Quickly Annotate Graphics With FastStone Capture

Sometimes I just need to draw a quick circle around something, draw a red arrow and type a couple words. I don't want to whole Gimp scenario or even Paint.net for additional formatting.

FastStone Capture to the rescue (the old free version from here). Start FS Capture and drag/drop the graphic onto FS. Choose "draw" and do it. On Win7 I need to turn off anti alias in the draw module to keep FS from freezing (small check box on lower right). The "off" sticks so you only need to set it once and FS will remember the setting. I previously thought I would need to re-capture and only just discovered I could drag and drop the graphic to open it in FS.

Another handy thing FS can do is take a scrolling capture of an entire web page (6th icon over on the FS bar).

FS Capture of all the capture programs I have tried still remains my default capture utility. With Launchy running, I type alt-space, fs and bingo the little FS bar is up and running. How could beat that? You see, I don't like more things running than necessary and like to keep them closed unless I really need them.

PicPick is more robust but also not as slick and quick.

Screen Capture Flip-Flop

I seem to keep flip-flopping around on my screen capture programs. I would like to simply draw a box on the screen, grab it, then annotate, re-size if necessary, upload to a free server and grab the link. Is this asking too much?

I'm back to TPUCapture from TechPowerUp. No I can not annotate or re-size but I can do everything else. It leaves a little watermark in the lower right corner but they deserve it for making a great little free program/service. I quit it a few versions back because it didn't work well with Win7 (or maybe it was just time to flip-flop) but it works well again.

If you need to annotate use Snipping Tool first then use TPU to grab the annotated clip. I loved FastStone for this but the free version became squirrely in Win7.

TPUCapture downloads with an installer but dropping the installer on Universal Extractor gives you the folder and TPU runs fine as an executable. Wow! LegRoom is being tagged as malicious by Firefox? What's up with that. I wouldn't worry about it.

So until my next flip-flop ... I'm trying to warm up to FireShot but it is clunky and limited to browser shots.

To make this even more long winded. I tried the old free FastStone Capture again (part of my Liberkey Suite) and it worked fine. It is a far better annotator than the Snipping Tool. FS can even re-size. So I have gone full circle.

In Chrome Awesome Screenshot Capture works well for browser captures.

Show Me A Screen Shot

Ever wanted to email or show someone on a forum some portion of your computer screen? There are many ways to take the screen capture and we probably all know them. The most basic is using PrtSc, pasting into Paint, croping and uploading and linking. This can be cumbersome. The easiest way I know is to use TPUCapture. This freeware is so simple and quick and does the shot/upload/link all in a couple of easy steps. It can be run portable but I just install it. I don’t let it start with Windows but simply fire it up if I want to post a screen shot.

Hit the Windows key, type “tp” and fire it up (in Vista or Win7). Hit the hot keys, draw the desired capture rectangle, click “OK” and copy the url to clipboard. Now use the link to paste the image in a forum or blog.

If you wish to display the image in Gmail you will need to open the url in a browser window and <cntl -a> <cntl - c> then <cntl - v> in the Gmail message.

Yes you have the “techpowerup.com” watermark. A cheap price for convenience. If you can’t stand the mark then use ImageShack or one of the several other storage and linking sites. These sites take more time and steps but are sometimes preferred if you want a more professional look. Often who cares?

If you wish to mark up the capture, combine FSCapture first with TPUCapture second like this":

Dinosaur alert: Could you loose the uploads if TechPowerUp is hit by an asteroid? Yes.

Live Writer alert: Win7 version dropped the ability for Live Writer to grab an image from a url. Download this and place the dll into the Live Writer plug in directory. Access the command from the tool bar >Insert>Insert Web Image...

Maybe it is time for a screen shot?

Live Writer is a great way to post by the way. The Firefox extension makes posting simple.

Win7 Alert: FSCapture is acting screwball for me in Win7 and is basically not usable at ATM.