14 Jan 2022

If You Neyed To Explain Anything On A Computer, SnagIt!

Windows, MacOS, and Linux all have built-in functions to capture screen shots, so why does anyone need SnagIt? I'll be answering that question in the next few minutes.

SnagIt has been around since 1990. Thirty-two years. Windows has been able to capture screen images for much of that time, yet SnagIt continues to be the application used by those who need to document computerized processes. That doesn't mean just those who write documentation.

Every week's TechByter blog post includes images created by SnagIt, and the company says it has more than 73 million users around the globe.

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Although TechSmith also offers a video production tool called Camtasia, SnagIt can create basic videos in addition to screen captures that can be annotated using 20 tools. Simply put, SnagIt is essential for anyone who needs more than a most basic image of the screen.

The primary market for SnagIt may be business users, documentation professionals, and educators, but it's also helpful for individuals who need to help friends and family members use their computers.

• Software developers use SnagIt to create documentation for users.
• Corporate HR departments use SnagIt to explain systems used by employees.
• Those who have problems with a computer program use SnagIt to capture information that software developers can use to resolve the problem.
• Office workers who know how to use infrequently used business processes use SnagIt to share their knowledge with co-workers.
• Instructors, teachers, and professors use SnagIt to highlight important points in lessons and lectures.
• Anyone who needs to show anyone anything that appears on a computer screen can use SnagIt.

So if you see an illustration of a computer program on the TechByter blog, there's about a 99.97% chance that it originated in SnagIt. I use screen captures from the software publisher on rare occasions, but my preference is always to show screens that illustrate how I used the program in testing.

SnagIt is available for Windows and MacOS computers, and it's so much more than just a way to capture what you see on the screen.

If you have a window that's wider or longer than what can be shown on the screen, SnagIt can scroll both vertically and horizontally. You'll find this to be quite helpful if you need to capture a long web page or chat message. The all-in-one capture function allows users to decide whether to capture the full screen, a window, an area of the screen, or a scrolling area after starting the capture process.

SnagIt can extract the text from a screen capture or file so that it can be pasted into another document.

The video recorder function that's included with SnagIt allows users to record a process on the computer screen and even to add a picture-in-picture frame from a camera that's built in to the computer. This can make explaining a process easier because it can also capture audio from the system, a microphone, or both. SnagIt's video capture and editing processes are much simpler than those offered by the more complex and more expensive Camtasia, but the functions are impressive for an application that costs less than $70.

What's New In 2022?

The first thing you'll notice with the 2022 version of SnagIt is that there's a new file format: SNAGX instead of SNAG, so you'll need to convert any existing files if you want to continue using then with SnagIt 2022. Why? TechSmith's objective was to create a single file format that works on both Windows and MacOS computer so that users can open and edit the same file on both platforms. The SNAGX file format replaces the SNAG format for Windows and the SNAGPROJ format for Mac.

The ability to save and share files on third-party platforms has been expanded. SnagIt 2022 makes it possible for users to store a library in the cloud and access captures from any computer. SnagIt supports Box, Dropbox Business, Dropbox Personal, ICloud (currently Windows only), OneDrive for Business, and OneDrive Personal.

Some new features are platform specific, such as the ability for MacOS users to dim areas of the screen so that attention is focused on a specific area and transparent fills for some objects on Windows systems.

What I thought initially was an annoyance is the result of a new feature. In earlier versions of SnagIt, pressing Ctrl-S to save a modified file that had previously been "finished" simply saved the file. Now using Ctrl-S to save a file that has already been finished opens a dialog box, displays the existing file name, and requires the user to confirm the overwrite. That seemed like a bug, but it's not.

Once a file has been "finished", which used to be TechSmith's term for initially saving the file, changes are automatically saved. In fact, it's no longer necessary to press the Finish button. The file is saved automatically as captured and saved again when the user makes updates. This functionality is already present in many web-based apps. Microsoft's One Note has automatically saved changes for years, perhaps from the beginning. Adobe's Lightroom and Lightroom Classic automatically save changes. So it's not a bug; it's a feature. Instead of pressing Ctrl-S to save changes you've made to a file, just let Snag-It save the file for you.

 SnagIt continues to be an indispensable utility for anyone who needs to capture screen shots.

TechSmith has been updating and improving SnagIt for more than three decades. The developers still haven't run out of ideas for making an already essential application even more useful. A new SnagIt license costs $63 and updates from previous versions are $35. Site licenses for more than 100 users are price at $31 per seat, educational licenses are as low as $23, and there is a discount for government and non-profit users.
Additional details are available on the TechSmith website.
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Short Circuits

Adobe Replaces Several Free Services With Creative Cloud Express

Effective on Monday of this week, Adobe discontinued Illustrator Draw and Photoshop Sketch. These free apps have been replaced by Creative Cloud Express, which is also free and does a lot more. Creative Cloud Express also replaces Adobe Spark on the web and Adobe Spark Post on IOS and Android devices.

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Creative Cloud Express is included for Creative Cloud users and it's available separately for $10 per month, but there's also a free version that has a lot of features. There's no charge at all to sign up for Creative Cloud Express and the free plan includes thousands of templates, design assets, and Adobe Fonts; a limited collection of free assets from Adobe Stock; basic editing and photo effects including the ability to remove backgrounds and animate graphics; the ability to create and edit on the web and mobile devices; and 2GB of storage.

For users who want more than the free plan offers but aren't yet ready to license the full Creative Cloud program, there's a $10/month Creative Cloud Express program that includes all premium templates and design assets; access to more than 160 million Adobe Stock photos (some of which may require a licensing fee for certain uses); 20,000 Adobe Fonts, curved type, grids, and font pairs; the ability to refine cutouts, resize, and group graphics; your explicit branding, logo, colors, and fonts available with a click; the option to convert and export to and from PDFs and other file types; access to Creative Cloud Libraries where you can create, manage, and share templates and assets; and 100GB of storage. The paid membership also includes access to Adobe Premiere Rush, Adobe Photoshop Express, Adobe Spark Video, and Adobe Spark Page.

There's a three month free trial for the paid version. The free version is free permanently.

On a computer, you have the option of using the web interface or the app for Windows or MacOS. Mobile users will need to download the free Adobe Creative Cloud Express App from the Google Play Store or the Apple Apps Store.

Adobe has made it easy to modify the provided templates. The problem with templates is that the template can be used by anyone. Instead, Creative Cloud Express templates are effective starting points. After selecting a template, you can change the words, the typeface, colors, and background. Text can be shaped. Graphic elements can be added. It takes only a few minutes to personalize a template.

I decided to try this with a happy new year template. Some of the options are Instagram stories and posts, Facebook posts, and posters. I selected Facebook. Templates are organized into categories such as events, lifestyle, sales and promotional, and seasonal. I selected seasonal and the app showed me 179 seasonal templates for a variety of holidays.

The template I selected had a headline that said "Merry & Bright" in a script typeface with additional text that said "wishing you a holiday season bursting with joy and celebration".

I changed the typeface, the typeface color, and the text for the headline to "Happy New Year 2022". Instead of having the text in straight lines, I wanted it to curve, so I added the curve effect. In place of the text, I decided to add a comment I had seen in December: "Anything that doesn't kill you mutates and tries again." Maybe that's a bit grim, but I found it to be amusing in a dark way.

Then I thought that perhaps a graphic element would be useful, so I added a sunburst.

The entire project was saved automatically as I worked on it, so all that was left to do was to export the file. I chose PNG format. From beginning to end, the process took less than 10 minutes. My little new year greeting certainly won't win any design awards, but perhaps it will enough to cause a few people to smile.

To learn more about Creative Cloud Express, just download the free app and start using it or visit the Adobe website.

How Safe Is That Facebook Fun Quiz?

Facebook is full of silly quizzes. A photo of four desserts is accompanied by text that challenges you to say which one must be eliminated. A friend has responded, so you add a comment. After all, how could it hurt?

I've always recommended being careful with these to ensure that you don't accidentally post information that could be used to steal your identity — a birth date, for example. But now I've decided that it's better to avoid these entirely. Don't respond to them, even in jest. Don't like them. Don't share them.

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Many of these are designed to look like they come from a radio station (Hard Rock 103) that may or may not exist. Or maybe it's just a silly name.

Answering a question about which one of four foods must be eliminated. Or which one of four singers. Or which one of four television programs. Or what your cat's name would be if you had to name it after the last food you ate, the last book you read, or the last motion picture you saw.

Even a nonsensical answer benefits the operator of the page. Answering this question, sharing it, or even just clicking the Like button tells Facebook that you want to see more content from the poster and other similar posts. It also gives the page more value if the owner is trying to gain enough responses to make the page a good prospect for sale.

Facebook will also show the quiz to your friends and encourage them to participate.

Over time, these kinds of questions break down our cautions and our resistance to answering questions online, thus making it more likely that we'll answer potentially dangerous questions.

The truly dangerous questions are the ones that use any information related to your birth date. Questions that list one word for each month and tell you that selecting the one that corresponds to your birth month is your porn actor first name. When you provide that information, the poster has your birth month.

No big deal? Well, of course the birth month is no big deal, but the organization asking the question can save that information along with your Facebook ID number. Days or weeks later you answer another question that uses your birth day during the month (1 to 31). It may even appear to be from another page, but that page may be controlled by the one that already has your birth month. One more question, weeks or even months later, might identify your birth year. Bingo! Some scammer now has your full birth date.

You already know how important is is to avoid questions that ask for a maiden name, the names of your grandparents, the address or town where you grew up, and such. But it's easy to forget these cautions when the question is posed in a way that makes it seem innocuous.

One tiny bit of information here, another tiny bit there, all seemingly unconnected — but when a scammer has enough of these little bits of information, they can be used to steal your identity, take over your computer or phone, or fool you with a social engineering ploy.

If you use an application such as Social Fixer or Facebook Purity, you can block these kinds of messages on a desktop computer. It's more difficult on mobile devices, but apps such as Friendly, Simple Pro, or Swipe can eliminate some of the dangers.

The key change in my thinking recently is to simply ignore these messages. Don't post any response at all, not even to warn others about the potential for abuse. Don't add a Like or a Dislike. Just move on. If you see that a friend has responded to one of the potentially dangerous messages, call them or send them a private message or email.

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Twenty Years Ago

Just Like This Year, TechSmith's SnagIt Had A New Version

In 2002, I was working with a new version of SnagIt. That was the year I finally gave up on thinking that there was no longer any way to improve the application.

Screen capture programs are thought of as something that will be useful only to geeks or to people who need to write software documentation (geeks by another name). But there are lots of ways to use a screen capture program even if you're not a geek.

I once needed to explain to someone how to set up his e-mail program, so I used one of SnagIt's special features — the ability to capture a series of screen shots as a movie. After I sent a copy of the movie showing how to move from one settings panel to another, the user quickly understood what he needed to do and how to do it.

If a program routinely displays an error message, you can capture an image of the screen with SnagIt — or you could capture a sequence of screen shots leading up to the problem. Sometimes a support technician will better understand your problem by "watching you work".

At the time, SnagIt had been around for about 12 years.