As a software reviewer I am continually in need of grabbing screenshots of the software I’m reviewing. I usually just use the built-in OS X screenshot hotkey, but then I need to load it into a graphics editor, cut and paste, repeat. There’s got to be a better way! Enter Ondesoft ScreenCapture.
Ondesoft ScreenCapture allows you to capture snapshots of what you see on your screen in a variety of ways. You can grab a shot of a menu, the full screen, one particular region, all of the windows, or even the entire contents of a scrolling window with a single click. Very handy. (The full screen grab function has a countdown timer, and you can set the length of the timer in the Preferences menu, nice!)
I used the application in a variety of situations, and it performed admirably. I was able to capture as much, or as little of a screen as I wanted. The tools are intuitive and easy to use.
I particularly liked the editing functions available in the app after you capture a screen. You can draw boxes, ellipses and arrows on your screenshot. Particularly useful to highlight the features of software I review.
The app also includes a freehand drawing tool, along with a text tool. Undo and Redo functions are thoughtfully included, along with magnifying abilities that include “zoom in,” “zoom out,” and “real size.”
You can then copy the resulting masterpiece to the clipboard for pasting into another application, or save your screenshot in one of multiple file formats, including: BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG, and TIF.
I only had one bug show up with the application while using it. When using the app with the Safari browser, large pieces of the browser would simply disappear, showing the the wallpaper behind it. (You can see this in the below screenshot.) This did not occur when capturing from my usual browser, Chrome. Not a huge problem, but if you’re a regular Safari user, it’s something to keep in mind.
Ondesoft’s ScreenCapture application is a handy tool to keep in your user utility belt. The options for screen captures are quite flexible, and allowed me to do a screen capture of anything I wanted to do a grab of.
The interface is large and easy to understand, and all of the controls are intuitive.
The tools in the integrated graphics editor make it easy to edit and annotate your captured screen, and can allow you to move your screen captures directly from the app into another application such as a desktop publishing, word processor, or web designing app, via saving the file to the desktop, or copy and paste.
Other than the weirdness with the Safari browser, I ran into no major issues with the app, and would highly recommend giving it a try if you’re in the market for a screen capture program that can do much more than the built-in OS X capture tools.
Price: $29.95, there is also a trial version if you’d like to try before you buy. Available at the Ondesoft website.
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