Screenshot Captor - New Quick Capture Bar

[mouser]

Just a screenshot showing the draft look of the new (OPTIONAL) quick capture bar.  It floats on the desktop on top of other apps and you can drag it around.  I may make an option for it to dock at top of screen too.



The idea is that this might be a more friendly interface for people who have trouble remembering hotkeys.  It also has the advantage of letting you quickly change what to do with the image after it's captured.

Obviously I need to improve the look of it substantially (better buttons, etc.)

[kunkel321]

Pretty cool.  Any chance of making this a front-end for the Screencaster too?   

[mouser]

The screencaster already has a very similar front end, at least in spirit if not in dialog dimensions:



Having said that, eventuallyThe SC Quick Capture Bar will also have options in "what to capture" list to start a screencast, so you'll be able to initiate a screencast from it (as well as from a hotkey in SC, etc.).

[tomos]

Great to see -
I think it doesnt need much - a nicer monitor image, maybe remove that outer frame-line and your off ;-)

[mouser]

Updated screenshot:


Docking is also now implemented -- so you can dock the bar to the top of the screen and it will slide hidden out of the way until you mouse over it.

[mouser]

As a side note, because Screenshot Captor will refuse to capture an image of the Quick Capture Bar, I had to use the new Easy Screencast Recorder tool to capture a movie of using it and extract the image above from that 

[tomos]

As a side note, because Screenshot Captor will refuse to capture an image of the Quick Capture Bar, I had to use the new Easy Screencast Recorder tool to capture a movie of using it and extract the image above from that  

that sounds convoluted - for you

looks very nice

[mouser]

I've been told it's much too big to be useful.. so perhaps i will try to make a collapse toggle button that will toggle the bar between normal wide mode and a compact mode that hides everything but the Capture button.

[tomos]

You could thin it down & reduce the width - would help when docking

[attachimg=#]

(would need smaller icons)

[mouser]

yeah, i might do that.

though note that unlike my LBC this docking bar does not have a mode to dock and reserve screen space -- it docks and then slides out of the way without moving any other maximized windows.  so it doesn't actually "take up" any screen real-estate when docked.

[tomos]

^ Ah well then you're covered



I suspect I will use this - will make it easier to be flexible with SC

[kunkel321]

...Having said that, eventuallyThe SC Quick Capture Bar will also have options in "what to capture" list to start a screencast, so you'll be able to initiate a screencast from it (as well as from a hotkey in SC, etc.).

 Yup.  That's what I meant

Regarding collapsibility, how about having it live on the edge of the screen with only a few pixels showing, but always "on top" of other apps.  Clicking the (barely visible) edge causes the whole toolbar to slide onto the screen.
EDIT:  Ha!  I guess you already thought of that!



Another thought on the GUI: Have it so you can assign "pre-set" combinations of actions (for example "Selected Region" and "Display Main Window" would be a combination),  Then the user can optionally have buttons on the toolbar for the Presets.  

[mouser]

Ok what do you fellows think of this:

Expanded:


Collapsed:

[Josh]

You could thin it down & reduce the width - would help when docking
(see attachment in previous post)
(would need smaller icons)

Mouser,

I am with tomos on this one. I think the toolbar needs to be thinned out and perhaps have the "Then" drop down removed. When I use a tool like this in toolbar mode, I want it to occupy as little screen space as possible. The toolbar is still quite long and large.

[Ath]

+1
and I think the bigger/smaller arrows are backward, aren't they supposed to point in the way the 'movement' goes?

[kilele]

The gui of this program may serve as an inspiration:
http://www.pointofix.de/

[mouser]

How about this for collapsed mode:

[mouser]

personally i think using the bar in this small a collapse is silly once you see how the docking mode works, but whatever..

[cmpm]

-it docks and then slides out of the way-

keep it a good size so i can see it! 

[tomos]

@cmpm -
the text isn't any smaller in the slim version (in my post above anyways)

FWIW, visually, slim is much nicer/neater looking. Just an opinion though

[panzer]

Mouser, download the FS Capture last free version and take a look at their floating bar ... Maybe this will give you some new ideas ...

[Josh]

Mouser, do you have a screenshot of the thinner toolbar in expanded mode?

I think this version of the toolbar looks much cleaner, much more visually appealing, and will fit in nicely regardless of where it is placed on the screen.

[kunkel321]

I also agree that slimmer is nicer looking.  
Also, as Ath says, the arrow should point in the "desired" direction, not the "current" direction... (IMHO)

[howardb]

At the risk of touting the competition, I find the capture bar of FScapture to be by far the easiest to use. It has a (configurable) row of easy to understand icons for each type of capture (e.g., entire desktop, active/current screen, user defined region, scrolling, - - -).  Using a drop down menu for these options adds an extra step.

I notice a general tendency of programmers that is increasingly frustrating for me, as a user: Packing more and more options into an application. Each user interface is always a little different. So for each new app., I must learn to navagate a new set of menus, hotspots, hotkeys, settings - - -.

This had been solved for a time when Apple and Microsoft adapted a relatively standard menu interface for everything whatsoever. But this seems to have broken down. Now, so many new whatevers seem to have new looks and feels.

[cmpm]

I like the drop down options, very nice.
If I want it to look like faststone, I will use faststone.
But I don't.