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Snagit 2.0 arrives with expanded feature set (updated)
TechSmith's powerful Snagit app for capturing and annotating screenshots or websites has been around for a little over a year, having first been reviewed on TUAW in November 2010. Today Snagit (US$49.95) has been updated to version 2.0, expanding the capabilities of the app to a higher level. Screen capture apps like Snagit are extremely popular with bloggers, since they give us the opportunity to capture entire screens or details of apps for review purposes. For example, if I need to grab screenshots of Wirecast screens for a review, I'll click on the Snagit button that floats constantly in the upper right of my Mac screen. That action (or just moving my cursor over the button) opens up a tiny window populated with buttons for capturing video or still imagery, along with toggles for including the cursor in my screen capture or snagging the images to the clipboard. With a click on a big red button, a set of crosshairs appears on the screen -- moving the cursor around highlights different areas to capture, and clicking on the screen either captures a still image or begins the recording process for video. The new features in version 2.0 provide a lot of power. For those who are working to capture screen video for post-processing in Camtasia to create screencasts, Snagit not only captures video of what's happening on the screen but can grab a video narration still image from a webcam. Video now outputs to Camtasia, TechSmith's Screencast.com service, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and FTP. Users just need to set up accounts in advance for one-click uploads to those sites and services. For image captures (not video), your masterpiece can now be sent to Facebook, Twitter and Evernote. %Gallery-148543% The powerful image editor in Snagit now adds a number of new stamps. My favorites are the OS X and iOS interface stamps, made up of common interface elements that you can select, stamp, move, and resize. There are new color filters for grayscale, sepia, and inverting images, as well as a way to change the canvas color. Another screenshot app that is popular with bloggers is Ambrosia Software's Snapz Pro X ($69.95), but at the present time it doesn't include editing and annotation tools for images, nor does it have the breadth of social networking links of Snagit. Note that if you're looking for a tool that will let you add effects, callouts, and more to captured video, you'll probably want to skip Snagit and go with TechSmith's Camtasia. A review of the latest version of Camtasia can be found here. The update is free available to existing owners of Snagit for $24.95.
First Look: Snagit for Mac Public Beta
Switchers were elated earlier this year when TechSmith, developers of the fabulous Camtasia screen recorder application for Windows, finally shipped their flagship app for the Mac. Those switchers were probably also wishing that TechSmith would create a Mac version of their screen capture application, Snagit. Well, their wishes have been granted! TechSmith has announced the public beta version of Snagit for Mac, and a first look at the application shows that it's a worthy screenshot snapper for the platform. The company has made the beta available for feedback on operation and features, so this is a perfect time to download the program and give it a try. After installing the application and launching it, all that is visible is a small "tab" that pops out from the side of the Mac screen when you hover over it. The tab has a drop-down for choosing the capture mode and a red button for taking the screen shot. There are two capture modes -- all-in-one capture and window capture. Window capture mode displays all open windows Exposé-style, and you click on one of the windows to select it for capture. Once captured, it appears in a screen where you can annotate the screenshot in a number of ways, or add effects. At this time, there are no effects and the app shows that the feature is coming soon.
