Overview

If you take a lot of screenshots for creating tutorials, Snagit 11 is better than ever. Snagit 11 still has smart window detection so you can automatically select to capture a window or part of the window so you don't have to spend time cropping the image.

New features

For a long time, Snagit was only used to capture and annotate still images but that changes with Snagit 11. The biggest feature update for this version is the ability to capture video. You can now create screencasts using Snagit and upload them directly to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, an FTP server, or Screencast.com.

While Snagit can capture video and voice for screencasts, don't expect the full range of editing features that you find in TechSmith's dedicated screencast application, Camtasia Studio. Snagit 11 aims to make sharing short video tutorials easy. If you want more professional results for your screencasts, give Camtasia Studio a try.

Another big feature upgrade that you'll find in Snagit 11 is the ability to download more stamps and other annotation tools. If the current set of annotation tools aren't to your fancy, just hit the "get more" link inside the app to be taken to TechSmith's website. You can also download plugins for sharing on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and many more.

Snagit 11 also features improved text capture. If you take a screenshot of some text, Snagit automatically detects it and throws it into the Snagit Editor. From there, you can easily export it to whatever text editing program you'd like such as Microsoft Word, Notepad, and Evernote.

Overall, Snagit 11 is a great update for an already amazing program but those running Snagit 10 may not need the new features introduced in this version.

If you don't want or need better text capture, easy social sharing, or video capture, Snagit 10 will work just fine.

Download Snagit 11.1.0 in Softonic

Sometimes the best way to explain something to someone who's not very skillful with computer is showing them a video. And Free Screen to Video is one of the easiest ways to record your screen.

Free Screen to Video is a simple video utility that saves any activity on your screen to several video formats, including AVI and SWF (Flash). You have three capturing options (full screen, active window or user-selected area) plus the ability to optionally record sound and capture mouse events as well. The program's configuration settings enable you to configure several technical parameters regarding audio and video capturing.

That said, don't expect Free Screen to Video to be some sort of free, stripped-down Camtasia. This tool is meant to be very simple in usage and functionalities; it doesn't have any video editing options and the results are not perfect – especially when capturing the mouse: in my tests the cursor was always a few centimeters away from the actual mouse action!

Nevertheless, Free Screen to Video is still a handy tool to record quick desktop videos for tutorials, demos and other educational purposes.

With Free Screen to Video you'll be able to capture any on-screen activity and save it to various video formats, in a very simple way.

Download Free Screen To Video 2.0 in Softonic

Overview

As one of the highly-regarded screen recording programs out there, Camtasia Studio offers a flexible, friendly working environment and smooth workflow that reduces the learning curve and editing time to the minimum.

It's actually quite easy to produce video using Camtasia Studio. Through the thorough documentation provided with the program, as well as an intuitive, three stage creation process that includes recording, then editing and producing, you'll be able to document your progress and also find help in the event that you end up getting stuck.

Creation process

In the first stage, Camtasia Studio provides you with a dedicated built-in tool to record images from your screen. The Camtasia Recorder features many different options to customize your recording settings: use the whole screen or a user-defined area, add cursor effects, record audio as well, and grab the image source from your webcam, among others.

The second stage that involves editing begins when your recording is finished. Camtasia Studio offers a varied range of tools to personalize your video. You can draw attention to a certain area with different callouts (including cool animated sketches), add more information with on-screen text captions or make it more eye-catching with transition effects, to name just a few. Both the Clip Bin and the Library in Camtasia Studio will ease the task of choosing media files to use on your video. The audio editor, on the downside, is a bit more limited, with only a few tools to level volume, reduce noise and optimize voice.

Finally, the production stage is last. Camtasia Studio makes it really easy, even if you've never used video editors before. Simply choose one of the included presets in the Production Wizard and follow the steps. Camtasia Studio will help you choose the appropriate codec, resolution, size and other details, and will finally render your video. And of course, you can export directly from Camtasia Studio to YouTube and work with HD video as well.

New features

Camtasia Studio 8 comes with a load of new features. Some are nearly invisible, fixes to bugs and other more "under the hood" tweaks. Others, such as the new ability to group and ungroup items on the timeline, will make your screen capture and recording experience a whole lot more user-friendly.

Even more than that, Camtasia Studio has added lots of new perks that'll give you even more ways to make your videos unique. Some of these include the ability to apply visual effects to an media on the timeline, the ability to adjust Drop Shadow distance, direction, opacity, and blur, and new borders that can now be added to any media, then later adjusted to the color and thickness of your choosing.

Whether you're out to make screencasts or just need a friendly and complete tool to record videos, Camtasia Studio is a great option for just about anyone.

Download Camtasia Studio 8.0 in Softonic

How many times have you ever wanted to record the screen but do not know what to do? Screenshots can be simply made using PicPick but you'll need something like Microsoft Expression Encoder to make videos.

Microsoft Expression Encoder is subdivided into two distinct applications: one for capture and the other for editing. The Screen Capture tool is a minimal and intuitive tool for recording screen, webcam or audio only. You only need to choose the device and the area to record, the quality and press the red button to record.

Once you register you can edit it with the second section of Microsoft Expression Encoder. On the left side you can preview functions, while the right options are for video encoding. Both are well presented and organized. The only thing lacking is the ability to add effects and save in multiple formats.

Microsoft Expression Encoder is an application to create screencasts easily. It cannot compete with giants such as Final Cut, but is an alternative to software such as Camtasia.

Download Microsoft Expression Encoder 4.0.3210 in Softonic

Techsmith, known for their excellent screen capture application, SnagIt and their screencast tool, Camtasia, have developed a hybrid product in Jing. This project makes capturing videos and images on your screen a simple, one click action and allows you to share them online with your friends.

The Jing interface itself, in its bubbly shape, almost feels like a web application instead of a real program. The Jing menu sits discreetly on the side of your screen and can be called up anytime. Capturing elements can be a bit confusing at first. Jing brings up a set of crosshairs that you will have to focus on the area of the screen you wish to capture. After that you can choose if you want a video or an image capture. The application features some limited editing tools like text, color or arrows, but these will often be sufficient.

The history feature in Jing is pretty cool and shows your recent captures as little thumbnails that you open up by double clicking. As to sharing captures online, you'll have to be logged in to screencast.com to make it work.

While Jing does tend to lag every now and then, it's set to be the perfect desktop companion for anyone looking to produce basic screencasts and captures.

Download Jing 2.5.47113 in Softonic