the program window can look confusing and a bit mixed up. Searching for items is done by typing when the CopyQ window is active, just start typing and the list filters down with matching items highlighted.

The clipboard history can be changed from the default 200 items and items unloaded after a certain time period (see History tab in preferences) and the number of items shown on the right click menu can be changed too.

The real strength of CopyQ is in its Commands/Global shortcuts feature (File —> Commands or F6). It can manage tabs, move items to a TODO tab, ignore one character items, decrypt and copy, open in browser, paste as plain text, edit 1st item, ignore password windows, autoplay video when urls match certain criteria and lots more automatically and when matching certain conditions like specific urls and windows. Several operations can be processed together giving CopyQ scripting capability. This section of the CopyQ is worth a look and offers a lot of efficiency improvements for the power user. Command line support makes the program even more versatile.

The option to encrypt clipboard items is available after installing GnuPG, this can be set up in the Items tab of the preferences. The programs’s appearance can also be extensively reconfigured and made to look differently as if to have different themes. CopyQ is available in exe and portable versions and also for other platforms. The non Windows versions may not be as stable, for example the 64bit .deb version tested on a Mint 13 MATE computer does not work when editing a note, the program is killed immediately. This is probably in an attempt to open an external editor (Notepad) that is not available on the said computer.

August 27, 2014
ClipMe To Manage The Windows Clipboard

A new entry in the clipboard management software category is ClipMe (not the first software or app to use that name?). It is currently at the 0.1.0 beta stage and there is potential for development and lots more to come. At this time ClipMe is basic and does not do all that much. However it is functional even as is.

Use Windows’ usual Ctrl+C to capture text, files and images that are stored in ClipMe’s database. Bring up the manager (Ctrl+Shift+O by default, configurable via the Preferences) to view them and their size. Hover over any captured image in the list to get a preview, edit any text entry if needed. Delete any entry by clicking on the X beside it. At the bottom of the manager window there is an option to change the number of items ClipMe keeps and remembers, the default is 30.

Currently to reuse an item it is necessary to click on it in the manager window or on it via the program’s tray icon (right click the icon).

The hot key to enable or disable ClipMe’s clipboard tracking is Ctrl+Shift+E, it can be configured to use another combination. ClipMe can be configured to ignore any of the types of captures it supports so, for example, it is possible to use ClipMe only to capture images. ClipMe should run on XP and newer.

August 12, 2014
Clipjump Does The Clipboard Well

Clipjump is a very capable freeware clipboard manager. It , of course, holds many clipboard items and does its job without disturbing familiar Windows routines such as Ctrl+C, V and X. It provides a tool tip like confirmation and visual, for example one that confirms that it has copied items.

Clipjump captures all data types, when Ctrl+C is used it captures text, images (through the PrintScreen key) and other data such as Excel cells and when Ctrl+V is used to paste repeated V clicks cycles through clipboard items with a preview so it is very easy to paste any previous items. There is an incognito mode to temporary disable captures, right click tray icon—>Options. Windows+C pops up the clipboard history window to view and work on captured clips. It is possible to ‘fixate’ items to make them stay on top or first in the history and therefore being the first when using paste mode or when clicking Ctrl+V. Clipjump also supports ‘channels’ to keep items separate, the default channel is zero. The channel name in use is shown when Ctrl+V is clicked and channels can be changed by using the up and down arrow keys in the aforementioned paste mode. No Formatting is also a very useful feature and when in paste mode (after clicking Ctrl+V) clicking on the Z key readies the chosen item without formatting.

The Action Mode, activated via the tray icon or Ctrl+Shift+A, provides one click access to program features.

The Class Grab Tool which is supposed to grab Windows classes is also interesting. It allows Windows classes to be added to its settings.ini’s ignoreWindows option so that Clipjump will not be used when items are copied from those programs. Lots more settings are configurable through settings.ini such as windows_copy_shortcut and windows_cut_shortcut that ‘create unique shortcuts in Clipjump to copy/cut data only to System Clipboard and not Clipjump’.

The program settings have a ‘one time stop’ option whose shortcut is configurable which when used bypasses Clipjump for only one time.

The usefulness of Clipjump lies in the fact that it can be used to naturally replace the native Windows clipboard but also really extend it with additional features beyond simply storing multiple items. It is very lightweight, portable and at version 9.8.8 (there are frequent updates) it is very solid.

The online manual and internal help are detailed if not exactly very well organized.

November 26, 2013
ClipMon: Freeware Clipboard Monitoring

ClipMon (Version: 1.0.1.1) is a freeware clipboard monitoring tool with an aim to improve on the drawbacks of the Windows’ single clipboard feature.

The first and obvious feature is that ClipMon can remember and store more than one clipboard item. The second is that it keeps and categorizes them into text, images and files. It comes with history browser, a separate process (HV.exe) on its own, where clipboard items can be viewed and also edited. ClipMon also features a floating and resizable sticky note look-a-like window where the latest clipboard item is displayed.

Text items can be edited inside the program and using available scripts text items can be opened in Notepad or Wordpad (with a double click), converted to numbered or bullet lists and encrypted/decrypted. The latter option didn’t work using the portable version of the program. Image files can be previewed and re-copied. Double clicking images shows them in the internal viewer. The viewer has a selection tool (drag the mouse to draw a rectangular selection) to be used to crop images. External programs to open images with can be added as well.

Use the Send This Clip To to email or save an item outside of ClipMon’s history. Configure a recipient and then email items to him or her or send and save a copy of an item to a directory outside of ClipMon’s. The send to feature is rather non intuitive as ClipMon seems capable of sending any item in its history but it is not immediately obvious how to send the non current clipboard.

The program’s options (accessible from the history browser window) include assigning hotkeys for opening the history browser window or the right click menu and defining the maximum number of text, image and file items ClipMon remembers.

ClipMon works on XP and newer and is available in both installer and portable versions.

October 7, 2012
ClipCube: Freeware Notetaker And Clipboard Manager

ClipCube was reviewed while an old beta version here on RGdot, now it is back. The current version is 1.1 and comes with a new look and a new site. It is still freeware and still doesn’t require installation. With a new emphasis on being a note taker and keeper – complete with tags – in addition to its clipboard history feature it more useful than it has been.

After running it click the tray icon to show or hide its window. The left side of the program window is where you find the search box and tags. There are three default tags or categories and they are Clipboard, Links and Scratchpad. The notes are on the main or right side with the newest ones first on the list. In addition to automatically capturing the clipboard you can create a new note by clicking Ctrl+N, the + button or right clicking the tray icon. Edit a note with Ctrl+Space or the editor button (the keyboard looking icon). Select one or more items or notes and click the tag editor button to move a note to the Scratchpad category or other existing ones. Create new tags using the same tag editor, Alt+N or by right clicking in the tags area.

ClipCube, via its tray icon, has another interesting feature called “Trim incoming text”. This trims white space from the beginning and end of any copied text.

The preferences include toggling ‘system tray’ mode on and off – this is same as click close to minimize or click close to exit – stay on top, monitor the clipboard, clear clipboard on quit, show tooltips, edit a note on double click and others. By default ClipCube keeps 500 clipboard items or notes, this can be changed to 100, 2000 or 6000. This limit applies only to the notes tagged with Clipboard and not others like Scratchpad.

Hotkeys are available at http://zodcode.com/clipcube/manual. A Mac version is in the works and depends on donations.

August 25, 2012
Freeware No Frills Clipboard Manager: anyClipboard

anyClipboard (Version: 1.0.2) is a single executable, no install clipboard manager. It is virtually featureless and does one thing only. It helps the user keep copies of all clipboard items in the order they were captured. It captures everything – though one can disable captures by file type – be they files, folders, photos or text (with the promise of more to come).

The program’s settings are accessed by right clicking the program’s tray icon. Since it copies everything to its data folder, created after first run, it can become large quickly. It does warn if the to be captured file is larger than 10MB and at that point it can be set to not create a copy of files larger than 10MB.

To reuse a past clipboard item highlight it and recopy the preview, however since not all file types, mp3s for example, can be previewed inside anyClipboard it is less useful for media files. In this case one must open the program’s data folder and grab a copy there.

anyClipboard should work on all Windows versions.

August 23, 2012
Freeware No Frills Clipboard Manager: ArchiveClipboard

ArchiveClipboard (Version: 12.7.17 tested) is multi-platform open source and freeware clipboard manager. It doesn’t boast many features but it does one job and that is to keep more than one clipboard item stored or archived. When an item is copied it is kept in the top section of the program, subsequent clipboard items bump the previous ones to the lower section where they are archived to be kept forever.

ArchiveClipboard also supports images and file paths and they are archived in separate categories. Right clicking any item in the archived section presents options to preview it – where it can also be edited – to cut it , to copy it, to paste it or to remove it forever. It feels redundant to have cut or paste operations for an archived item but nevertheless the option is available.

Mobile device apps and synchronization are on the roadmap. ArchiveClipboard is java based, runs on Windows, Mac and Linux systems and is available in both 32bit and 64bit versions.

July 28, 2012
Freeware Notes And Clipboard Monitoring: NoteClip

NoteClip (Version: 2.50 tested) has recently become freeware. It tries to be a clipboard monitor and note keeper in one. Using it requires a bit of getting used to because it may take time to feel comfortable with how, where and within which group (post, data, essay, etc.) a note or clipboard item is kept.

The clipboard function of NoteClip is not exactly emphasized as by default the clipboard monitoring is off (toggle it on by clicking the ‘more’ dropdown near the top right of the program). However the program does have a secondary way of capturing text. The Ctrl+1 keys create a new note from highlighted text and Ctrl+2 appends highlighted text to the last note.

Initially notes – captured via hot keys or created using the quick notes (Ctrl+Q) window – are sent to the draft group. New groups can be created by right clicking one of the existing groups and notes can be dragged from the draft or any other group to another.

Various options are available when a note title is right clicked (see image). Notes can be edited by clicking on the Edit column beside them and either editing them within NoteClip or using an external editor. The program also has a search function which works across all notes and groups.

NoteClip can read text files and create new notes using file names as their title, this is done by choosing ‘Create from text files’ from the aforementioned ‘more’ dropdown menu. Additionally there is a built-in back up and restore tool (Accessed via the small arrow near the top right of the program.) NoteClip requires Windows XP and newer and does not write anything to the registry.

July 26, 2012