Filed under: Software, Universal Binary
InstantShot! - Menubar Screenshots
As you might expect, we take a lot of screenshots here at TUAW, so I'm always interested in ways of making it easier. Most of the time I either use ImageWell or one of the built-in keyboard shortcuts. Nonetheless, InstantShot! looks like a convenient alternative for folks who prefer using the mouse. This little menubar utility waits quietly until you need to make a screenshot and is only a mouse-click away. It offers most of the same options as OS X's built-in Grab application, but is a bit more configurable as to file format. You can also use it to take multiple shots (like on a digital camera) every so many seconds (configurable in the Preferences). There's also an option to hide your desktop with a solid color, but it's not quite as nice-looking as Backdrop.
InstantShot! is Universal Binary and a free download from Digital Waters.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
John Tyler said 8:40AM on 1-22-2007
Backdrop is OK, but to hide my Desktop for screenshots, I prefer Desktopple (http://foggynoggin.com/desktopple).
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Justin Cook said 9:43AM on 1-22-2007
This is perfect, I've been looking for a free alternative to the 4-key combination to get a screenshot!
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Glenn Wolsey said 10:27AM on 1-22-2007
What happened to crediting sources? This post was just on Digg via my site. http://www.glennwolsey.com/2007/01/22/instantshot-taking-screenshots-the-smart-way/
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Smran said 10:31AM on 1-22-2007
You guys really have no ethics at all. How about linking to the source? We all know you got this off digg, how about linking to the blog post you found it through? Pathetic.
http://www.glennwolsey.com/2007/01/22/instantshot-taking-screenshots-the-smart-way/
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Mat Lu said 10:36AM on 1-22-2007
@Glenn: Just to let you know, we do of course credit sources. But in this case, I actually ran across this in my own random surfing. If you'll look back at my other posts you'll see I'm very scrupulous about crediting, so please believe me when I say that I didn't credit you because that's not how I ran across it.
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Glenn Wolsey said 10:50AM on 1-22-2007
Matt,
I've noticed that in many recent TUAW stories, you guys have not linked back to the source.
If you say you found it elsewhere, that's fine. It's just strange how you managed to come across InstantShot a short time after the story was promoted on Digg. It sounds like your random surfing involved the search box at digg.com.
Cheers,
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Mat Lu said 11:00AM on 1-22-2007
@Glenn; You, sir, are being arrogant and insulting, but I'll leave your posting. Think about it for a second: how did YOU first find the software? As I said before, what possible reason do I (or any of us at TUAW) have for not crediting sources. And if indeed you look back at our postings you'll see that the vast majority of them do credit some source. But do you really think nobody else can find things on their own? Do you really think you're the only person who likes surfing around the net? This is a simple post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy, an elementary mistake of reasoning.
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Laurie said 11:12AM on 1-22-2007
Glenn - I don't actively follow digg (i'm not a fan of the site in general) and I don't subscribe to your RSS feed or read your site regularly unless someone happens to send in a tip or you're linked from somewhere else. Yet I saw InstantShot on both MacUpdate and VersionTracker RSS feeds yesterday and if Matt hadn't posted about it, I might have mentioned it myself today. I suspect you found the app via one of those software tracking sites as well. I don't know about you, but I track almost 600 feeds these days so the number of sites I might discover something I want to post about is pretty significant and there's bound to be some overlap. Accusing someone of lying or being unethical when you just happened to post about before we did an application that's on both major Mac software trackers and certainly no secret is a bit of a low blow and completely unwarranted.
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e said 11:21AM on 1-22-2007
so, back to comments on the software...
what about capturing the active window only, not the entire screen? does anyone know of a way to do this? instaShot seems like a viable option, but i don't want to draw a rectangle everytime i want to capture my active window...
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Steve said 11:27AM on 1-22-2007
I prefer using the free Screenshot Plus Widget
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/business/screenshotplus.html
It probably the only widget I use on a daily basis
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Smaran Dayal said 12:06PM on 1-22-2007
Okay, I'm ready to admit that maybe I was wrong about you guys finding out about it from digg. It sounds incredibly strange though...
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Victor Agreda Jr said 1:14PM on 1-22-2007
Smaran, it's not incredibly strange. Please go to VersionTracker and note when the update was posted. We set posts to "go live" sometimes hours later. We love digg, and credit it when we find something there. No conspiracy, it's just a very big internet and coincedences happen every day.
Anyway, this is the first I've heard of the app (and I use the digg widget, but this didn't catch my eye until I got involved in this silliness).
Looks cool! My wife can never seem to remember the keyboard shortcut, and it's a bit of a pain to switch around the file format. Very handy.
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Megan said 2:58PM on 1-22-2007
So, is Mat Lu a thief or is Glenn Wolsey some sort of lame punk?
http://digg.com/apple/TUAW_caught_stealing_online_content
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Smaran Dayal said 9:10PM on 1-22-2007
Ah, okay. You're right, Victor. Sorry for jumping to conclusions.
And Megan, I'm taking your advice. I'll stick to writing on my own blog. :-)
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Glenn Wolsey said 11:55PM on 1-22-2007
Matt and I have sorted the issues out, there was no need for the Digg story. The issue is solved and finished.
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Jason Smith said 2:50AM on 1-23-2007
Mat,
What is the name of the weather program you have running in your Menu Bar next to the GMail notifier? Been looking for something since using Meteorologist years ago.
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Megan said 8:33AM on 1-23-2007
> Matt and I have sorted the issues
@Glen,
I'm glad you seem to be content now. Perhaps you could use this opportunity to publicly apologize to Mat and us TUAW readers for hijacking the original thread with your 'stolen content' diatribe.
FYI: Matt != Mat, just like Glen != Glenn.
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Mat Lu said 4:54PM on 1-23-2007
@Jason: It is in fact an Intel build of Meteorologist.
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