SnagIt 9: After a few Problems, WOW (More or Less)

When TechSmith released SnagIt 7, I said "You won't find a better screen capture program anywhere, at least until TechSmith develops SnagIt 8." When version 8 arrived, I said, "How does TechSmith keep making this product better?" Now I have SnagIt 9 and, once I got past some initial problems, it was clear that TechSmith continues to develop an application that has no rival. And someday there may be a Mac version!

Is Version 9 Really an Improvement?

Short answer: Yes.

And now for the longer answer:

Version 9 of SnagIt adds a few new features, but it also updates the interface and fixes some rough edges from the previous version. Rough-edge example: The ability to capture a scrolling window has improved. In version 8, this was a great feature when it worked, but it often didn't. Interface example: Now SnagIt looks like an Office 2007 application with an Office-like ribbon. The new interface has moved the "Finish" button from the far left side to the far right side and this puzzled me for a bit.

The SnagIt 9 image editor is far more capable than the previous version and there are more options for annotating images. In addition, you can have multiple images open simultaneously. If you have an image with a lot of white space around it, you can crop it by dragging the 4 crop handles (top, right, bottom, left) or you can use the trim tool to perform the action automatically.

There's an "Oops!" eliminator, too. In previous versions, you could capture an image, forget to save the image, and capture a new image that would replace the first image. Now SnagIt immediately saves files. And it keeps track of information—for example, which application it was that you captured. This makes it possible for users to search for an application name and find all of the images that are associated with that program. (This rates a "Wow!" from me.

Once you have an image, you can apply a flag to it. Think of flags as categories (documentation, cats, cartoons) and also associate keywords with each image. If you use SnagIt a lot, and you probably will, this makes finding images much faster.

As usual (left), SnagIt's default menu uses large icons to display the kind of capture that will be performed (each type of capture can have its own associated hot key), but I prefer the the detail view (right), which uses screen real estate more efficiently.

TechSmith continues to offer SnagIt on a 30-day trial period. The company can do this because they know that anyone who needs the ability to perform screen captures will, within 30 days, become so attached to SnagIt that they won't want to let go.

The Problems

First, there's the interface. There's a lot to like about the interface, but a lot to dislike, too. SnagIt uses the "ribbon" interface that users of Microsoft Office 2007 will find familiar. The problem with this change is that some modifications weren't thought through very well.

• The zoom command. When I'm viewing an image in the editor, I often want to look at an enlarged view. Normally I'll have the Draw ribbon open because I'm adding text, arrows, call-outs, or shading to the image. Initially I thought that zooming in required me to click the View button to open the View ribbon, then click on the Zoom menu to open a drop-down menu, click on the magnification or reduction I want, and then click to return to the Draw ribbon. When it's time to return to the standard view, I thought that I had to repeat the process. There are keystrokes that make the process easier and faster the "+" key enlarges and the "-" key reduces, but only in large-step increments. The size I really want seems never to be available; I hope that finer-grained zoom will be available in a later version.
• Escaping when I don't want to. In previous versions of SnagIt, users could cancel an action by pressing the Escape key. Now pressing the Escape key closes the editor. Fortunately, there's a setting that controls this and restoring what seems to me the more logical arrangement is easy.
• The not-quite-a-full-backup backup. As with previous versions, SnagIt allows users to save their settings. This makes moving settings to another machine (for example if, as I did, you buy a copy of SnagIt for use at the office and you want to take the settings from the review copy in to use.) Most of the settings were saved, except the default location for files. No matter how I fiddled with the settings, I wasn't able to get SnagIt to write the drive and directory to the XML file it uses. I had expected to edit the XML file on the office machine because I save files to the C drive there, while I use the D drive at home.
• Anonymous file names. SnagIt places all open files in a film-strip-like display below the editor window, but identifies them only by file type. If I have a series of images, each may look a lot like the other, particularly at thumbnail size. The files are identified only by file type. I can hover the mouse over the thumbnail and wait for a second or so, then SnagIt shows me a slightly larger image that includes the file name. The file name should be part of the basic display or the name of selected images should be on the status bar where there's a lot of wasted space.

That may seem like a lot of annoyances, and it is. In the past, I've not been able to find anything to complain about in SnagIt. The changes are so numerous and so radical that there were bound to be rough edges. I'm sure that TechSmith will resolve these problems in coming versions. Alone or together they don't outweigh the advantages of the new version.

Working with TechSmith Support

When I work with a company's technical support representatives, I try to avoid telling them that I'm a journalist who's working on a review. I know that there are ways tech support might be made aware of this, but in most cases the support team isn't aware that I'm anyone other than a standard end user, so the support I receive is exactly the kind of support you should receive.

The user interface for SnagIt 9 has changed significantly and files I saved weren't being saved with the file names I expected. That's the initial problem I reported to TechSmith. The following conversation took place over about 4 days. One of the most remarkable points here is that one person (Melissa) took ownership of the problem and worked with me until the problem and all subsequent issues were resolved.

The ticket: Reference #080618-000244 (Date format does not work)

(Me) I changed the date format for all my profiles from the default to
<Year4><MonthNum><DayNum>-<Hour24><Minute><Second>
so that I will get a file name such as "20080618-184109.png" but files are saved with names like "6-18-2008 6-31-56 PM.png". See attached "Corel.png" for confirmation.
Additionally, I see this error even though I have set SnagIt to save in png and not mht format:
6/18/2008 6:37:02 PM, Warning, SnagIt, Capture Start
6/18/2008 6:37:04 PM, Error, SnagIt, Failed to save document.
6/18/2008 6:37:07 PM, Warning, SnagIt, Capture End
6/18/2008 6:37:08 PM, Warning, SnagIt, Capture Start
6/18/2008 6:37:10 PM, Error, SnagIt, Failed to save document.
6/18/2008 6:37:12 PM, Warning, SnagIt, Capture End
6/18/2008 6:37:13 PM, Warning, SnagIt, Capture Start
6/18/2008 6:37:16 PM, Warning, SnagIt, Capture End

(Melissa) Hi Bill. What location in SnagIt did you make this change? Was it in Editor or in the Profile Settings in the main SnagIt window?

(Me) In the main window. Thanks.

(Melissa) Thank you for the clarification. One addition question for you, however: how are you saving the file? Are you selecting save or clicking finish to send to a file?
I ask because in version 9 Editor has settings unique from the profile settings. Unless you select finish, the Editor settings will be used. Please let me know!

(Me) That's the problem then. The interface has changed just enough that I didn't see a finish option and saved the file, so the editor settings are in effect. (I'll check later today when I'm back at the computer where SnagIt 9 is installed.)

(Melissa) Also, please see:
Answer Title: SnagIt 9 Editor crashing when trying to save a file
Answer Link
Please let me know what happens with that!

(Me) Oh! There's the Finish button -- over on the right side. I'm so used to going to the upper left corner that I didn't even notice it.
Answer Title: SnagIt 9 Editor crashing when trying to save a file
Answer Link
I'll do that, too, because this is probably a hotfix, but it's for a problem I don't have.
The other problem I'm having is that the capture sometimes fails. A known bug is listed in the online files that says the problem occurs when the user specifies the mht format. I never do that and still see the error.

I really wasn't trying to confuse Melissa by throwing multiple problem reports at her, but what's particularly impressive here is that she continued to read, understand, and respond to all of my concerns. In the tech support biz, this is unusual.

(Melissa) Hi Bill. Please do try the hotfix in the article. I am hoping it will solve the problem with saving to the PNG format. I have seen this fix a few other problems that were not quite related to Editor crashing (saving issues). Please do let me know what happens!

(Me) Yes, that seems to have resolved the problem. Thanks! Now, however, there's another problem. I get a Vista UAC message every time SnagIt starts. See the attached SnagItUAC.png for details.

(Melissa) Hi Bill. Please go to: C:\Program Files\TechSmith\SnagIt 9 and locate SnagIt32.exe, SnagPriv.exe, and SnagItEditor.exe. Right click on each one and then go to properties > compatibility. Check the box "Run this program as an administrator".

(Me) Unfortunately, that makes it worse. I still get the UAC message I mentioned previously, but now I get an extra UAC for the "run as administrator" setting.
I tried changing the setting shown in the attached 20080623-155217.png, but that also had no effect and the change does not stick.

(Melissa) Good afternoon again! Can you disable UAC to see if this resolves the issue? Thanks!
To disable the UAC (User Account Control) go to Start > Control Panel > User Accounts > Turn User Account Control on or off and make sure that the Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer option is unchecked and press OK.
Please let me know what happens!

(Me) Not directly, no; but indirectly, maybe. On approving the file to run, I checked the "do not ask again" box. The setting may have stuck. When I examined the file properties, the message shown in 20080623-155217.png was gone. I'll have to see if this survives rebooting and re-enabling UAC.

(Melissa) Ok, Bill. Please let me know the outcome. Thanks!

(Me) It gets a little complicated and you'll want to do some testing to confirm this, but ...
1) After reboot and with UAC still off, SnagIt started without a problem.
2) I turned UAC back on and rebooted. This time starting SnagIt produced a warning: "Unable to start SnagPriv.exe", however a second attempt to start SnagIt worked.
3) After exiting SnagIt, I was able to start it again without warning.
4) I rebooted and SnagIt started properly and without a warning.
Step 2 is a bit puzzling, but I'm not entirely certain that the boot process was complete, so the problem there may not be significant.
You'll want to find a friendlier process for getting SnagIt to work, but I think this is a valid workaround until that happens.
Have you received any reports of SnagIt being non-responsive? In some cases, after it starts, it seems unable to capture a screen or object until I exit and restart. I have not seen this behavior since completing step 4 above, but I have seen it occasionally in the past.

(Melissa) Hi Bill. I spoke to our developer about this. He said that the patch is a temporary fix until it can be implemented correctly in the next maintenance release of SnagIt. For now, he expects that Vista's security will complain about the patched file.
For the hanging issue, he said that he is currently tracking this issue. If it begins to happen more often, please let us know so we can do further troubleshooting.

That's a long section to include in a review, but it clearly illustrates TechSmith's commitment to its customers and that commitment is every bit as important as the quality of the application.

---

Bottom line: The best somehow continues to get better, despite the problems.
SnagIt 9 works only with Windows XP and Vista systems, so if you're still using an earlier version of Windows or a Mac, you're out of luck. TechSmith is said to be working on a version for OS X, though.
$50 for new users. Upgrade from any previous version (yes, all the way back to version 1.0) for $20.
For more information, visit the TechSmith website.

Skype Security and Support Problems

In May, I wrote about "hidden dangers in Skype". At the time, I wrote to Skype's public relations department to report my concerns and to ask if I had missed anything in my negative assessment. When I sent a follow-up request in July, I finally received an answer. A canned answer. The response revealed an additional setting that I could change, one that isn't covered in the documentation and one that is set incorrectly for anyone who has any concerns about security. In my opinion, Skype is an unacceptable security risk unless the user changes the default settings.

My assessment on May 18 was that Skype's default settings were wrong: "OnlineMon.info exploited the default Skype setting that allows chats from anyone. This borders on criminal stupidity, which I know isn't a criminal charge. But it should be. Turn this off! It should be off by default."

Even with the settings as described on May 18, I received yet another unwanted commercial intrusion from a phone sex operation. If you click the image at the right to enlarge it, you'll see that I have established all the security settings I described back in May. This message was able to get through because (in Skype's words), "The privacy settings do not let people who are not in your contact list to send you chat messages or to call you via Skype, but you can still receive new contact invitations. This is done on purpose to give the chance for friends who you don't have in your contact list to let you know that they want to share their contact details with you."

This is moronic! That should be DISABLED by default! Or, at the very least, CLEAR WARNING should be provided during installation to tell the user what slop they're allowing onto their computers!

This is yet another setting on another panel. I use Skype for my purposes and I don't particularly want people who don't know me to find me, but that's what Skype allows by default.

The Support Problem?

I mentioned a problem with Skype support. The problem, and this isn't unique to Skype, is that the support staff scan an inbound request to see if they can determine what the user is asking about. They then respond with a canned message that may or may not address the user's concern.

You may wonder how I know the responses are canned and that would be a fair question. Here are two responses that address variations on the same question (note the areas shown in bold):

You'll probably notice significant similarities between Marilyn's message and Jennifer's, right down to the grammatical error: "...ensure that your click the "Quit" or "Leave" button...." Would two support technicians make the same error ("your" instead of "you") in two unrelated messages. Everything is possible, but this seems unlikely.

No More Dirty Words

I doubt that it will make much of an improvement in the way I write or the number of typos per article, but my keyboard is a lot cleaner now. It was so dirty that I had a choice: Clean it or plant potatoes between the keys. I could have just bought a new keyboard, but I don't use those $3 keyboard that come with most computers. I prefer the Microsoft Natural Keyboard (the one that bends). I'd been putting it off for months, thinking that it would be a difficult process. As it turned out, I was pleasantly surprised.

First, getting the keys off wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. For many early keyboard, you needed a special key puller tool if you wanted to avoid breaking keys. Previously, I've pried a key or two off to see how much trouble the process would be and today it can be done using a small screwdriver for leverage—if you're careful.

The only keys that present much of a challenge are the spacebar and the double- or triple-wide keys (shift, tab, delete, enter, and the like). In addition to prying them loose, you need to free a U-shaped piece of metal rod that acts as a stabilizer for the key when you don't hit it dead center. Additionally, the spacebar may have a couple of small springs (mine did, but not all keyboards do).

So the first step is to remove all the keys and, if you see any springs, put them somewhere safe. I missed the springs from the spacebar and dumped them into a container with all the keys.

Next, you'll want to pour some detergent into the container, add hot water, and let the keys sit while you return to the keyboard to vacuum out whatever's in there. In my case, I found enough fur to reupholster a small cat and enough bread crumbs for a tuna casserole. I vacuumed out all of that stuff and then wiped down the keyboard casing with a cleaner. You want to avoid getting any liquid into the slots that hold the keys.

Then you return to the keys, wash them, rinse them, and put them somewhere to dry. Somewhere that the cat won't notice them because cats consider things like key caps to be toys. The same can be said for small children. (That is, they think of key caps as toys, not that cats think of small children as toys. But you knew that.)

When I dumped the soapy water out of the container, I noticed one of the springs float down the drain. I recovered the other one. The good news is that the spacebar doesn't really need 2 springs; it gets along just fine with 1 and would probably be OK with none.

Now you have to put the keys back. Some of them are easy: F1 through F12 are in a nice row at the top. The numeric keypad is easy. But do you remember where Control, Alt, Start, Shift, and Enter go? And did you know that there are 2 Control keys and 2 Alt keys that are not interchangeable. And how well do you remember touch typing class? I got all the keys back in the proper places, mixing up only the 4 arrow keys—a problem that was easily remedied.

Once the keys were all back in place, I used a cleaner to go over the keys and the keyboard case again, then gave it a final wipe down with 97% isopropyl alcohol. Looks pretty good now.

And, no, there are no before and after pictures. The keyboard currently looks like a brand new keyboard just out of the box. And I wouldn't show anyone what it looked like an hour ago!

As It Turns Out, There Are Pictures

I brought my office keyboard home to clean it. As ugly as it is, it's far cleaner than the one I had at home. Here's a look at what you might find lurking under your keys.

Here's the keyboard. Doesn't look too bad from a distance. Trouble is, you can't get far enough away.

Close and closer. This keyboard has been in service for several years in three different buildings. These are the keys I've been typing on (and they're far cleaner than what I was typing on at home.)

Smaller keys don't have stabilizer rods, but the larger keys do. They keep the wider keys from tilting sideways when you press them off center.

I thought I'd lost a spring from the home keyboard's space bar, but maybe not. When I cracked this keyboard open, I found only 1 spring even though there are clearly locations for two springs.

If you make a practice of eating lunch at your desk, you might find that you have a really crumby keyboard. At least this one didn't also contain half a pound of cat fuzz.

As you remove the keys, it's important to find a safe place to put them. This is the top part of a DVD "cake box". All of the keys fit and I used it to wash them, too.
The process is easy and will succeed if you're careful. Taking the keys off takes about 10 minutes. Washing and drying consumes 30 or 40 minutes. Then you have to put the keys back on. If you have a good memory (or another keyboard) this won't take long.

Random Thoughts

Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.
- Walter Lippmann

Think you have to check your e-mail every 15 seconds? Read this.

Nerdly News

Great Idea, Guys, But it Failed

This week, the folks at PC Magazine ran an article on 21 Great Technologies that Failed. Whether you agree with their list or not, it's an interesting topic. Take a look at the PC Magazine article and let's ponder it.

The article by Jeremy Kaplan and Sascha Segan listed the following 21 technologies (10 Windows and 11 Apple) as failures. Do you agree or disagree?

• WebTV (1997)
• Tablet PCs (2002)
• WinFS (1990s)
• Sidewalk.com (1997)
• OS/2 (1987)
• Passport (2000)
• Windows Live Spaces (2004)
• .NET (2002)
• WinG (1993)
• Sidewinder Freestyle Pro (1998)
• OpenDoc (1992)
• Cyberdog (1996)
• HyperCard (1987)
• Newton (1993)
• PowerBook Duo 230 (1992)
• Mac G4 Cube (1999)
• eWorld (1994)
• Macintosh TV (1993)
• Mac Quadra 610 DOS Compatible (1994)
• Bandai Pippin (1996)
• QuickTake 100 (1994)

Samsung Does it Again

If you still think a 400:1 or 1000:1 contrast ratio is impressive, you're in for a surprise. Samsung says it has some new HDTV models with a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio! According to a news release from the company, the new 950 display line combines improved LED backlighting with "improvements to the panel and image processing" and the result it the high contrast ratio. Oh, and by the way, this thing also has a 120Hz refresh rate.

Most men don't see flicker with refresh rates above about 75Hz. Most women don't see flicker with refresh rates above 90Hz. Pushing to 120Hz essentially eliminates flicker as a problem, and it eliminates problems with scenes that change quickly.

Samsung's new monitors have built-in Ethernet jacks that can receive images from PCs and consoles. USB ports are built in to allow digital content to be played locally.

The 950 series has four HDMI ports with CEC automation support and will be available in 46-inch and 55-inch models.

The price? NOT CHEAP: The units will cost $3200 for the 46-inch model and $4200 for the 55-inch version when they reach stores in August.

The Weekly Podcast

Podcasts are usually in place no later than 9am (Eastern time) on the date of the program. The podcast that corresponds to this program is below. The most recent complete podcast is always located here.

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