If you want a little more functionality with your screen captures, you may want to think about investing in a professional screen capture utility. Most software packages can be purchased for $30-$50 and are easily downloaded via the Internet. You can capture as well as edit screenshots with most packages that you can buy.
If you are wondering what screenshots are all about, check out an introduction to screenshots. You can read about basic screen capturing that doesn’t require any special software (expect and operating system).
Writer’s UA reviewed a number of screenshot utilities back in December 2005. Check out their review for a good guideline of what to look for in a screenshot capture program.
Snagit, by Techsmith, is on version 8. I regularly use Snagit to capture screen images because I like the number of capture options that it offers. Among the unique capture options are the ability to capture text from error messages and file listings, a printer capture that creates a digital picture from anything you can print on an printer, and a time-delayed capture allowing you to open drop-down lists before capturing the screen.
Fullshot, by Inbit, is currently on version 9.2. For me, Fullshot’s interface is a little easier to follow than Snagit, but that may be due to the fact that I have been using Snagit a bit longer than Fullshot. One unique feature of Fullshot is that the program adds buttons to the active window for easier capturing (see below). You can use either the buttons or keyboard shortcuts to start the capture of your choice. You can capture things such as menus, entire windows, dialog boxes and so on.
Hypersnap, by Hyperionics, is on version 6. This program has been around for a while, even though it has changed owners a few times. Similar to Fullshot and Snagit, you can capture portions of your screen, screenshots from Direct-X run games (most of the current games for your home computer), and various other screen images. One unique feature of Hypersnap is that you can add time and date stamps to your screen captures. You can also annotate each of your captures by using little text boxes.