Tag: screenshot

  • LolliPic: More Screenshots

    LolliPic: More Screenshots

    I have removed the link to the Lollipic site and modified/’trimmed’ its review. Why?
    Lollipic, as I mentioned when posting this review, is very obviously a clone of ShareX. ShareX is an open source software and it is possible to use its source code to create another program. However, one of the stipulations in the open source GPL license is that source code remain available by whoever uses it. As of the time of the review and this note the source code is not available on the Lollipic site.
    The developers of ShareX contacted me and kindly asked that I remove this review.
    Eventhough a mere review, my review, is not in any way a violation of any license I have decided to not support Lollipic and while a screenshot (and a sentence or two) remain there will not be a review or a link to its site.

    Lollipic

    The choices for taking screenshots and sharing them are numerous and some even look remarkably similar as to make a person wonder if he is experiencing deja vu.

    *Edited/removed*

    It is clear that LolliPic is a ShareX clone and naturally both are based on the same set of tools like GreenshotImageEditor.dll just to name one.

    LolliPic requires the .NET Framework.

  • ShareX: Grab, Upload, Share

    ShareX: Grab, Upload, Share

    ShareX

    ShareX is a multipurpose, feature rich utility geared towards sharing anything captured on a pc. At its core it is a screen grabber that does a lot more, including just uploading files.

    Clipboard upload is the first in the list of its features, it auto detects urls to use a url shortener, it defaults to the bit.ly service. The Capture option features full screen, Window – with a list of open windows to choose from, monitor, rectangle, rounded rectangle, triangle, ellipse, diamond, polygon, free hand, last region, auto capture and screen recorder. The last two are configurable timed snapshots and animated gif.

    After capture has options for Add image effect, Annotate image, Add watermark, Copy image to clipboard (on by default), Print image, Save image to file (on by default), Save image to file as, Copy file to clipboard, Copy file path to clipboard, Perform actions and Upload image to host. The Perform actions options is when an external program is set to open after the capture. The programs can be set in Task settings —> Actions, some of which are detected and added by ShareX.

    After upload has options for Use url shortener, Post url to social networking service, Send url with email and Copy url to keyboard.

    Destinations are configured per file type. Imgur.com is the default for images but they can be uploaded to imageshack, tinypic, flickr, photobucket, picasa, twitpic, twitsnaps, yfrog, imm.io, file or custom uploader. For text pastebin is the default with paste2.org, slexy.org, pastee.org, paste.ee, gist.github,com and file available. For url shortener there is the aforementioned bit.ly plus goo.gl, j.mp, is.gd, tinyurl and turl.ca and finally for social networking service twitter is the only one available as of version 8.4.1.

    Almost everything is configurable, for example screenshots can be named with anything like year %y, month %mo, title of active window %t, millisecond %ms, auto increment %i, computer name %cn, random number %rn and more in their name and their default folder changed too (Application settings —> Paths). A proxy server can be added via Application settings —> Proxy. The format of the image can be changed from the default png to gif, jpg, tiff or bmp and its quality adjusted too (Task settings —> Image). The watermark and image effects are also configured via Task settings —> Image. ShareX can also watch folders and upload files placed in them automatically (Task settings —> Watch folders). The naming pattern is also available for clipboard items (Task settings —> Upload).

    Hotkey settings include ones for capturing the entire screen, active window and rectangle region. Others can be added with every action configured too (see image below).

    ShareX

    Any of the services that do not allow anonymous uploading can be setup via the Destination settings menu. The file uploader options are dropbox, mega, box, ge.tt, rapidshare, sendspace, hostr, Atlassian Jira, Google Drive, Minus, email and ftp. The custom uploader option is an advanced feature described fully at http://getsharex.com/docs/#CustomUploader. This tool uses POST and GET methods to upload and dynamically generate urls.

    The program has two separate history tools to keep a log of every use. ShareX works on XP and newer and, once again, unfortunately requires .NET Framework   4   3.5.

    Update: Thanks to Jaex for mentioning the correct .NET requirement

  • SnapCrab: Freeware Screen Capture

    SnapCrab: Freeware Screen Capture

    SnapCrab is a feature rich screenshot capture program. Other than the various capture options one can send screenshots directly to Twitter, Facebook or Evernote.

    SnapCrab

    SnapCrab’s interface is a simple bar. Various capture options and program settings – the gear button – are accessed on the bar or by right clicking the program’s tray icon. From left to right the bar buttons are Capture window, Capture top level window, Capture whole desktop, Capture selected area, Post (to Twitter, Facebook or Evernote), Get color code under cursor (by default RGB and Hex values are copied to the clipboard but this can be changed) and Settings. The settings include back ground options such as transparency and fill color and others like inclusion of cursor and disabling hot keys. The hot keys are Alt+Print Screen for Capture Window and Print Screen for Capture whole desktop. Settings for all other actions such as Capture selected area, Post to Facebook, Save a capture in, Post image and tweet can be configured via Details –>Hotkey.

    SnapCrab’s other settings, found by clicking Details, are configuring capture output location, (image) format, name, sound, timer, ‘capture the active monitor’ and automatic shrinking or resizing of the capture.

    Captures can be named in various ways. SnapCrab comes with  “SnapCrab_{title}_”yyyy”-“m”-“d”_”h”-“n”-“s”_No-“vv, “SnapCrab_”gge”-“m”-“d”(“ddd”)_”h”-“n”-“s”_No-“vv, “SnapCrab_”yy”-“m”-“d”_”h”-“n”-“s”_No-“vv, “SnapCrab_”yyyy”-“m”-“d”_”h”-“n”-“s”_No-“vv, “SnapCrab_”yyyy”-“mm”-“dd”_”hh”-“nn”-“ss”_No-“vvvv and “SnapCrab_No-“vvvv. These are listed as such with the quotes creating confusion. Most are likely obvious however v represent increments starting from 0 and gge is year.

    SnapCrab

    The post to Twitter option requires authenticating from within the program. Facebook and Evernote also require authentication of course however SnapCrab opens a browser instance to prompt for details.

    SnapCrab hot keys can be disabled and the program can remain open but hidden by unchecking the Use Hotkeys option. In this case the program’s tray icon turns gray. SnapCrab is brought to you by the developers behind the Sleipnir browser and runs on Windows XP and newer.

  • Wolfcoders ScreenSnag: Freeware Screenshot Grabber

    Wolfcoders ScreenSnag: Freeware Screenshot Grabber

    Wolfcoders ScreenSnag is an attractive freeware screenshot grabber.

    Wolfcoders ScreenSnag

    Wolfcoders ScreenSnag works by enabling or disabling a number of options via its window and then proceeding to capture. The first option is to choose the ‘Input’. Here choose one of capture window, full screen or area. The corresponding properties button is for choosing a transparency – current or clean – for the capture. The ‘Output’ is a choice between a file and the clipboard. The file option has properties for choosing the file format – png, bmp or jpg – file name and quality.

    More options are available to customize the screenshot. Caption is like watermark and includes automatic text in computer name, user name, date and time. Colors and transparency for the same text as well. The caption or watermark can be placed outside or inside the screenshot.

    Border and scale customize the size of the output further. The cursor can be visible or not. Timer adds a delay to complete the capture. Sound – to remind that the capture is complete – can be turned off and ScreenSnag can automatically open the capture in the default image viewer or editor.

    Wolfcoders ScreenSnag

    The Storage button opens the output folder and the Capture button does the actual task of grabbing the screenshot.

    The program’s settings (the button to the left of  minimize) includes starting the program with the system and enabling global hotkeys, among others. The hotkeys are limited and are not configurable however (see image.)

    ScreenSnag runs on XP or newer.

  • ScreenCamera Giveaway: Broadcast Video Straight From The Desktop

    ScreenCamera Giveaway: Broadcast Video Straight From The Desktop

    Grab a copy of PCWinSoft’s ScreenCamera, normally $49.95. Click the link below, fill in your email and details to get the activation key.

    ScreenCamera is a program that records the desktop screen and makes it possible to share it live with others. Run the install, accept or deny the extras and the program’s small interface is presented on the screen with all its recording options.

    A user can record a section of the desktop, the whole desktop, the area around (and one that follows) the mouse cursor or an ‘exclusive window’. The exclusive window is where the program will continue capturing the chosen a Window even after it is not the active or the topmost one. ScreenCamera can also take snapshot images and it can also work as a normal screen recorder. To record a video to save locally – wmv by default – use the record, pause and stop buttons at the bottom of its interface. The video will be saved in the Videos (My Videos) subfolder of the system’s Documents folder.

    ScreenCamera

    ScreenCamera is compatible with and works with programs such as Skype, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger and others. Arguably the major benefit or feature of the program is that it can be used to show a live feed of desktop activity on any of the aforementioned instant messaging or other webcam broadcasting sites like UStream for example. For example in MSN Messenger’s (see image below) Tools —>Audio and video setup ScreenCamera will be available as a video or webcam option and with it one can broadcast the desktop, desktop and webcam or just the webcam to friends or contacts. The first will of course show your desktop to the person you are chatting with, in this case a webcam is not even required. The second a like picture in picture mode. The last just the webcam itself.

    ScreenCamera

    The program settings are divided into 5 sections. The Screen section or tab includes options and settings for video Frames Per Seconds and whether or not to include the mouse pointer in captures. The Webcam tab detects any available and connected webcam and lets the user connect to it. Video Output includes the setting for the dimensions of the output video, the default being 640×480, but many bigger and smaller options are available. Snap and Record is the place to choose the snapshot and ‘local’ video recording options. For the former bmp is the default format and the only other is jpg. The latter has wmv as default and only avi as the other option. There are configurable hotkeys for snapshot, record, pause and stop actions and the option to choose different locations for the output. Finally Startup of Windows lets the user choose to start ScreenCamera with Windows of course but also the option to start ScreenCamera ‘invisible’ or minimized.

    ScreenCamera works on Windows 2000 and newer.

    Giveaway link: http://www.pcwinsoft.com/promotion/rgdot/registration.asp