On the standard Windows operating system, pressing the Print-Screen key will copy an image of the entire screen to the clipboard, holding the Alt key and pressing the Print-Screen key will capture the currently selected window. Vista and Windows 7 come with a screen capture utility pre-installed. Other operating systems may also offer a similar utility for screen capture.
As an alternative to the utilities that come with the OS, the freeware products in this review cover most of the following useful features and functions which users may find they need.
Capture full screen or freely selected screen areas.
Auto detect windows and control objects such as button, box, toolbar, tab, etc.
Snap scrolling windows, allow delayed captures.
Re-size screen shots or create thumbnails and other extra features.
This article's focus is on screen captures. If your priority is editing after the capture then check out Best Free Digital Image Editor. Several of the editors listed also perform screen captures.
Discussion
Screenshot Captor supports multiple screens, full screen, window, rectangular area, and fixed area captures from either hot keys or from the programs menu. The cursor can be included or excluded. It's the only capture facility that can take a self protrait. The software can acquire images from a scanner.
Once captured the program can automatically save the image, print the image, save the image to the clipboard, keep the image, display in the built in editor, email the image, or uploading to image hosting services.
The built in editor is rich with features. You may not find it necessary to use an image editor.
It does nag for registration but registration is free.
DuckCapture supports snapping a region, window or object, scrolling window and fullscreen. You can choose which snapping mode you like with a hot key or mousing over the program icon on the system tray.
With this program, you have a choice to select an image outline, setting output target to the clipboard or auto-save to a file.
I found this program easy and intuitive to use, but it lacks a simple image editor built-in and a setting for a delayed capture.
SnapDrawis a screenshot capture - editor - annotation tool. It only supports window or full screen capture but the image can be cropped with the built in editor. There is no delayed capture setting. Operates from either a hot key or the notification icon.
Where it excels is in the built in editor. There are many tools available such as callouts, magnifying lenses, 3D perspective, and reflections.
Images can be saved to clipboard, file, email or FTP. There is no direct to printer option.
Lightscreen captures screen, window and area from hotkeys or tray icon. It supports screenshot delay, cursor and multi-monitor. Autosaves its outputs to file or clipboard. No other output functions are supported.
Cropper makes it fast and easy to grab parts of the screen from either a hot key or from the notification icon. Fullscreen, active window and rectangular area are supported. No auto-save, auto-scroll, or delayed capture. A screenshot and a thumbnail can be created simultaneously.
Output can be directed to the clipboard, printer, or an image file.
Microsoft's Snipping Tool comes already installed on Windows Vista and Windows 7. A capture must be initiated by first launching the program. From there one can select a screen capture type or press Escape and the PrintScreen button hot key. Full screen, active screen, rectangular area, and freehand area seletions are supported. No auto-save, auto-scroll, or delayed capture.
Output is displayed in the editor window and sent either to email or an image file. The editor is limited to two tools--a freehand highlighting tool and a freehand line drawing tool. There is no printer output function.
Screen Grab Profeatures one-click grab of desktop, active window and region from the main interface or hot keys, allows for timer operation and copies images to the clipboard or external editor.
I liked that it had an option to automatically open the external editor after saving the file.
Lowers screen resolution when attempting to capture a rectangular region so nealy half of the right and bottom sides are unavailable.
Requires an email address for registration.
Jing only supports rectangular screen captures. However, it also can capture a video of activity within the selection. Delayed capture, hotkeys, auto-save, and scrolling windows are not supported. Output to clipboard, file, and Screencast.com. Includes an image editor but not a video editor.
The following screen capture tools don't properly handle the text size setting thereby effectively cropping 225% of the screen with a 150% text screen setting. They may work fine if your text setting is normal (100%). Some were brought up in comments here or noted from other sources.
PicPick (Note: PicPick is bundled with the Bing toolbar. Select Custom install if you don't want the toolbar.) Use with caution, this program generates more negative comments than all others combined due to the added crapware.
Have Your Say
You are invited to share and discuss your views in our freeware forum. To post in the forum you need to register first but that's quick and immediate. Alternatively, anyone can leave a comment at the bottom of this page.
Gizmo's Freeware award as the best product in its class!
Runs as a stand-alone program on a user's computer
Supports snapping a region, window or object, scrolling window and fullscreen using a hotkey or from the system tray. Editor. Delayed Capture. Output to clipboard, editor, printer, or autosave to a file.
Save resulting images as PNG, JPG, BMP, GIF, TIF, PDF, etc.
DuckCapture
8
Runs as a stand-alone program on a user's computer
Supports snapping a region, window or object, scrolling window and fullscreen using a hotkey or from the system tray. Output to clipboard, editor, printer, or autosave to a file.
Windows, Microsoft Visual C++ Redistribution Package.
Save resulting images as PNG, JPG & BMP.
SnapDraw
7
Runs as a stand-alone program on a user's computer
Fullscreen or active window capture using either a hotkey or system tray. Outstanding editor and annotator. Supports clipboard, email, and FTP. Autosave to file.
No rectangular region, auto-scroll, or delayed capture. No direct print function.
Runs as a stand-alone program on a user's computer
Capture full screen, active window, and rectangular area using either hot keys or program. Delayed capture & autofile name. Output autosaved to file or clipboard only.
There is no portable version of this product available.
Pre-installed with Windows Vista or 7
Save resulting images as PNG, GIF, JPG, & MHT
Screen Grab Pro
6
Runs as a stand-alone program on a user's computer
Capture full screen, active window, and rectangular area from hot key or program. Delayed capture. Output to clipboard or auto save file. Can open file automatically with default image editor.
No auto-scroll or editor. No printer output. Lowers screen resolution when capturing rectangular area so most of right and bottom sides are unavailable.
This software category is maintained by editor okrick . Registered members can contact the editor with any comments or suggestions they might have by clicking here.
by Rob (not verified) on 3. February 2012 - 8:47(88202)
Regarding problems when text size is set to large.
Here is my advice to those that have changed that DPI setting -
Change it back to Normal.
MS should never have provided such an option.
For those that say 'I must have it', please choose a cleaner solution -
- Buy a bigger monitor
or
- Change Windows Screen Resolution
or
- Get a decent full screen magnifier.
The one that I use, can be set to have no border, and can be turned on with a keyboard shortcut.
You use the same keyboard shortcut to turn it off.
When on, it makes everything twice the size, so you are only seeing 25% of the screen. You move your mouse to see other portions of the screen. It is a live magnification, so you can click and type, and fully interact with the running applications.
I won't mention the name (unless there are requests for it), as it is not freeware.
I believe Win 7 has one built in, but I have not tried it, as you have to have Aero etc, turned on (I don't).
by CynthiaD (not verified) on 24. January 2012 - 16:07(87703)
I've looked at LightShot page and downloaded and tried Screen Capture Software by InformUp. Seems both want to upload to a server? I just want to be able to save the screen capture to my hard drive as a jpg. I have not read thru all posts. Is there something just for that? The latter program did not work for me because it it said I did not have a remote server connection and had no idea how to resolve that.
by Joel (not verified) on 23. January 2012 - 15:51(87658)
Gadwin PrintScreen was the top dog earlier in this category and is deserving of better treatment as it is functional, lightweight, and has enough options to satisfy the average users. I have found it more functional than commercial products in the same space.
Any updates to screen captures will have to wait until late January. I also do the income tax reviews and want to finish that before tax season starts.
by Anonymous999 (not verified) on 9. November 2011 - 17:42(82997)
The printkey2000 link sends you to the author's site, and from there he sends you to another site, where you have to register to be able to download. Except it's impossible to type the captcha. As well, there's some bug with the page so it runs some script for 5 minutes and it's impossible to exit. What a mess.
by Exilas (not verified) on 2. November 2011 - 21:13(82615)
I'd need a tool that takes snapshot of the screen (even better, just a part of it) continuously (let's say 4-5 times a second) and saves it to a set of say 500 files, rotating them over and over. Do you know of a tool able to accomplish this?
The reason is, I have a nagging behaviour of my Win7: at random intervals inbetween 10 and 30 minutes, the Win7 main toolbar I keep in autohide pops up then hides again. Sometimes, I catch a glimpse of a ballon tip at the bottom right of the screen, but I'm unable to read it before it disappear. I'd like to be able to snapshot it to read it and possibly remove the cause of the nag.
I thought also about using a screen recoder utility like CamStudio, but I fear the file could become too big and unhandy.
by David Nelson (not verified) on 2. November 2011 - 21:12(82614)
If it's any help to anyone I'm running win7 x64 with SP1 and Firefox v7.0.1. I've played with scrolling screengrab software and until DuckCapture was not having any success. I can vouch for DuckCapture for one as it works really well on my configuration.
by AIM (not verified) on 4. December 2011 - 7:27(84353)
One simple way to capture a whole web page regardless of it's length is while it's up is to click on file, save page as, then a window comes up and asks you to select a place or file on your hard drive where to store it and then click save. I would suggest to create a new file folder and give it a specific name. Something that relates to what the subject of the page is. I came here due to a discussion of saving overlays to use in Google Earth so for that person, a file name of "overlays" might fit. Whatever you name the folder, save what fits into it. AND REMEMBER using this will save the whole page regardless of size. If you want additional pages each must be saved individually as they're brought up on your screen.
by JerryRhino (not verified) on 6. October 2011 - 22:37(81024)
Screen captures are 3 dimensional, pixel width, pixel height, and number of color bits (eg 16 bit, 32 bit). If I am displaying a 32 bit picture on my screen, how many bits do the utilities list here capture? Bet they don't all get 32 bits.
by John Wright (not verified) on 6. October 2011 - 13:18(80994)
I totally agree! Have been using Gadwin PrintScreen for years. It is a simple tool but does just what I need. Tried some other suggestions from this site but the tools were too cumbersome.
The only advantage I see for this program over the built in Print-screen is that it can record video and audio. Also, it does not suffer from the font size bug.
No option to exclude the Krut window itself if it happens to be in front of the area being snapped. Exceptionally difficult to set area to be snapped.
by Cecil Ledbetter (not verified) on 5. October 2011 - 21:26(80967)
I have really enjoyed a screen capture tool that I have it is not a stand alone screen capture tool but a photo editing tool. The product is Photoscape @ www.photoscape.org. Screen capture is one of many tools that can be found in this package. The capture is by region, window, and full screen. Since it is also a rather powerful photo editing package it is immediately loaded into the edit window once the capture is completed. The file can be saved in multiple formats including all the standard image formats but most useful to me is saving as PDF which can easily then be marked up with any of the freeware PDF editing packages. I like PDF X-change Viewer this package is easy to use and has all the tools I need for marking up the screen capture.
I used Gadwin myself until I got my latest monitor. I have to use the largest font size to be able to read anything and Gadwin was one of those with the font size problem.
by Paladin2 (not verified) on 5. October 2011 - 20:37(80959)
I'm not in need of anything super fancy but Gadwin has met all my needs and even has the super fancy stuff some feel they need. Regardless of how good any other capture utility may be I still can't see any reason to change and I wonder why Gizmo has all those 3 1/2 star programs listed and no Gadwin. So I'm with you on that. Now if Gizmo would wake up and ditch the three and a half star stuff.
by jaska (not verified) on 5. October 2011 - 18:53(80950)
Screenshot Captor extracts, then stops with "Access denied" -box => Installation stops. Same happened with 2 different XP SP3 machines. Both running the same firewall & virus protection sw, though
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Comments
Regarding problems when text size is set to large.
Here is my advice to those that have changed that DPI setting -
Change it back to Normal.
MS should never have provided such an option.
For those that say 'I must have it', please choose a cleaner solution -
- Buy a bigger monitor
or
- Change Windows Screen Resolution
or
- Get a decent full screen magnifier.
The one that I use, can be set to have no border, and can be turned on with a keyboard shortcut.
You use the same keyboard shortcut to turn it off.
When on, it makes everything twice the size, so you are only seeing 25% of the screen. You move your mouse to see other portions of the screen. It is a live magnification, so you can click and type, and fully interact with the running applications.
I won't mention the name (unless there are requests for it), as it is not freeware.
I believe Win 7 has one built in, but I have not tried it, as you have to have Aero etc, turned on (I don't).
I've looked at LightShot page and downloaded and tried Screen Capture Software by InformUp. Seems both want to upload to a server? I just want to be able to save the screen capture to my hard drive as a jpg. I have not read thru all posts. Is there something just for that? The latter program did not work for me because it it said I did not have a remote server connection and had no idea how to resolve that.
Please try the ones suggested in the main article review. The links to their home sites, and downloads are in the Quick Selection Guide.
Gadwin PrintScreen was the top dog earlier in this category and is deserving of better treatment as it is functional, lightweight, and has enough options to satisfy the average users. I have found it more functional than commercial products in the same space.
another simple free application for screen capture http://www.informup.com/free-screen-capture-software.aspx
Thanks for your recommendation.
Any updates to screen captures will have to wait until late January. I also do the income tax reviews and want to finish that before tax season starts.
Thanks for your patience.
Everyone seems to be overlooking Kazam Screencaster.
It should be added to this page.
https://launchpad.net/kazam
This program requires Python. I'll take a look at it in a couple of weeks.
The printkey2000 link sends you to the author's site, and from there he sends you to another site, where you have to register to be able to download. Except it's impossible to type the captcha. As well, there's some bug with the page so it runs some script for 5 minutes and it's impossible to exit. What a mess.
I'd need a tool that takes snapshot of the screen (even better, just a part of it) continuously (let's say 4-5 times a second) and saves it to a set of say 500 files, rotating them over and over. Do you know of a tool able to accomplish this?
The reason is, I have a nagging behaviour of my Win7: at random intervals inbetween 10 and 30 minutes, the Win7 main toolbar I keep in autohide pops up then hides again. Sometimes, I catch a glimpse of a ballon tip at the bottom right of the screen, but I'm unable to read it before it disappear. I'd like to be able to snapshot it to read it and possibly remove the cause of the nag.
I thought also about using a screen recoder utility like CamStudio, but I fear the file could become too big and unhandy.
Any suggestion is appreciated.
Thanks,
Marco
Perhaps Jing will work for you. Give it a try.
If it's any help to anyone I'm running win7 x64 with SP1 and Firefox v7.0.1. I've played with scrolling screengrab software and until DuckCapture was not having any success. I can vouch for DuckCapture for one as it works really well on my configuration.
Would it be possible to indicate which of the products (if any) allow one to capture an entire Web page, or is that a different category of utility?
One simple way to capture a whole web page regardless of it's length is while it's up is to click on file, save page as, then a window comes up and asks you to select a place or file on your hard drive where to store it and then click save. I would suggest to create a new file folder and give it a specific name. Something that relates to what the subject of the page is. I came here due to a discussion of saving overlays to use in Google Earth so for that person, a file name of "overlays" might fit. Whatever you name the folder, save what fits into it. AND REMEMBER using this will save the whole page regardless of size. If you want additional pages each must be saved individually as they're brought up on your screen.
Siteshoter
Thanks!
Screen captures are 3 dimensional, pixel width, pixel height, and number of color bits (eg 16 bit, 32 bit). If I am displaying a 32 bit picture on my screen, how many bits do the utilities list here capture? Bet they don't all get 32 bits.
wow. i'm surpised LightShot isn't in the top of that list. It's unbeatable, imo.
I agree totally! I love lightshot.........easy to use and works great!
Best one for my use by FAR!!
I don't think I could survive w/o Gadwin Printscreen. Not a ton of features but does exactly what I need it to do.
I totally agree! Have been using Gadwin PrintScreen for years. It is a simple tool but does just what I need. Tried some other suggestions from this site but the tools were too cumbersome.
I have a Mac, and I take screenshots with Krut Computer Recorder on Mac or Windows or Linux.
Krut Computer Recorder does more than screenshots but I find it very handy for that purpose.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/krut/ at Source Forge
The only advantage I see for this program over the built in Print-screen is that it can record video and audio. Also, it does not suffer from the font size bug.
No option to exclude the Krut window itself if it happens to be in front of the area being snapped. Exceptionally difficult to set area to be snapped.
I have really enjoyed a screen capture tool that I have it is not a stand alone screen capture tool but a photo editing tool. The product is Photoscape @ www.photoscape.org. Screen capture is one of many tools that can be found in this package. The capture is by region, window, and full screen. Since it is also a rather powerful photo editing package it is immediately loaded into the edit window once the capture is completed. The file can be saved in multiple formats including all the standard image formats but most useful to me is saving as PDF which can easily then be marked up with any of the freeware PDF editing packages. I like PDF X-change Viewer this package is easy to use and has all the tools I need for marking up the screen capture.
You should recommend it to the Best Free Digital Image Editor category.
The best free screen capture utility is still PrintScreen from Gadwin. It's at the bottom of this page: http://www.gadwin.com/download/
Works without complaint on everything from XP to Win7, including 64-bit versions.
I used Gadwin myself until I got my latest monitor. I have to use the largest font size to be able to read anything and Gadwin was one of those with the font size problem.
I'm not in need of anything super fancy but Gadwin has met all my needs and even has the super fancy stuff some feel they need. Regardless of how good any other capture utility may be I still can't see any reason to change and I wonder why Gizmo has all those 3 1/2 star programs listed and no Gadwin. So I'm with you on that. Now if Gizmo would wake up and ditch the three and a half star stuff.
Your other comment about Gadwin has been deleted. Please do not make unnecessary repeated posts.
Screenshot Captor extracts, then stops with "Access denied" -box => Installation stops. Same happened with 2 different XP SP3 machines. Both running the same firewall & virus protection sw, though
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