Unless you’re the type of person that takes screen captures so rarely, that you forget where the PrintScreen button is, the default Windows function will probably not satisfy you. There was a time when there weren’t many screenshot utilities to choose from, but that’s certainly not the case anymore.
Screenshot Captor is a free tool that allows you to take screen captures easily in many different ways, but also offers a rich set of editing and sharing features.
Installation & Requirements
The program installs very fast and only the usual settings have to be made, such as selecting the install folder’s location and whether you want a desktop shortcut or not. At first run, a welcome screen informs the user that the program is indeed free, but the nag messages will only disappear after requesting a freeware license.
Screenshot Captor works on a large variety of Windows versions, from the old ones to the latest: Windows 95, 98, Me, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8. Since Screenshot Captor is a very small application demanding little system resources, it doesn’t have any hardware requirements.
Interface
Even though it’s not fancy-looking, Screenshot Captor’s interface is functional and it does offer a large number of features. The top menu includes all the traditional categories plus a few others such as Scan, containing options for images acquired from scanner and SendTo, which offer several sharing options.
In the left column, a basic folder structure lets the user browse folders with ease in order to quickly find stored images. At the right of the main area, where currently opened images are displayed, a toolbar provides some of the most frequently used editing functions. Below the main area another icon-based menu provides several tools related to scanners and image enhancement. At the bottom of the window you can see a zoomed preview area based on the cursor’s current position and fields for entering details about the screenshot.
Taking screenshots can be done from the top menu via the Capture category where there are multiple screen capture modes available, such as Grab entire Workspace, current Screen, active Window, selected Region…etc. All of these options are also available in the right-click menu of the program’s system tray icon. And last but not least, for maximum efficiency you can take screenshots using the provided shortcuts.
Pros
– Small, lightweight application
– Very simple and quick installation
– Multiple screen capture modes are available including Capture Windows Object or Scrolling Window
– Numerous image editing options include adding captions, text, frames, edges, special effects, image enhancement and others
– Comprehensive collection of scanner acquisition tools
– Sharing via e-mail option using SMTP or MAPI protocols
– Comprehensive help is offered as a manual, online video tutorials and forum
Cons
– Nag messages only disappear after requesting a freeware license on the developer’s website. Even though this may seem annoying, it was made only to encourage users to visit the website and perhaps make a donation to support further development of the application.
– The richness of features make the GUI a bit crowded, which may confuse new users.
Alternatives
– DuckCapture
– SnapDraw
– Snipping Tool
– Cropper
Conclusion
Screenshot Captor is a solid tool, equipped with lots of functions for editing but also other for purposes like sharing and scanner acquired images. Despite its unpolished, utilitarian interface, Screenshot Captor is certainly one of the best free screenshot applications thanks to its richness of features and screen capture modes.
