Way More Than Your Average Screen Capture Tool!

[J-Mac]

Mouser:

Sorry for the non-informative post, but after using Screenshot Captor a few isolated times over the last few months, I decided to get the PDF manual and read up on everything it can do. All I can really say is that it blew me completely away! I had no clue just how powerful this application truly is!  Where do you get off creating such a program that blows all others like it out of the water?!

I've used SnagIt for a few years - I think since Version 5 or 6 - and since Version 8 was released I have had a lot of difficulties with it.  Techsmith's initial installer package for V. 8 was really wrecked and I don't know if my PC ever fully recovered from the resultant Windows Side-by-Side issues it caused.  (MS had released an auto-update in April of last year which caused this same problem for many developers who, rather than create new installer packages with MS Installer 3.0 when it was released, just took their existing MS Installer 2.X packages and imported them into V. 3.0 - big mistake with disastrous results for many users who installed with these packages).

I eventually got SnagIt working again after much repair, but lately it has had periods where it simply will not start. It's supposed to start with Windows and the correct processes show as running, but the app itself won't appear at all and worse - won't capture! Sometimes an immediate reboot helps, but mostly it doesn't. No errors show up in the Event Viewer nor in SnagIt's log file, so fixing the problem is not easy because you can't easily diagnose what's happening. I did discover - purely through trial and error - that placing SnagIt on the Windows XP Data Execution Prevention Exclusion list helped to reduce this behavior but it still occurs more often than not after a regular reboot of Windows.

Anyway, all that on SnagIt was just to lead up to me deciding to take SnagIt out of the Startup config and going full-bore with Screenshot Captor.  And since I had never really read up on Screenshot Captor, but had only used it occasionally when SnagIt was giving me problems, I took one good look at the interface window and Preferences dialog and knew I had a lot of reading to do so I could effectively use this program. And that's when the "Wows" started flowing from me uncontrollably!  Heck, my wife even came into my office to see "...what's wrong..." as she kept hearing Wow after Wow coming from there. I am certain it will take me some time to comprehend all the features and get used to the object handling features in particular, but do it I shall.  Because it's there, and I'm sure it will bring another wave of Wows when I master it!

So I just thought I would stop in here and comment.

Thanks!

Jim

[mouser]

makes me very happy to read this.  Especially the part about how you read the pdf manual.. took a long time to write that big help file, it's nice to know someone has looked at it 

[johnfdeluca]

I agree.....I grabbed a free version of SnagIt (listed in the found deals) and have tried many others as well since I use screenshot app in my daily work.  I find myself almost always going back to Screenshot Captor.  It's in fact the reason I joined the DC community (I joined after reading a review of SC in CPU Mag).  For me, the best feature which I can't find elsewhere in other apps (as easily and nicely as done in SC) is the arrow with the built in text feature.  In every other app, this is usually two separate things....an arrow and a text box.  In SC, the combined feature saves me time.  I also love and use the blur feature since I publish screenshots containing some confidential data.  I also really like being able to later edit objects (like arrows) without having to redo screenshot.  Finally, the shadowing makes for a very professional look.  There's more I like but those are the high points in my mind.

I've been meaning to isolate one problem I've always had with the app...I often get an error which causes SC to crash.  I'm sure it's something buggy in my system but have yet to really focus on the problem.  When it happens, I just close and restart and it works fine.  But I'd love to isolate the cause or at least the steps to reproduce the problem....at the very least catch the error produced and have mouser take a look at it.  This seems to be unique to me and I've got another couple problems with my system (My Lotus Notes crashes with regularity) so I assume this is something on my system....not specific to SC. 

I'd also love to see future incarnations of the app the following, the ability to make the endpoint text in the arrow multi-line (like a textbox) so that long text entry doesn't run off the screenshot.  The workaround I implement now is to simply manually add a textbox.

[tomos]

makes me very happy to read this.  Especially the part about how you read the pdf manual.. took a long time to write that big help file, it's nice to know someone has looked at it 

ehh, where is the pdf manual ?
am i having one of those blind it's right in front of me days 

[J-Mac]

makes me very happy to read this.  Especially the part about how you read the pdf manual.. took a long time to write that big help file, it's nice to know someone has looked at it 

ehh, where is the pdf manual ?
am i having one of those blind it's right in front of me days 

Tom,

I'll have to look for it again.  I just downloaded it yesterday and can't find it again already!

Mouser - you have hidden it pretty well.  There are other threads where you provide a link to it, but they are all wrong!  And I had difficulty opening the file in Firefox when I finally found it.  Don't know if it is a problem with my Adobe Acrobat plug-in in Firefox or if the file is just placed improperly for downloading - if that is even possible!

I managed to get it with the Firefox Downloader extension - the sneaky way!

I'll post back when I find it again Tom.

Jim

PS - On second thought, try downloading from the link I just attached. Mouser - if you prefer not to have this here please remove it - only after Tomos downloads it!

[mouser]

keep in mind the pdf is exactly the same (but perhaps a bit older) than the .chm help file included with every install of screenshot captor.

[J-Mac]

keep in mind the pdf is exactly the same (but perhaps a bit older) than the .chm help file included with every install of screenshot captor.

True, but the Help+Manual software you features here once is, oh... like a $399 program for the Standard version, and $599 for the Pro!!  So how would one make the CHM file into a PDF file?

Printing a CHM file is NOT something anyone wants to do!

Jim

[Darwin]

My usage of Screenshot Captor echoes J-Mac's usage over the years (not that SnagIt has ever given me any trouble - in my case I've installed SSCaptor and played with it, but never very seriously). After reading J-Mac's comments I'll have to put it through its paces!

Note: Snag-It 7 or 8 did a VERY comprehensive job of either hiding or removing completely some very useful features - such as the blur tool johnfdeluca (may I call you John? or Jack?) refers to above. I still use Snag-It 8 and like it, but I'm beginning to appreciate that I may be missing out here!

[J-Mac]

Hey Mike,

Until I started really looking at it yesterday, I had no idea that it had all of the features that it does have.  It is, like many of the programs created by coders here at DC, and mouser in particular, so muted in its appearance that you would never know how powerful it is until you took a closer look at it.  In my opinion - and this is probably a very premature opinion as I haven't even begun to use it that much yet - SSCaptor appears to at least match SnagIt in its feature set, and possibly surpasses it in a number of ways.  Again though, the "home-grown" applications here at DC are so muted, so lacking in the usual overstated, four-color, screaming text effect advertising that is all too common with commercial software packages, that it is almost too easy to overlook just how great some of them really are.

(You can pay me later, mouser!!  )

I'm going to stick only with SSCaptor for a good long while and get some real use out of it.

Jim

[Tinman57]

  I think ScreenShotCaptor (SSC) was the first program that I bought "contributed to?" on this website.  I went through many screenshot programs, but what one would do the others wouldn't.  I actually had three different captor programs on my computer just to cover everything I needed.  SSC basically has all the bells and whistles the others lacked in one package and just blew the competition away.  It's nice to have just one captor installed on my computer, I don't have to remember which one did what I needed at the time. 

[J-Mac]

  I think ScreenShotCaptor (SSC) was the first program that I bought "contributed to?" on this website.  I went through many screenshot programs, but what one would do the others wouldn't.  I actually had three different captor programs on my computer just to cover everything I needed.  SSC basically has all the bells and whistles the others lacked in one package and just blew the competition away.  It's nice to have just one captor installed on my computer, I don't have to remember which one did what I needed at the time. 

To be completely honest I still have SnagIt installed. After all I did pay for that one!

SnagIt has occasional issues where it won't start, and I have to go and delete it from the Data Execution Prevention exclusion list in WinXP Pro SP2, and then re-list on there. PITA!  But then again, Screenshot Captor simply will not capture some screens for me, and in those instances I have to use SnagIt. Scrolling windows, for example.  With Screenshot Captor my entire screen starts blinking rapidly and there's nothing I can do short of rebooting. If I wait it out until Screenshot Captor eventually completes the capture, the pic is not even readable. So SnagIt gets the job of doing scrolling windows.

That problem may be a symptom of problems with my graphics card. (I get a $600+ card in this custom-built POS that cost me more than any other PC I've owned, and I've been battling problems with the card - and Nvidia - ever since!!)

Jim

[sabrina07080236]

I have nerver used snagit, I have two question,
1. Does it support recording the mouse movements and keystrokes, or just capture the screen like "Print Screen"?
2. Does it support Windows Vista or Mac ?

Thanks!

[J-Mac]

I have nerver used snagit, I have two question,
1. Does it support recording the mouse movements and keystrokes, or just capture the screen like "Print Screen"?
2. Does it support Windows Vista or Mac ?

Thanks!

1) Yes.

2) Vista, yes. Mac - no, I don't believe so.

Take a look:  http://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.asp

Jim

[Tinman57]

  I think ScreenShotCaptor (SSC) was the first program that I bought "contributed to?" on this website.  I went through many screenshot programs, but what one would do the others wouldn't.

Screenshot Captor simply will not capture some screens for me, and in those instances I have to use SnagIt. Scrolling windows, for example.  With Screenshot Captor my entire screen starts blinking rapidly and there's nothing I can do short of rebooting. If I wait it out until Screenshot Captor eventually completes the capture, the pic is not even readable. So SnagIt gets the job of doing scrolling windows.

That problem may be a symptom of problems with my graphics card. (I get a $600+ card in this custom-built POS that cost me more than any other PC I've owned, and I've been battling problems with the card - and Nvidia - ever since!!)

Jim

  That is strange.  One of the strongest reasons I use SSC is because it does such a great job of capturing scrolling windows.  I did have a similar problem like you described with another screen capture program that I dumped, and with an nVidia card.  I've always had good luck with nVidia cards, even though I just ordered a new ATI Radeon to update my GeForce 3 TI200 GPU.  The ATI GPU just had such better specs for AGP based computers than what nVidia did.  I don't know who's on top now with the PCIexpress GPU battle.  I'll cross that road when I build another computer system.   

[J-Mac]

Well, I just installed another new driver (they released two in a couple of weeks, so maybe it's something they inadvertently caused). Right after installing a few home security cameras - WiLife/Luxwerks - as soon as the camera views appeared on screen I started having problems.  After a couple weeks my PC started crashing with the error/Stop message saying that nv4_disp.dll is causing it. That's the Nvidia driver. (GeForce 7900 GTX on an Asus A8N32-SLI-Deluxe motherboard).

First updated driver actually increased the severity of the problem. I just installed the newer driver today. I'll see how it does.

But whenever I try to capture a scrolling window with SSC I get that flashing screen - real annoying - and it won't stop! Can't interrupt it without hot rebooting. If I wait it out, the screen capture looks terrible. Yet SnagIt does that well. Go figure!

Jim

[J-Mac]

Worst part about any graphics card issue is that Nvidia won't deal with me at all, because I did not purchase the card directly from them, but it was installed in my custom-built rig by Falcon Northwest. Nvidia will only deal with the actual card purchaser.

Of course I am the one seeing all the issues, and with all the diagnostics. Falcon support - well, to be honest some are pretty sharp, and some are even dumber about the PC than I am! (But, hey!  I'm allowed to be dumb about my PC - they aren't!)

I didn't want another Dell or HP machine, and since I'm working with only one arm that functions fully I decided not to build one myself, but to get one built like I want it - and with "real" components - not the "made-to-our-specs stuff that Dell installs. And the PC has crashed since the day I received it and set it up! The HP Media Center PC I replaced with this one is still up and running across the table from me - my wife plays games on it - nothing else. But I use the drives on it for additional "safe" storage... It is definitely safer than storing it on my Mach V. (Two 500 GB SATA hard drives have failed on this one already.)

Jim

[Tinman57]

J-Mac, I know this may sound obvious, and depending on if your using ForceWare drivers or another, you have to completely remove the old drivers before installing the updated drivers.  But first you have to change your graphics preference to a standard VGA driver.
  At one point I had to run one of the Detonator drivers removal programs I downloaded from their website to totally remove everything from the hard drive and registry before I could install the newest drivers, which was the ForceWare drivers.

  ANY and ALL existing drivers should be uninstalled and COMPLETELY removed and the system rebooted prior to updating the drivers...Booting into safe mode and remove the drivers from here is the safest and most efficient way to remove the older and or current drivers from the system.

You also may have to  reinstall your monitor's specific driver...during the install of
the video card it may have been reverted to plug and play standard.

  Bus speed settings between your card and BIOS and/or other settings may be different.

  Your monitor refresh rate may be too low or too high

  Go to the website of the manufacturer of your motherboard to download and install the latest MiniPort Drivers (if needed) - this one usually corrects a lot of issues.

  If you have a USB mouse that can be moved to PS/2, try using the PS/2 port instead. It may fix the problem without having to perform any of the above solutions.

  Only as a LAST resort try updating your system BIOS.

  All else fails try using a past version of the drivers. The newer version may be causing a conflict within the system.

  A Fresh install of Windows usually correct all issues...especially issues regarding older video drivers that cannot be removed from the registry. This is one of the BIGGEST causes for the
video card to fail. Make sure you back up ANY and ALL important files that are on your system to another storage device.

  Some sound cards have to be removed (Sound Blaster Live for instance) from the motherboard and reinstalled after installing the graphics card.  Reason is that it consumes too much of the system resources and does not like to share them.

  Even updating your sound card drivers could cure the problem.

  With Winblows, there's just too many variables that can cause these type problems....

  My old computer I built myself.  I inherited the present HP mochine then maxed it out, and once it's obsolete I'm ripping the gut's out of my old non-proprietary puter and building it with the latest fancies.  I may or may not be using Winblows when that happens.  Depends on where MicoSux goes with the new OS.  I won't touch Vista........ 

[Yahya]

Hi.

After all the rave reviews, I just had to try it (SSC)!  (I'm looking for an easy way to capture artwork as it evolves, for later animation and tutorial creation.) 

So I downloaded, but could not install, the latest version.    The Setup program tells me SSC is "not a valid Win32 app".  What gives, eh? 

Yahya

[J-Mac]

Wow - a lot of advice there, Tinman!

I do uninstall the drivers, but not nearly as extensive a removal as you direct.  Actually I have instructions from Falcon Northwest Support, which basically is not more than to uninstall the display drivers. (The Forceware uninstall dialog gives me the option to uninstall everything or to select individual parts to remove; Falcon wrote for me to only uninstall the display driver and nothing else. They're wrong?).

I do have a SoundBlaster card - the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi.  But I never uninstalled its drivers first.

As for reinstalling Windows, I was actually getting ready to try a repair installation of XP Pro.  I already downloaded SP2 and Autostreamer so I could slipstream it as XP Pro goes through the repair install. And I am copying all over to external drives and to the HP machine I have networked to this one.

Thanks for all the info!

Jim

[mouser]

he Setup program tells me SSC is "not a valid Win32 app".  What gives, eh?

that error means your browser did not download the entire file.  try again.
i can't figure out why this is happening to some people.  is it a problem on our server?

[Tinman57]

Wow - a lot of advice there, Tinman!

I do uninstall the drivers, but not nearly as extensive a removal as you direct.  Actually I have instructions from Falcon Northwest Support, which basically is not more than to uninstall the display drivers. (The Forceware uninstall dialog gives me the option to uninstall everything or to select individual parts to remove; Falcon wrote for me to only uninstall the display driver and nothing else. They're wrong?).

I do have a SoundBlaster card - the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi.  But I never uninstalled its drivers first.

Jim

  J-Mac, if the techies say it's OK, then it should be.  The newer ForceWare drivers have much improved, and I don't use the same drivers as you.  However, (and there's most always a however) I have had techies give me totally bogus information in the past and had to find fixes for myself.
  One problem I had with an older nVidia driver turned out to be my MicroSoft joystick I had plugged into one of my USB hubs, of all things.....

  I've read many techie post about hardware drivers, and most all agree that the slate should be wiped clean before updating.  But with the newer PCI-Express technology this may not be the case anymore.  But if you think about it, it's a heck of a lot easier that reinstalling the whole OS again.  What can you lose, eh? 

[Tinman57]

J-Mac, something else to consider in your troubleshooting:

Microsoft Update Verify ClassID – VERCLSID.EXE

A Microsoft security update introduced a new file called verclsid.exe. Verclsid.exe is used to verify a COM object before it is instantiated by Windows Explorer. This file was created by Security Update KB908531 (MSO6-015). This update was intended to fix a vulnerability in Windows Explorer that could lead to remote code execution. More information can be found at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908531/.

Microsoft documents problems caused by this update involving this file at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918165. Main problems include difficulty accessing My Documents and other folders when "Share to web" is enabled, problems with Kerio Personal Firewall or nVidia graphics cards, and problems with some versions of Corel Paint Shop Pro.

If you have problems that are not resolved, you might consider uninstalling kb908531 via Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs.