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Best Free Screen Capture Tool [1]

Last updated by site.editor [2] on 30. September 2017 - 06:13

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Introduction

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. Some Windows systems 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 might 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;
  • Auto adapt to screen settings, such as custom text size;
  • 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. [5] Several of the editors listed also perform screen captures.

Rated Products

[7]

Screenshot Captor [7] [8]

The only capture facility that can take a self-portrait

Our Rating:
5
License: Free (Donationware)
Supports snapping a Multimon (multiple monitors), Desktop, Active Window, Region, Windows Object, and Scrolling Capture using a hot-key or from the system tray. Editor. Delayed Capture. Output to clipboard, editor, printer, auto-save to a file, or automatic or on-demand uploading of screenshots to image hosting services. Scanner acquisition tools and scanner image correction. Capture Windows 7 partial transparency effects.
Requests for free registration on start up
Read full review... [8]
[12]

DuckCapture [12] [13]

Make screen capture easy with four capture modes

Our Rating:
4
License: Free
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.
No delayed capture. No simple image editor
Read full review... [13]
[15]

SnapDraw [15] [16]

Screen capture software with annotation tools

Our Rating:
3.5
License: Free
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.
Read full review... [16]
[18]

Lightscreen [18] [19]

An easy screenshot tool

Our Rating:
3.5
License: Free (Open source)
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.
No auto-scroll, or editor. No printer output.
Read full review... [19]
[21]

Cropper [21] [22]

A screen capture utility written in C#

Our Rating:
3
License: Free (Open source)
Capture full screen, active window, or rectangular area with either a hotkey or notification icon. Output to clipboard, file, or printer.
No auto save, delayed capture, or auto-scroll. No editor.
Read full review... [22]
[24]

Snipping Tool [24] [25]

A screen capture tool built into Windows

Our Rating:
3
License: Free
Capture full screen, active window, rectangular area, and freehand region after launching program. Output to file or email.
No hotkeys, auto save, delayed capture, or auto-scroll. No printer output. Editor only allows highlighting and freehand line drawing.
Read full review... [25]
[26]

Screen Grab Pro [26] [27]

A screen capture tool features one-click grab of any screen

Our Rating:
3
License: Free
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.
Read full review... [27]
[29]

Jing [29] [30]

A simple way to take a picture or video on the screen

Our Rating:
2.5
License: Free (Limited features)
Capture rectangular area from hot key or program. Capture video of activity within rectangular area. Output to clipboard, file and screencast.com.
No full screen or active window capture. No delayed capture, auto-scroll, auto-save, or editor. No printer output.
Read full review... [30]

More Screen Capture Tools

The following screen capture tools were brought up in comments here or noted from other sources. Some 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%).

To be reviewed:

SnapCrab: http://www.fenrir-inc.com/us/snapcrab/ [52]

Related Products and Links

You might want to check out these articles too:

Editor

This software category is in need of an editor. If you would like to give something back to the freeware community by taking it over, check out this page [57] for more details. You can then contact us from that page or by clicking here [58].

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[3] https://www.techsupportalert.com/es/mejor-aplicacion-gratuita-de-captura-de-pantalla.htm
[4] https://www.techsupportalert.com/cn/best-free-screen-capture-utility.htm
[5] https://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-digital-editor.htm
[6] https://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/[field_photo]
[7] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/screenshot-captor.htm-1
[8] https://www.techsupportalert.com/node/7781
[9] http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/screenshotcaptor
[10] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/installer_advice.htm
[11] https://plus.google.com/118396188147577447707?rel=author
[12] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/duckcapture.htm-1
[13] https://www.techsupportalert.com/node/7782
[14] http://www.downloadcrew.com/article/10053-ducklink_screen_capture
[15] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/snapdraw.htm-1
[16] https://www.techsupportalert.com/node/7783
[17] http://www.crossgl.com/asc_download.htm
[18] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/lightscreen.htm-1
[19] https://www.techsupportalert.com/node/7784
[20] https://github.com/ckaiser/Lightscreen/releases
[21] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/cropper.htm-1
[22] https://www.techsupportalert.com/node/7785
[23] https://cropper.codeplex.com/
[24] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/snipping-tool.htm-1
[25] https://www.techsupportalert.com/node/7786
[26] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/screen-grab-pro.htm-1
[27] https://www.techsupportalert.com/node/7787
[28] http://www.traction-software.co.uk/screengrabpro
[29] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/jing.htm-3
[30] https://www.techsupportalert.com/node/7788
[31] https://www.techsmith.com/download/jing/
[32] http://puush.me
[33] https://captureitplus.codeplex.com
[34] http://gxdevelopment.com/screen-capture.aspx
[35] http://easycapture.en.softonic.com
[36] http://www.aplusfreeware.com/categories/mmedia/FastStoneCapture.html
[37] http://www.foxarc.com/en/downloads.html
[38] http://www.gadwin.com/products.htm
[39] http://getgreenshot.org
[40] http://horizon33.weebly.com/
[41] http://lightshot.skillbrains.com
[42] http://www.mirekw.com/winfreeware/mwsnap.html
[43] http://www.webtree.ca/newlife/printkey_info.htm
[44] http://www.fiastarta.com/PrtScr
[45] http://screencapturer.com
[46] http://wisdom-soft.com/products/screenhunter_free.htm
[47] http://www.screenpresso.com/
[48] http://shotty.devs-on.net/
[49] http://bluefive.pair.com/snapshot.htm
[50] http://www.vvcap.net
[51] http://code.google.com/p/zscreen
[52] http://www.fenrir-inc.com/us/snapcrab/
[53] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/best-free-all-one-design-tools.htm
[54] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/screen-captures-40-tools-and-tips.htm
[55] https://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-screen-session-recorder.htm
[56] https://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-color-picker.htm
[57] https://www.techsupportalert.com/become-a-reviewer.htm
[58] https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/id-become-editor-gizmos-freeware.htm