We need to capture a limited portion of screen or full screen of desktop for support or documentation purpose. Sometime we need to take screenshot of full webpage which is not possible with normal PrtScn key. There are lot many screen capture software available in the market. Some of them are free and in some cases, you need to pay around $50 as premium for better options. Now a days, we are using Smartphone like Android, BlackBerry, iPhone for browsing the web or running numerous applications. There also we need screen capture tools to share the screenshots of these devices. Earlier we provided a list of screen capture tools for Android and tools like Capture It for BlackBerry. In this post, we going to list free and paid best screen capture software for Windows, Linux and Mac OS.
If you need screenshots of browsers only, then there are Firefox add-on and Google Chrome extension for this purpose as well. Some of them use cloud platform where your latest screenshot will be saved on their servers and you can send the URL to your friend or support staff.
Now a days, every operating system comes with a default screen capture application. For example, latest Windows OS (Windows 7) is having Snipping Tool in accessories section. Ubuntu comes with “Take Screenshot” application and Mac OS is having inbuilt screen capture tool accessible with “Command + Shift + 4” keys. But if you are not satisfied with these default application’s feature, then you may try advance and feature rich screen capture software listed below.
Free Screen Capture Software – Windows, Mac and Linux
If you don’t want to spend a penny for just taking screenshots, you can use freely available software for this purpose.
Snipping Tool – As we said earlier, Windows 7 and Vista are having inbuilt screen capture tool named Snipping Tool. This tool is only available in Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise version of OS. That means, if you are using Starter or Basic version, you will not find this tool under Accessories in Start menu. This is a very simple tool with basic functionality of taking either full screen or certain area screenshot. If you want this type of snipping tool on Windows XP or basic version of Windows 7 and Vista, then you should try Snippy. Apart from Snippy, Gadwin PrintScreen is another feature rich screen capture tool for Windows PC.
Evernote – It is a clouding platform to store information, data provided by you. You can use this tool to take screenshots and edit them. The plus point of this tool is that, it is available for Windows, Mac OS, Mobile devices like Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, iPad, Windows Mobile, Palm etc. And as your screenshots taken from any device will be stored in your Evernote cloud account, you can access them from anywhere using any of these devices. Evernote is also available as extension for Google Chrome browser.
BSR Screen Recorder – It is another free software for screen capture in Windows PC. It can also record your screen and can save the video file or you can take still screenshots as well. It works perfectly fine on Windows XP, Vista, 7 and Server 2008.
ScreenHunter – It is available for free as well as in pro version. Free version is capable of taking normal screenshots of full screen or particular area on screen. Of course the pro version which is available for $29.95 is having more features, options than free version. But if you are willing to invest that much amount for added features, I would recommend something else. Keep reading this post, you will find good options in paid screen capture software for your computer and need.
For Linux users
Above listed software works on Windows and Mac OS (few of them). If you are using Linux distribution like Ubuntu, you can always use “Take Screenshot” tool available under “Accessories” section. If you want more effects and options then try Shutter. It is a feature rich application for Linux which is available to install under “Ubuntu Software Package” as well.
Wink is another open source application for screen capture. You can use this software on Linux as well as Windows PC for free.
Paid but Best Screen Capture Software
Do you want to add effects, stylish captions, boxes, highlighter and much more and also ready to spend few bucks for that, then here are few worth screen capture software for you.
SnagIt – This is the best screen capture tool available in the market. SnagIt is available for $49.95 for Windows and Mac OS but it is worth the money. You will find lot many features like effects, shadow, arrow (simple or curly), image editing tools, image enhancer, watermark option and much more. It is having almost everything that you need for screen capture and after effects. You can also record your screen activities and save that as GIF file using SnagIt.
WinSnap – It is another screen capture software available for $24.90. Right now the latest version of WinSnap is V3.5.5, but you can download and use Version 1 for free which is having very basic features. WinSnap only works on Windows PC with XP, Vista or Windows 7.
HyperSnap – Another paid screen capture software to take screenshots and add them in support questions, presentation, web pages, marketing materials and handouts. It is available for $39.95.
For Mac and Windows users, I would recommend SnagIt if you are willing to pay a premium. SnagIt is also available for 30 days trial where you can download and install the software on your system and try the features for 30 days period.
In free software section for screen capture, Snipping Tool and Evernote are better choice.
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