Best Screenshot tools for Windows

If you use your computer regularly, chances are you’ll need to create screenshots.  Screenshot tools are a regular part of my daily workflow since I write technology articles.  I mainly use them to demonstrate programs and settings, but screenshots are also a great way to show or save what you see on your screen right now.  Whether you’ve uncovered a bug in a program or want to keep a record of a recent online purchase, screenshots are the best and often only way to record this information.

There are many excellent screenshot tools available today.  In fact, you likely already have a couple ready for use on your computer, including the built in Print Screen feature in Windows.  Here is a roundup the most useful screenshot tools, ranging from free to paid offerings.  Your favorite tool will depend on your needs, and you may even end up using more than one.  Keep reading to check them out, and let us know what your favorite screenshot tool is!

Windows Print Screen

The quickest and easiest way to take a screenshot may be with Windows Print Screen.  Most keyboards have a button called “Prt Scr” or something similar.  Simply press that button, and a screenshot of your entire screen will be copied to your clipboard.  If you’d prefer to simply capture an image of one window, press Alt + Prt Scr.  You can then save the file by pasting it into Paint or your favorite graphics editor.

Snipping Tool

Windows includes another tool for creating more advanced screenshots.  The Snipping Tool is included in Windows Vista and newer; if you don’t see it in your Start Menu, go to “Turn Windows features on or off” in Control Panel and add the Tablet PC components (strange, yes; apparently tablet PCs have more advanced screenshot needs ).  This tool lets you capture a full-screen or window shot just like Print Screen, but also lets you select any rectangular or free-form shape on your screen.  Snipping Tool also allows you to annotate your picture with a highlighter, on-screen pen, and eraser.  Screenshots can be directly saved as jpg, gif, or png.

Jing

Jing is an elegant, free, and simple screenshot and screencasting program from TechSmith.  It can capture both pictures and videos of anything your screen.  Jing leaves a small yellow orb at the top of your screen; simply click it to start a capture (or, you can add a hotkey to Jing in its options so you can simply press one key to capture).  You can then select any window, pane (such as your taskbar or a menu), or a rectangular area, and choose to capture an image of it or start recording a video of that section.  If you choose an image, Jing opens the screenshot in an editor that lets you add text and arrows and highlight significant parts of the screenshot.  You can then save the picture as a PNG to your computer, share it on Screencast.com or Flickr, upload it via FTP, or share it via email or Twitter.  Jing also keeps a history of your screenshots, so you can easily reopen and edit them at any time.  Jing is one of the more flexible free screenshot tools, and is great for annotating and sharing screenshots.  Download it now for Windows or Mac OS X.

Jing's Screenshot editor

7capture

7capture is a free screenshot tool that does something most other similar tools can’t: it takes screenshots that keep the clean rounded corners in XP and Aero transparency of Windows Aero in Vista and newer.  Most tools treat the windows as squares and add color to fill the corners, but instead 7capture creates a PNG image with transparency in the corners and window border.  Interestingly, you select the window you wish to capture in a dialog instead of graphically selecting the window.  Other than that oddity, 7capture is a nice, free application to capture high-quality screenshots of your windows.  Download it for free for Windows XP and newer.

7capture's interface

A screenshot of Calculator with Aero Transparency from 7capture

Window Clippings

If you want to capture the very best screenshots in Windows Aero, look no further than Window Clippings.  This lightweight program captures both the Aero transparency and shadow in its PNG screenshots.  Window Clippings darkens the desktop, and then allows you to select the window you wish to capture.  It can then copy the screenshot to your clipboard, or can automatically save it to disk, send to OneNote, upload via FTP, and more.  Window Clippings additionally allows you to capture screenshots of menus and more with a timer, and can also capture your mouse.  This is especially good for writing tutorials on using a program.  Window Clippings costs $18, but you can try it out with a free, full-featured trial that adds a watermark to the images it captures.

Window Clippings screenshot selector

A screenshot of Calculator with Aero Transparency and shadow from Window Clippings

Snagit

If you want to capture anything and everything, annotate and edit your screenshots, easily find any screenshot you’ve taken in the past, and share these with a variety of programs and services, Snagit is the best and only program that will fit the bill.  It, like Jing, is a TechSmith product, and offers the same high quality and ease of use.  Snagit is the Microsoft Office of screenshots in every one of the best ways possible.  With Snagit, you can capture a region, window, menu, scrolling window (such as the full length of a webpage), text in a window (including the text from an About or Help dialog!), and more.  It can capture your mouse pointer, run a delayed capture, and output your capture directly to a variety of locations.  You can even setup profiles to let you easily capture screenshots just as you like.  Then, Snagit’s editor uses the Ribbon interface from Office 2007 to give easy access to a variety of annotation tools.  The editor keeps all of your screenshot easily accessible, and you can sort and view them by time captured, application/webpage captured, or tags.  You can in fact simply capture your screenshots and leave them in Snagit, and return to save and share them whenever you need.  A wide variety of accessories are also available for free for Snagit to give you more editing and sharing features.  The only feature missing from Snagit is the ability to capture transparency and shadows like Window Clippings; I hope they add this in the future.  Snagit is available for download from TechSmith for $49.95, or you can download a free 30 day trial to try it out for yourself.

Snagit with capture options

Snagit Editor with an annotated webpage

Several other common application can also capture screenshots, though they are not specialized for this task.  All versions of OneNote include a screencapture tool that works very much like the Snipping Tool.  Evernote also includes a screencapture tool that replaces the Print Screen functionality so that your screenshots from pressing Prt Scr are sent directly to Evernote.  Both of these are great for adding screenshots to your notes.  Then, Office 2010 adds screen capture to Word and PowerPoint.  You can simply select a screenshot of any running application directly from the Screenshot button in the Insert ribbon.

Ok, so that’s some of the most exciting screenshot tools available today.  Which is your favorite, or do you have another favorite screenshot tool that we missed?  Let us know in the comments!