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TechSmith Snagit for Mac

Reviewed: Geetesh Bajaj

Date Created: November 17th 2010
Last Updated: November 17th 2010

Introduction
Using Snagit for Mac
Pricing and Support
Conclusion

Introduction

TechSmith Snagit is one of the most amazing programs -- all these years, TechSmith has made successive versions of Snagit available to Windows users, and now finally Snagit comes to the Mac. A screen capture application that does much more, Snagit lets you capture almost anything on the computer screen, edits to the screenshots by scaling, adding callouts, applying effects, etc. Finally, it also provides many options to share the screenshots.

TechSmith is based in Okemos, Michigan, USA. You can learn more about of Snagit for Mac from their site. My contact at TechSmith for this review was Tiffany Wood, thank you Tiffany.

In this review we'll explore Snagit for Mac, and look at its features.

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Using Snagit for Mac

Once you install, here's how you can use Snagit for Mac:

1. Launch Finder (just click the Mac HD icon on your desktop) and go to your Applications folder, where you will find an icon for Snagit -- double click to run the application.
   
   
2. This brings up the Capture window docked on the right side of the screen, as shown in Figure 1.
   
   
   Figure 1: Snagit Capture window
   
   
   Note: The Snagit Capture window can be dragged out and placed anywhere on the desktop.
   
   
   
3. Assuming the application or task you want to capture is now ready, click the downward pointing arrow in the Capture (large red) button to bring up the menu you see in Figure 2. Choosing the All-in-One Capture option provides the easiest experience ever in capturing all or part of your screen.
   
   
   Figure 2: All-in-One Capture option
   
   
4. This will activate the All-in-One capture, as shown in Figure 3. Now just move your cursor on the area which has to be captured, you can chose in between capturing the entire desktop, a region, a window, or a scrolling window from any webpage or application. As you move your cursor around, different windows and screen areas get highlighted -- ready to capture.
   
   
   Figure 3: Capture profiles
   
   As shown in Figure 3 above, the cursor changes to a cross hair with a magnified view, down-to-the-pixel precision for any capture. Figure 4 below shows the active window being selected with an auto-scroll feature -- auto-scroll, for instance lets you grab a web page that scrolls - Snagit will automatically move through the page to capture areas beyond both the vertical and horizontal scroll-bars.
   
   
   Figure 4: Active window capture with auto-scroll
   
   
5. Once the screen area is captured, you'll see it open as an image in the Snagit Editor (see Figure 5).
   
   
   Figure 5: Snagit Editor interface
   

   The interface is explained below:

   1. Canvas: Here you can preview the screen-capture image, and also view the image with any effect(s) applied. Draw customizable shapes, etc.
      
      
   2. Tools and Effects: This pane consists of two tabs:
      
      
      1. Tools: Provides drawing tools, shapes such as arrows, speech bubbles, and stamps.
         
         
      2. Effects: Consists effects like a border, shadow, edges, reflection and perspective which can be applied to your entire capture. You can even create your own custom style.
   3. Capture Tray: Displays the most recent captures and opened images. The capture you select in the tray is the one you'll see on the canvas. You can drag a previous capture onto the canvas from Capture Tray to combine captures.
      
      Within the Capture Tray, you can send your capture to Screencast.com and share a URL or embed it in your blog. The capture can be also shared through an e-mail account, FTP server, etc. Also, the captures can be copied to your clipboard with one click.
      
6. Now you can share your screeshot anywhere, just drag-and-drop your finished image from Snagit straight into your favorite applications; including all iWork and Microsoft Office programs.
   
   
7. Additionally you can save the capture image by choosing the File | Save As menu option (see Figure 6).
   
   
   Figure 6: Snagit File menu

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Pricing and Support

Snagit for Mac costs $49.95. Multiple-user licenses are available.

Also do note that Snagit is one product available on both the Mac and Windows platforms. The same software key will license both Snagit on Windows and Snagit on Mac. Also if anyone already has Snagit 9 for Windows, they can purchase the upgrade to Snagit 10 and use the key for Snagit on Mac.

Support is by e-mail, phone, and fax. A FAQ and extensive tutorials are available on the TechSmith site.

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Conclusion

Snagit's arrival on the Mac OS X scene is very welcome, and it is now easy to capture just the right screenshot from all your Mac applications with just a click. In addition, the price is just right.

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