- You can then have this tool delete the unwanted files, potentially recovering a significant amount of storage space on your computer. CCleaner can also scan for.
- Snipping Tool Has Orange Tint Now All of a sudden, whenever I screenshot something or even Print Screen and paste - my screen is showing an orange tint. I've attached a screenshot below, as well as recent information about my software and laptop.
- Snipping tool is the build-in Windows desktop app for users to take a screenshot. It is enabled automatically when you activate Windows system. How can we open the snipping tool on Windows 10 and snip on it? Where is the snipping tool in Windows 10?
Snipping Tool Windows 10 is what allows you to capture screenshots on your Windows 10 PC. It makes it easier for you to take a picture of any screen and save it as an image file on your computer. With the tool installed on your PC, you don't have to install any other apps for your screenshot capturing needs.
In the following guide, you are going to learn how to open Snipping Tool using various methods. Not only one but there are several ways you can launch the tool and the following shows all of those methods to you.
Method 1: Run Snipping Tool from Start Menu
Start Menu is where almost all your apps are located and it is an effortless way to launch your favorite apps on your computer. Fortunately, Snipping Tool is available in the said menu and can be launched as shown below. This one's the easiest way to launch the tool on your Windows 10 PC.
The Microsoft Snipping Tool has been around since Windows Vista. Sadly, it hasn't improved much and that's why many people end up googling ' the best free snipping tool alternatives'. In recent versions of Windows 10, the Snipping Tool was replaced by Snip & Sketch. You'd think that would be an enhanced snipping tool But no.
Press the Windows key on your keyboard and it will launch the Start Menu. From there, click on All apps followed by Windows Accessories and click on the app named Snipping Tool. The tool will launch and you're ready to start capturing screenshots on your PC.
Method 2: Open Snipping Tool by searching
Another way you can launch the Snipping Tool on your PC is to use the search function located next to the Start Menu on your machine. What you will need to do is search for the app and click on it when it appears, and it will launch. Here's how:
Click on the search box given next to the Start Menu and search for snipping tool. When the results appear, click on the one that says Snipping Tool and the tool will open on your PC. You may now start taking screenshots of whatever screen you want on your PC.
Method 3: Turn Snipping Tool on via Run
Run provides you with the ability to launch several apps including Snipping Tool on your PC. All you need to do is enter the name of the app you want to launch, and Run will open it for you. Here's how to open Snipping Tool using Run on your Windows 10 computer.
Open the Run dialog box by pressing Windows + R keyboard shortcut. When the box opens, type snippingtool into it and press the Enter key. The tool will launch on your screen for you.
Method 4: Launch Snipping Tool via CMD
Just like the Run dialog box, Command Prompt also provides you with the ability to open apps as well as execute commands on your computer. Launching the Snipping Tool from a command prompt window is extremely easy and the following shows how to do it.
Step 1: Press the Windows + X keys on your keyboard and a menu will appear. Choose Command Prompt (Admin) from the menu to open a command prompt window.
Step 2: When a command prompt window opens, type in snippingtool.exe and hit Enter.
The typed command will get executed and the tool will launch and be in front of you on your screen.
Method 5: Create Snipping Tool Shortcut in Windows 10
If you think you will be using the tool too frequently, it's advised that you create a shortcut for the app on your desktop. That way you will be able to launch the app by double-clicking on the app shortcut on your desktop. The following shows how to create a Snipping Tool shortcut Windows 10:
Step 1: Right-click on an empty area on your desktop and select New followed by Shortcut to create a new shortcut.
Step 2: You will be asked to enter the location of the item you want to create a shortcut for. Type in snippingtool.exe and hit the Next button to continue.
Step 3: It will ask you to enter a name for the shortcut. You can enter any name of your choice. Once done, click on Finish to save the changes.
A new shortcut will be placed on your desktop with your chosen name. Double-click on the shortcut and it will open the Snipping Tool for you on your PC.
Method 6: Create a Hotkey for Opening Snipping Tool
If a keyboard shortcut is your way of launching apps, you won't be disappointed. There is a way you can set up a hotkey for launching the Snipping Tool on your computer. The following steps will help you create a hotkey for then tool:
Step 1: Open the Start Menu and head to All apps > Windows Accessories, right-click on Snipping Tool and choose More followed by Open file location.
Step 2: On the following screen, right-click on Snipping Tool and select Properties.
Step 3: Open the Shortcut tab and click on the field next to Shortcut key. Press the keys you want to set as hotkey for the tool and click on OK to save the changes.
From now on, whenever you press the hotkey, it will launch the Snipping Tool on your computer.
Extra Tip: Other Free Snipping Tool for Windows 10
If you are not happy with the built-in tool and would like other Snipping Tool download Windows 10, then here are five of the free snipping tools available for your Windows 10 PC.
1. Greenshot
Greenshot is available for both Mac and Windows and it provides you with a straightforward way to capture screenshots. It supports OCR and allows you to annotate the screenshots you have captured on your computer.
2. ShareX
ShareX is a nice screen capturing tool that is open source and comes with tons of features to use on your PC. It lets you take screenshots of individual focus areas, is lightweight, and has customizable workflows.
3. Lightshot
Lightshow will sound familiar to you if you have ever searched for screen capturing tools on any search engine. It's the fastest way to capture screenshots and share them on the Internet. You can also edit screenshots right after you have taken them on your PC.
4. Lightscreen
Safari better than firefox. Lightscreen allows you to set up a hotkey to take screenshots and the app runs in the background so as not to disturb you while you work on your tasks. You can set the preferences as to how you would like to save the screenshots in the app.
5. Screenshot
Screenshot is more than a screen capturing utility as it lets you edit and even upload your screenshots to the Internet right from the app. You've got flexible screenshot modes as well as you can configure the app to take scheduled screenshots for you.
There are so many interesting things that you can learn about Windows 10. If you don't already know, you can now even recover password for your user account on your PC. That way you can get access to your account even when you have forgotten the password. What makes it possible is a software called Windows Password Key that can be obtained from its official website.
We are sure you will like at least one method out of the all the methods given above to launch the Snipping Tool on your computer. Learning how to use Snipping Tool Windows 10 is beyond the scope of this guide but it's easy when you launch the app on your PC.
- Reset/Remove Windows admin and other user password for local/domain account.
- Create a new local/domain admin account to unlock your computer.
- Change your Microsoft account password offline.
- Fully support Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP, Windows Server 2012 (R2)/2008 (R2)/2003 (R2).
- Related Articles
- How to Create Windows 10 Password Reset USB/CD with ISO
- 3 Best Ophcrack Alternatives for Windows 10
- How to Fix 'Windows 10 Domain Username or Password is Incorrect' Error
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.comments powered by Disqus
Snipping tools, otherwise known as screen capture software, are ubiquitous with digital design and digital photography. More than simple screen capturing, snipping tools should be part of any internet user's repertoire of tools for communicating information that is not easily explained by text. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.
This guide will provide an unbiased review of the best free snipping tools as well as directions on how to use them:
Now follow along as we review the most popular snipping tools.
1. Snagit
Snagit is just more than a screen capture utility. It offers a broad range of editing and capturing tools and a comfortable user experience. The tool is intuitive, has a preview window, which shows a zoomed thumbnail shot of whatever your cursor is hovering over; the main screen of the program immediately gives you a choice of capture format, depending on what you need to grab.
Snagit works on both Windows and Mac. You can download it for free and try the software for 15 days. Snagit allows you to capture your entire screen or only a selected portion of it. The screenshot automatically opens in the Snagit Editor where you can preview, edit, and share the capture.
Snagit makes it easy to capture images or record videos, import images from cameras and scanners, capture text from within an image and drop it into a text editor.
Moreover, Snagit 2020 comes complete with a wide array of pre-made layouts and templates to help you create professional-looking technical documentation and instructional content right inside the app.
👆 SPECS:
Works on: Windows and macOS
Price: $49.95
✅ PROS:
- Open source
- Easy-to-use interface
- Free trial: full featured for 15 days
⛔️ CONS:
- It only provides minimal video-editing tools
- Price
2. Snipping Tool
The default Windows 10 snipping tool, Snipping Tool as its name suggests is a simple screen capture application designed to quickly and easily capture, save, and share still images. More versatile than the Mac version, Snipping Tool can't only capture full screenshots but can also draw custom snips and perform window specific snips.
Easy ways of how to take a screenshot on Windows 10 .
Even better, Snipping Tool supports simple text annotations and free-hand drawing. While there was a rumor that Microsoft had decided to do away with the Snipping Tool in its recent Windows 10 updates, Snipping Tool can still be found by selecting the ‘Start' button and searching for it.
👆 SPECS:
Works on: Windows
Price: Free
✅ PROS:
- Simple editor
- Customizable screenshots
⛔️ CONS:
- Image capture only
- Windows only
3. Screenpresso
Screenpresso is one of the best snipping tools for Windows 10 allowing you to not just edit screenshots by adding drawings or cutting out parts that you don't need, but also to get snapshots of several screens at once (suitable for multi-monitor setups).
The snipping tool can capture HD Video of your on-screen activities, exporting the results in MP4 (H264), WebM, Ogv or WMV formats and allows you to upload videos directly to your YouTube, Twitpic, Flickr, Facebook, Evernote, even FTP servers. Captures are limited to a maximum of 15 seconds in the free version and include Screenpresso branding.
👆 SPECS:
Works on: Windows
Price: Free/$29,99
✅ PROS:
- HD Video Capture
⛔️ CONS:
- Branding in a free version
- Limited image editor
4. DuckCapture
A small and simple screen capture utility, DuckCapture is the best snipping tool for Windows 10 and macOS. Great for still image snipping, DuckCapture offers customizability for capturing different areas of your screen or capturing particular screen shapes.
Captured images can be edited with annotations, text, shapes, arrows, and custom sizes and colors. DuckCapture comes with one severe restriction however; that as a snipping tool it is limited to still images only.
👆 SPECS:
Works on: macOS and Windows
Price: Free
✅ PROS:
- Simple user interface
- Custom editing
⛔️ CONS:
- Image capture only
- Dated look
5. PicPick
A great Windows snipping tool, PicPick can capture all types of screen images easily and includes a powerful editor that even lets you edit images before saving them locally.
PicPicks editor is perfect for most and comes with a wide array of features such as text overlay, adding shapes, blur, and pixelation, resizing and rotation, and freehand drawing. Even better, PicPick automatically opens its editor any time you capture a screenshot. However, once again, PicPick is limited only to still image capture.
👆 SPECS:
Works on: Windows
Price: Free for personal use
✅ PROS:
- Powerful editor
- Intuitive interface
⛔️ CONS:
- Image capture only
- Windows only
6. LightShot
Lightshot is a simple screenshot software tool available for Windows, Mac and in your web browsers, namely Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Opera. It does not just capture an essential area of your screen, but comes with sharing options and editing tools like cropping, transforming, adding new layers or even adding filters and special effects.
LightShot is an excellent replacement for the standard PrtScr functionality in Windows. It features an impressive online editor but lacks more capturing options.
👆 SPECS:
Works on: Windows, macOS, Chrome, Firefox
Price: Free
✅ PROS:
- Includes an image editor
- Easy-to-use application
- Powerful editors
⛔️ CONS:
- No publicly available license
7. ShareX
ShareX is a free open-source screen recording tool that lets you capture or record any area of your screen and share it with a single press of a key on an extensive collection of platform destinations, including Google Drive, Dropbox, Twitter, Imgur, bit.ly, Pastebin, among others.
👆 SPECS:
Works on: Windows, macOS, Linux
Price: Free
✅ PROS:
- Open Source
- Capturing (screen, video, a window, etc.) with annotation
- Customizable
- Allows uploading to a vast number of different services
⛔️ CONS:
- Too complicated
8. Screenshot Captor
Screenshot Captor is another piece of free software available only for Windows. It's a versatile snipping tool capable of capturing still images in selected areas, whole windows, and even content from a scrolling window. Even better, Screenshot Captor can record images from your webcam.
Use Screenshot Captor's editor to block out sensitive information, add text overlays and other custom edits - there's even a watermarking tool to protect your intellectual property. One downside to Screenshot Captor is its expiration after 6 months. While it's free to renew, a new subscription key must be generated every six months to continue to use the program.
👆 SPECS:
Works on: Windows
Price: Free with 6-month renewals
✅ PROS:
- Powerful editor
- Customizable
- Many export options
⛔️ CONS:
- Subscription key expires after 6 months requiring you to register for a new account to continue using
- Image capture only
9. Grab
Macos catalina screenshot. A now discontinued Mac utility for capturing image content, Grab has been replaced in the latest Macs with a simple screenshot utility. Unlike its predecessor, the newer snipping tool for Mac is no longer classified as an application, instead, it is a feature that is accessible via shortcut.
Less of a snipping tool and more of a shortcut for capturing content, both Grab and its newer cousin, are accessible by using any of the following shortcuts: Command+Shift+3 to take a picture of the entire screen and Command+Shift+4 to drag to select a particular area. Screenshots save directly to the desktop.
👆 SPECS:
Works on: macOS
Price: Free
✅ PROS:
- Built in for mac
- Simple to access with shortcuts
⛔️ CONS:
- No built-in editor
- Image capture only
- Mac only
10. Greenshot
Sound Snipping Tool
Greenshot is a simple screenshot software tool for Windows and macOS that offers many of the same features as its proprietary counterparts. It allows you to quickly take screenshots of a selected area, capture complete web pages, annotate, add arrows, signs, boxes, highlight or obfuscate parts of the screenshot and export files.
Being easy to understand and configurable, Greenshot is an efficient tool for project managers, software developers, technical writers, testers and anyone else creating screenshots.
👆 SPECS:
Works on: Windows and macOS
Price: Free
✅ PROS:
- Open source
- Easy to use
- Freezes screen when you capture
- Allows annotating, highlighting and obfuscating screenshots
Audio Cropper Online
⛔️ CONS:
- Rarely updated
What are the Benefits of Using a Snipping Tool?
There are many great reasons why snipping tools are useful and why its high time you adopted one into your digital repertoire. For one, snipping tools are a simple way of conveying information that is not easily communicated in text. If you've ever tried explaining a complicated digital process to someone, you may have found that simply writing directions isn't enough.
With some user interfaces as complicated as they are today, being able to quickly snap a photo or make a quick educational slideshow of you completing a process can make the learning experience that much easier for others.
While great for teachers or those making tutorials, snipping tools are also widely used by content makers to create viral content such as memes or even short videos. In their very essence, snipping tools are simple recorders that come packed with quick and easy editors. From capturing an image with a snipping tool, you can then easily add text, graphics, or maybe even voiceovers.
What are the Criteria for Choosing a Snipping Tool?
When choosing a snipping tool, the most important thing is ensuring that it can capture different image types and sizes. Many free programs can only capture images, but with their editors, chances are they are much more useful than your legacy operating system's built-in tool.
Another important factor to use when evaluating a snipping tool is whether it can perform basic editing. Editing can mean many things, but at its most basic try and find a snipping tool that allows you to easily cut, blur, or watermark your work. To avoid having to import your recordings into yet another program, find a snipping tool with text overlay to simplify the creative process.
As with most software decisions, whether or not your program is easy to use is often the most salient point. The best snipping tools combine powerful and creative editors with beautiful and intuitive user interface design.
Can I use a basic snipping tool for Mac and Windows?
Definitely, you can! There are basic snipping tools in both operating systems already and they can work quite well for you if you just need to take a screenshot of a still image on your screen.
If you've ever used a Mac then you might be familiar with the ways of how to take a screenshot on a Mac using snipping tool shortcuts below:
CMD + SHIFT + 3
makes capture a full-screen screenshot
CMD + SHIFT + 4
helps you capture selected area as a screenshot
CMD + SHIFT + 5
captures only an active window that you choose
Press the Windows key on your keyboard and it will launch the Start Menu. From there, click on All apps followed by Windows Accessories and click on the app named Snipping Tool. The tool will launch and you're ready to start capturing screenshots on your PC.
Method 2: Open Snipping Tool by searching
Another way you can launch the Snipping Tool on your PC is to use the search function located next to the Start Menu on your machine. What you will need to do is search for the app and click on it when it appears, and it will launch. Here's how:
Click on the search box given next to the Start Menu and search for snipping tool. When the results appear, click on the one that says Snipping Tool and the tool will open on your PC. You may now start taking screenshots of whatever screen you want on your PC.
Method 3: Turn Snipping Tool on via Run
Run provides you with the ability to launch several apps including Snipping Tool on your PC. All you need to do is enter the name of the app you want to launch, and Run will open it for you. Here's how to open Snipping Tool using Run on your Windows 10 computer.
Open the Run dialog box by pressing Windows + R keyboard shortcut. When the box opens, type snippingtool into it and press the Enter key. The tool will launch on your screen for you.
Method 4: Launch Snipping Tool via CMD
Just like the Run dialog box, Command Prompt also provides you with the ability to open apps as well as execute commands on your computer. Launching the Snipping Tool from a command prompt window is extremely easy and the following shows how to do it.
Step 1: Press the Windows + X keys on your keyboard and a menu will appear. Choose Command Prompt (Admin) from the menu to open a command prompt window.
Step 2: When a command prompt window opens, type in snippingtool.exe and hit Enter.
The typed command will get executed and the tool will launch and be in front of you on your screen.
Method 5: Create Snipping Tool Shortcut in Windows 10
If you think you will be using the tool too frequently, it's advised that you create a shortcut for the app on your desktop. That way you will be able to launch the app by double-clicking on the app shortcut on your desktop. The following shows how to create a Snipping Tool shortcut Windows 10:
Step 1: Right-click on an empty area on your desktop and select New followed by Shortcut to create a new shortcut.
Step 2: You will be asked to enter the location of the item you want to create a shortcut for. Type in snippingtool.exe and hit the Next button to continue.
Step 3: It will ask you to enter a name for the shortcut. You can enter any name of your choice. Once done, click on Finish to save the changes.
A new shortcut will be placed on your desktop with your chosen name. Double-click on the shortcut and it will open the Snipping Tool for you on your PC.
Method 6: Create a Hotkey for Opening Snipping Tool
If a keyboard shortcut is your way of launching apps, you won't be disappointed. There is a way you can set up a hotkey for launching the Snipping Tool on your computer. The following steps will help you create a hotkey for then tool:
Step 1: Open the Start Menu and head to All apps > Windows Accessories, right-click on Snipping Tool and choose More followed by Open file location.
Step 2: On the following screen, right-click on Snipping Tool and select Properties.
Step 3: Open the Shortcut tab and click on the field next to Shortcut key. Press the keys you want to set as hotkey for the tool and click on OK to save the changes.
From now on, whenever you press the hotkey, it will launch the Snipping Tool on your computer.
Extra Tip: Other Free Snipping Tool for Windows 10
If you are not happy with the built-in tool and would like other Snipping Tool download Windows 10, then here are five of the free snipping tools available for your Windows 10 PC.
1. Greenshot
Greenshot is available for both Mac and Windows and it provides you with a straightforward way to capture screenshots. It supports OCR and allows you to annotate the screenshots you have captured on your computer.
2. ShareX
ShareX is a nice screen capturing tool that is open source and comes with tons of features to use on your PC. It lets you take screenshots of individual focus areas, is lightweight, and has customizable workflows.
3. Lightshot
Lightshow will sound familiar to you if you have ever searched for screen capturing tools on any search engine. It's the fastest way to capture screenshots and share them on the Internet. You can also edit screenshots right after you have taken them on your PC.
4. Lightscreen
Safari better than firefox. Lightscreen allows you to set up a hotkey to take screenshots and the app runs in the background so as not to disturb you while you work on your tasks. You can set the preferences as to how you would like to save the screenshots in the app.
5. Screenshot
Screenshot is more than a screen capturing utility as it lets you edit and even upload your screenshots to the Internet right from the app. You've got flexible screenshot modes as well as you can configure the app to take scheduled screenshots for you.
There are so many interesting things that you can learn about Windows 10. If you don't already know, you can now even recover password for your user account on your PC. That way you can get access to your account even when you have forgotten the password. What makes it possible is a software called Windows Password Key that can be obtained from its official website.
We are sure you will like at least one method out of the all the methods given above to launch the Snipping Tool on your computer. Learning how to use Snipping Tool Windows 10 is beyond the scope of this guide but it's easy when you launch the app on your PC.
- Reset/Remove Windows admin and other user password for local/domain account.
- Create a new local/domain admin account to unlock your computer.
- Change your Microsoft account password offline.
- Fully support Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP, Windows Server 2012 (R2)/2008 (R2)/2003 (R2).
- Related Articles
- How to Create Windows 10 Password Reset USB/CD with ISO
- 3 Best Ophcrack Alternatives for Windows 10
- How to Fix 'Windows 10 Domain Username or Password is Incorrect' Error
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.comments powered by Disqus
Snipping tools, otherwise known as screen capture software, are ubiquitous with digital design and digital photography. More than simple screen capturing, snipping tools should be part of any internet user's repertoire of tools for communicating information that is not easily explained by text. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.
This guide will provide an unbiased review of the best free snipping tools as well as directions on how to use them:
Now follow along as we review the most popular snipping tools.
1. Snagit
Snagit is just more than a screen capture utility. It offers a broad range of editing and capturing tools and a comfortable user experience. The tool is intuitive, has a preview window, which shows a zoomed thumbnail shot of whatever your cursor is hovering over; the main screen of the program immediately gives you a choice of capture format, depending on what you need to grab.
Snagit works on both Windows and Mac. You can download it for free and try the software for 15 days. Snagit allows you to capture your entire screen or only a selected portion of it. The screenshot automatically opens in the Snagit Editor where you can preview, edit, and share the capture.
Snagit makes it easy to capture images or record videos, import images from cameras and scanners, capture text from within an image and drop it into a text editor.
Moreover, Snagit 2020 comes complete with a wide array of pre-made layouts and templates to help you create professional-looking technical documentation and instructional content right inside the app.
👆 SPECS:
Works on: Windows and macOS
Price: $49.95
✅ PROS:
- Open source
- Easy-to-use interface
- Free trial: full featured for 15 days
⛔️ CONS:
- It only provides minimal video-editing tools
- Price
2. Snipping Tool
The default Windows 10 snipping tool, Snipping Tool as its name suggests is a simple screen capture application designed to quickly and easily capture, save, and share still images. More versatile than the Mac version, Snipping Tool can't only capture full screenshots but can also draw custom snips and perform window specific snips.
Easy ways of how to take a screenshot on Windows 10 .
Even better, Snipping Tool supports simple text annotations and free-hand drawing. While there was a rumor that Microsoft had decided to do away with the Snipping Tool in its recent Windows 10 updates, Snipping Tool can still be found by selecting the ‘Start' button and searching for it.
👆 SPECS:
Works on: Windows
Price: Free
✅ PROS:
- Simple editor
- Customizable screenshots
⛔️ CONS:
- Image capture only
- Windows only
3. Screenpresso
Screenpresso is one of the best snipping tools for Windows 10 allowing you to not just edit screenshots by adding drawings or cutting out parts that you don't need, but also to get snapshots of several screens at once (suitable for multi-monitor setups).
The snipping tool can capture HD Video of your on-screen activities, exporting the results in MP4 (H264), WebM, Ogv or WMV formats and allows you to upload videos directly to your YouTube, Twitpic, Flickr, Facebook, Evernote, even FTP servers. Captures are limited to a maximum of 15 seconds in the free version and include Screenpresso branding.
👆 SPECS:
Works on: Windows
Price: Free/$29,99
✅ PROS:
- HD Video Capture
⛔️ CONS:
- Branding in a free version
- Limited image editor
4. DuckCapture
A small and simple screen capture utility, DuckCapture is the best snipping tool for Windows 10 and macOS. Great for still image snipping, DuckCapture offers customizability for capturing different areas of your screen or capturing particular screen shapes.
Captured images can be edited with annotations, text, shapes, arrows, and custom sizes and colors. DuckCapture comes with one severe restriction however; that as a snipping tool it is limited to still images only.
👆 SPECS:
Works on: macOS and Windows
Price: Free
✅ PROS:
- Simple user interface
- Custom editing
⛔️ CONS:
- Image capture only
- Dated look
5. PicPick
A great Windows snipping tool, PicPick can capture all types of screen images easily and includes a powerful editor that even lets you edit images before saving them locally.
PicPicks editor is perfect for most and comes with a wide array of features such as text overlay, adding shapes, blur, and pixelation, resizing and rotation, and freehand drawing. Even better, PicPick automatically opens its editor any time you capture a screenshot. However, once again, PicPick is limited only to still image capture.
👆 SPECS:
Works on: Windows
Price: Free for personal use
✅ PROS:
- Powerful editor
- Intuitive interface
⛔️ CONS:
- Image capture only
- Windows only
6. LightShot
Lightshot is a simple screenshot software tool available for Windows, Mac and in your web browsers, namely Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Opera. It does not just capture an essential area of your screen, but comes with sharing options and editing tools like cropping, transforming, adding new layers or even adding filters and special effects.
LightShot is an excellent replacement for the standard PrtScr functionality in Windows. It features an impressive online editor but lacks more capturing options.
👆 SPECS:
Works on: Windows, macOS, Chrome, Firefox
Price: Free
✅ PROS:
- Includes an image editor
- Easy-to-use application
- Powerful editors
⛔️ CONS:
- No publicly available license
7. ShareX
ShareX is a free open-source screen recording tool that lets you capture or record any area of your screen and share it with a single press of a key on an extensive collection of platform destinations, including Google Drive, Dropbox, Twitter, Imgur, bit.ly, Pastebin, among others.
👆 SPECS:
Works on: Windows, macOS, Linux
Price: Free
✅ PROS:
- Open Source
- Capturing (screen, video, a window, etc.) with annotation
- Customizable
- Allows uploading to a vast number of different services
⛔️ CONS:
- Too complicated
8. Screenshot Captor
Screenshot Captor is another piece of free software available only for Windows. It's a versatile snipping tool capable of capturing still images in selected areas, whole windows, and even content from a scrolling window. Even better, Screenshot Captor can record images from your webcam.
Use Screenshot Captor's editor to block out sensitive information, add text overlays and other custom edits - there's even a watermarking tool to protect your intellectual property. One downside to Screenshot Captor is its expiration after 6 months. While it's free to renew, a new subscription key must be generated every six months to continue to use the program.
👆 SPECS:
Works on: Windows
Price: Free with 6-month renewals
✅ PROS:
- Powerful editor
- Customizable
- Many export options
⛔️ CONS:
- Subscription key expires after 6 months requiring you to register for a new account to continue using
- Image capture only
9. Grab
Macos catalina screenshot. A now discontinued Mac utility for capturing image content, Grab has been replaced in the latest Macs with a simple screenshot utility. Unlike its predecessor, the newer snipping tool for Mac is no longer classified as an application, instead, it is a feature that is accessible via shortcut.
Less of a snipping tool and more of a shortcut for capturing content, both Grab and its newer cousin, are accessible by using any of the following shortcuts: Command+Shift+3 to take a picture of the entire screen and Command+Shift+4 to drag to select a particular area. Screenshots save directly to the desktop.
👆 SPECS:
Works on: macOS
Price: Free
✅ PROS:
- Built in for mac
- Simple to access with shortcuts
⛔️ CONS:
- No built-in editor
- Image capture only
- Mac only
10. Greenshot
Sound Snipping Tool
Greenshot is a simple screenshot software tool for Windows and macOS that offers many of the same features as its proprietary counterparts. It allows you to quickly take screenshots of a selected area, capture complete web pages, annotate, add arrows, signs, boxes, highlight or obfuscate parts of the screenshot and export files.
Being easy to understand and configurable, Greenshot is an efficient tool for project managers, software developers, technical writers, testers and anyone else creating screenshots.
👆 SPECS:
Works on: Windows and macOS
Price: Free
✅ PROS:
- Open source
- Easy to use
- Freezes screen when you capture
- Allows annotating, highlighting and obfuscating screenshots
Audio Cropper Online
⛔️ CONS:
- Rarely updated
What are the Benefits of Using a Snipping Tool?
There are many great reasons why snipping tools are useful and why its high time you adopted one into your digital repertoire. For one, snipping tools are a simple way of conveying information that is not easily communicated in text. If you've ever tried explaining a complicated digital process to someone, you may have found that simply writing directions isn't enough.
With some user interfaces as complicated as they are today, being able to quickly snap a photo or make a quick educational slideshow of you completing a process can make the learning experience that much easier for others.
While great for teachers or those making tutorials, snipping tools are also widely used by content makers to create viral content such as memes or even short videos. In their very essence, snipping tools are simple recorders that come packed with quick and easy editors. From capturing an image with a snipping tool, you can then easily add text, graphics, or maybe even voiceovers.
What are the Criteria for Choosing a Snipping Tool?
When choosing a snipping tool, the most important thing is ensuring that it can capture different image types and sizes. Many free programs can only capture images, but with their editors, chances are they are much more useful than your legacy operating system's built-in tool.
Another important factor to use when evaluating a snipping tool is whether it can perform basic editing. Editing can mean many things, but at its most basic try and find a snipping tool that allows you to easily cut, blur, or watermark your work. To avoid having to import your recordings into yet another program, find a snipping tool with text overlay to simplify the creative process.
As with most software decisions, whether or not your program is easy to use is often the most salient point. The best snipping tools combine powerful and creative editors with beautiful and intuitive user interface design.
Can I use a basic snipping tool for Mac and Windows?
Definitely, you can! There are basic snipping tools in both operating systems already and they can work quite well for you if you just need to take a screenshot of a still image on your screen.
If you've ever used a Mac then you might be familiar with the ways of how to take a screenshot on a Mac using snipping tool shortcuts below:
CMD + SHIFT + 3
makes capture a full-screen screenshot
CMD + SHIFT + 4
helps you capture selected area as a screenshot
CMD + SHIFT + 5
captures only an active window that you choose
To find the best snipping tool for Mac check a list of these snipping tools for Mac, try, and choose the best one that fits your needs.
Looking to capture images on Windows? With Windows, the PrtScn screen button does the same thing:
CTRL + PrtScn
takes a screenshot of the whole screen
ALT + PrtScn
takes a screenshot of an active window
More ways on how to take a screenshot on Windows.
It's a no sweat to click just one button or several buttons to capture an image. However, basic Windows and Mac snipping tools don't come with even the most basic features common to most snipping tools we consider below. The methods considered above are crude and limited, with no other features besides simply capturing a still image.
Use Snipping Tools to Capture and Share All Your Digital Content
By now you should have a pretty good idea of some the pros and cons of the various freeware snipping tools available online. While these are great for capturing still images, if you're seeking something more powerful, for instance, to capture video, these programs will not suffice.
Many more powerful paid snipping tools can be found under the moniker of screen recording software. These programs can do all of the above and more as they pack video editing, audio capabilities and more into powerful screen capturing applications.
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