Suggest a free and functional screen capture tool (windows 7)

raksrules

raksrules

Level N
I need a free and functional screen capture tool to use on my work laptop which has windows 7 OS.
The tools i have used before are Zapgrab (not sure if this works on windows 7) and the inbuilt utility snipping tool.
Both do the job of screen capture but i need something which also provides me functionality to edit the images, as in highlight using Rectangles / Circles etc and may be pointers / arrows and text writing facility.
One tool that does this well is SnagIt but it isn't free and i cannot risk putting a illegitimate copy on my work laptop. So need something which provides the functionality of SnagIt but is also free.
Also i don't want that app to install any bloatware / adware / malware on my machine.

Any options for me ?
 
raksrules said:
I need a free and functional screen capture tool to use on my work laptop which has windows 7 OS.
The tools i have used before are Zapgrab (not sure if this works on windows 7) and the inbuilt utility snipping tool.
Both do the job of screen capture but i need something which also provides me functionality to edit the images, as in highlight using Rectangles / Circles etc and may be pointers / arrows and text writing facility.
One tool that does this well is SnagIt but it isn't free and i cannot risk putting a illegitimate copy on my work laptop. So need something which provides the functionality of SnagIt but is also free.
Also i don't want that app to install any bloatware / adware / malware on my machine.

Any options for me ?
Click to expand...

I am presuming, you will be predominantly using this tool on a browser, if so and and you can use firefox, use the 'Fireshot' extension, it will let you do all that you asked for and more, but again I am making a big assumption here. I am in a similar boat using a combination of fireshot and snipping tool to make my screen designs and mockups.

Edit - Fireshot also works with IE, I havent tested it though.

Nothing comes close to snag-it, like you said, it aint free, let me know if you find anything else.
 
It would almost never be used in browser. In fact I want something which will work system wide and most captures will be for my work software.
 
If you have MS Word, you could paste the snapshot there and mark your highlights etc. using the 'Insert -> Shapes' option.
 
Why not the age old way? Press the PrintScreen key on the keyboard >> Open Paint (which is a default MS program that comes with all Windows) >> Paste >> Do any annotations, including text >> Save
 
I usually never save the screenshots, in form of files (jpg etc). I take the screenshot (not entire screen, only the section i want), overlay with text and highlights and copy paste that in an email or some document i might be making.
 
I am using "Wisdom-soft ScreenHunter" since last 4-5 years.
It allows to take screenshot of active window or give you option to highlight the area by making a rectangle by pressing a single key. It then save the screenshot in specified folder. You can choose the output format like bmp, gif or jpeg. With screenhunter I have captured 100's of screens/windows.
It doesn't allow you to edit images but keep the latest in clipboard.

If you have win7 the it already have a tool "snipping tool", but you have to save every screenshot manually. But it allows you to edit/mark the captured screen and save it in clipboard so that you can paste it directly in email.
 
raksrules said:
I usually never save the screenshots, in form of files (jpg etc). I take the screenshot (not entire screen, only the section i want), overlay with text and highlights and copy paste that in an email or some document i might be making.
Click to expand...
Whats the issue with (ALT+PrintScreen ) or (Print Screen) ?? It will copy the image to the memory and you can directly paste in email or word doc and overlay with text.
If you want a sequence of images to represent something like a step by step or to reproduce defects in an app try using the in built PSR.
Go to run and type psr and click on Start Recording. It will take a snapshot at every click and then compile everything in a zip file. It has the ability to add comments to every step.
The snipping tool lets you do the basic editing but there is something more you are looking for then just hit copy and paste in pbrush and edit there.
I personally end up using snipping tool most of the times else just ALT+Print Screen is good for direct copy paste in mails and docs.
 
I wanted to avoid the screen capture + using Paint etc and all, need something which has inbuilt functionality. Something which is replacement of SnagIt.
I haven't tried any mentioned above, so will try and see if anything fits the requirements.
 
Ok so i tried the Greenshot and this seems to be a good alternative to SnagIt. Its download was very small in size and it is easy to use. I have set my preferences so that the screenshot always appears in image editor and also the notifications should not come.
Thanks a lot for this alternative people.
 
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