Recomendation for free screen capture prog

  • Thread starter Thread starter peterlonz
  • Start date Start date
P

peterlonz

Hi,

I know this is a relatively elimentary question but I wonder if someone can
recommend one or more simple free programs that allow effective management
of the screen capture process.
I do not like the save to clipboard MS windows approach.
I would like to be able to simply select which sections of my screen I want
to capture, with some options about file save format, jpg, gif etc.
I notice also that if these screen captures are sent off by email they can
be very large in size, does anyone know to what extent they can be
compressed without losing detail?

Regards to all,
Pete
 
The best no-nonsense capture program is GRAB CLIP SAVE
http://ftp.isu.edu.tw/pub/Windows/softking/soft/en/g/gcs.exe
it grabs, converts, resizes and saves it where you want all automatically!

to resize manually & fast, you can use the free powertoy for XP (if you have
XP)
that lets you right click on an image and it shrinks it fast....
IMAGE RESIZER (download link is on the right)

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

Try these 2, I think you will like them :-)

www.computerboom.com
 
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
I know this is a relatively elimentary question but I wonder if
someone can recommend one or more simple free programs that allow
effective management of the screen capture process. I do not like
the save to clipboard MS windows approach. I would like to be able
to simply select which sections of my screen I want to capture, with
some options about file save format, jpg, gif etc.
Click to expand...

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

ScreenHunter is my favorite:

http://www.wisdom-soft.com/products/screenhunter.htm

There are paid versions but the free one does everything you want.

If you want to resize the image, the free Windows resize tool works
great.

Bill T.
 
peterlonz said:
Hi,

I know this is a relatively elimentary question but I wonder if someone
can recommend one or more simple free programs that allow effective
management of the screen capture process.
I do not like the save to clipboard MS windows approach.
I would like to be able to simply select which sections of my screen I
want to capture, with some options about file save format, jpg, gif etc.
I notice also that if these screen captures are sent off by email they can
be very large in size, does anyone know to what extent they can be
compressed without losing detail?

Regards to all,
Pete
Click to expand...

I've tried several dedicated screen capture programs and discarded them all
in favour of Irfanview. Go to Options > Capture Screenshot to see all the
options available.

Irfanview http://www.irfanview.com/
Irfanview Context Menu Extension
http://wittswallpapers.com/Oldies/indexoldies.html
Irfanview Plugins http://www.tucows.com/preview/415586

===

Frank Bohan
¶ The generation of random numbers should not be left to chance.
 
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:


*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

ScreenHunter is my favorite:

http://www.wisdom-soft.com/products/screenhunter.htm

There are paid versions but the free one does everything you want.

If you want to resize the image, the free Windows resize tool works
great.

Bill T.
Click to expand...

I guess you never tried MWSnap. When comparing the available options
MWSnap can be compared to the non-freeware Screenhunter Plus but the
Screenhunter Free edition is far behind MWSnap.
 
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
I guess you never tried MWSnap. When comparing the available options
MWSnap can be compared to the non-freeware Screenhunter Plus but the
Screenhunter Free edition is far behind MWSnap.
Click to expand...

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

You're right, I haven't tried MWSnap. I'll give it a try.

Bill T.
 
To provide lossless image compression of your screen capture I would use
the png file format. png is excellent for low colour screen shots. For
example, I just captured a screen shot of the standard windows explorer
screen (1280 x 1024) and it compressed down to 78kb.

Please note that I used Irfanview to do the screen shot which also
allowed me to use Irfanview's png plugin which optimises the png
compression to make it the best compression available. But, Irfanview
can take a few minutes to optimise the png compression depending on how
fast your computer is.

You might be better off doing all your screen shots first (saving them
as png, without optimisation) and then using Irfanview to batch compress
them again using the png plugin with optimisation enabled.

I would recommend that you read this link about image formats
http://www.r1ch.net/img-formats/

So probably use MWSnap to capture portions of the screen with it set to
save as png. Then batch convert them all using irfanview with the png
optimisation plugin.

I would recommend that you try compressing some small low colour images
using irfanview first so you can see what it is doing, ie, it will max
out your processor for minutes on end compressing the image, but you can
see what it is doing if you save images as png. If you use the hot keys
for screen capture using irfanview, then it will max out your cpu for
ages as it compresses in the background.
 
Jast said:
To provide lossless image compression of your screen capture I would use
the png file format. png is excellent for low colour screen shots. For
example, I just captured a screen shot of the standard windows explorer
screen (1280 x 1024) and it compressed down to 78kb.
Click to expand...

I just tried that using FastStone, it compressed to 46k without any
user intervention.

Usage of FastStone is different, hit Print Screen is normal, you then
use the mouse pointer on both sides or right down the bottom, to reveal
choices & when all done & saved you hit the Esc key.
 
Replying to my own message:

Tried MWSnap and I do like it. One big advantage is the built in
picture viewer. One tiny disadvantage is it does not capture the mouse
arrow, unless there is a setting I haven't found yet. ScreenHunter has
a check box option whether to capture it or not. Minor, but sometimes
you want it in there.

Thanks!

Bill T.
 
Tried MWSnap and I do like it. One big advantage is the built in
picture viewer. One tiny disadvantage is it does not capture the mouse
arrow, unless there is a setting I haven't found yet.
Click to expand...

No, MWSnap doesn't capture the mouse pointer, it goes one better. It lets
you add various cursors, including the mouse pointer after the capture.
Have a look at Edit/Add Cursor. Also runs very nicely from a flash drive.
 
Tried MWSnap and I do like it. One big advantage is the built in
picture viewer. One tiny disadvantage is it does not capture the mouse
arrow.
Click to expand...

I used to use MWSnap until I looked at the recently published
FastStone Screen Capture 2.0. It does capture the mouse arrow.

But most amazingly, it's the first freeware screen cap that will
capture a scrolling web page. Wow!
 
Dan said:
I used to use MWSnap until I looked at the recently published
FastStone Screen Capture 2.0. It does capture the mouse arrow.

But most amazingly, it's the first freeware screen cap that will
capture a scrolling web page. Wow!
Click to expand...

I'm truly amazed that you claim it's a first. ;) URL2BMP has been
around for several years. See:

Program: URL2BMP
Author: Pixel Technology
Install: n.i.
Ware: Freeware
http://www.pixel-technology.com/
http://www.pixel-technology.com/freeware/url2bmp/english/index.html

Susan
--
Posted to alt.comp.freeware
Search alt.comp.freeware (or read it online):
http://www.google.com/advanced_group_search?q=+group:alt.comp.freeware
Pricelessware & ACF: http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org (not maintained)
 
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
No, MWSnap doesn't capture the mouse pointer, it goes one better. It
lets you add various cursors, including the mouse pointer after the
capture. Have a look at Edit/Add Cursor. Also runs very nicely from
a flash drive.
Click to expand...

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

Very nice! Thanks again.

Bill Turner
 
Hello,
I'm truly amazed that you claim it's a first. ;) URL2BMP has
been around for several years. See:
Click to expand...

which has the disadvantage you have to "guess" the final size
of the shot...

Also around: CaptureNPrint (now adware) and Screenshot Captor
(registerware), which was my choice until now (have to take
a look at FastStones).

http://www.donationcoder.com/

Regards,
Thorsten
 
But most amazingly, it's the first freeware screen cap that will
capture a scrolling web page. Wow!
Click to expand...

Are you sure? I was using PhotoFiltre to do that for ages...
HT
 
Slightly off-topic, but I just noticed something strange. If you're
running a dual monitor, PrtScr captures the entire screen area, both
monitors, as if they were one double-wide monitor. I can't find any
way to capture just one monitor.
 
I'm truly amazed that you claim it's a first. ;) URL2BMP has been
around for several years. See:
Click to expand...

Your point is well made. Perhaps I spoke too vaguely.

URL2BMP is a limited program. FastStone is the first fully featured
dedicated screen cap prog to offer scrolling web pages.
 
Back
Top