Filed under: Software, Productivity, Internet Tools
LittleSnapper 1.0 is released
Way back in September, our friends (including former TUAW blogger Nik Fletcher) at Realmac Software started trickling out details about their newest Mac app: LittleSnapper. Now after a thorough beta process and lots of hard work, the application is finally available! I have been using the application since its first alpha and I have to say, it is a strong contender for my favorite Mac utility of the year.
LittleSnapper was developed to solve the problem of organizing, sharing and notating screenshots -- especially screenshots from web pages. LittleSnapper does this, and more, effectively and beautifully.
I'll be posting a more in-depth review soon, but here are some of my favorite features:
- Take snaps from any browser, without installing a plugin. Regardless of the browser you use, you can take a snap by invoking the LittleSnapper keyboard shortcut or clicking on the LS menubar icon.
- Save and view the web archive of the site you snap. You can view full web archives within LittleSnapper and access the code (using your choice of editor). This is really useful for development work.
- Use DOM selectors to snap specific portions of a web page. Within LittleSnapper's built-in browser, you can use the DOM selector (think Web Selector for Safari) to capture a specific element. I love this feature.
- Edit images non-destructively within the program. You can add blur, highlight specific parts of the screen, add text and callout arrows within LittleSnapper and export the image with annotations on or off. The blur feature especially is sure to save me lots of unnecessary Photoshop time.
- Open a snap directly in Photoshop.
- Share snaps via the web using either QuickSnapper, Flickr or your own FTP or web server.
- Organize snaps into collections and set rules to automatically file snaps in place based on content or tags.
- Import your existing screenshots into your LittleSnapper library
Realmac's page has more detail and case studies (full disclosure: I'm one of the users they profiled). If you take a lot of screenshots, especially of web pages, I really encourage you to give the app a try. The unregistered version lets you take up to 30 snaps to try out all the features.
LittleSnapper 1.0 requires OS X 10.5 Leopard and is $39.99 US for a single license (5-user Studio licenses are available for $129 US). All LittleSnapper licenses include full access to the QuickSnapper service.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
robert said 4:44PM on 12-11-2008
Very cool, can't wait to try this :-)
Have friends who use a PC equivalent and always wished for a good Mac variation.
Thanks!
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Dave Barnes said 5:10PM on 12-11-2008
How does Little Snapper compare with Snapz Pro X?
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Ben K. said 5:40PM on 12-11-2008
Yikes. $40 for a neat-o little screenshot utility seems a little steep to me.
After their tiff about RapidWeaver upgrades costing a load of cash to owners of the same point release, I can't see myself buying another one of their apps any time soon. Especially since I'm a poor college student.
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Nik Fletcher (Realmac Software) said 10:29AM on 12-12-2008
HI Ben,
We heard everyone loud and clear on the version-number issue of the 3.5->3.6 paid upgrade. I'm not going to comment any further on this, however we work hard to ensure that customers get as much value out of free updates as possible (3.6 was the first paid upgrade in over 3 years, as an example).
We try hard to appease everyone over paid-vs-free updates, and the next time we introduce a paid upgrade to either product, there will far less confusion over version numbers etc.
Thanks,
Nik
hmurchison said 5:45PM on 12-11-2008
What a "Delicious" interface.
Ok $40 was a bit on the steep side until you mentioned that use of Quicksnapper.com is included. That makes sense to me because hosting of
images is not free.
I'll probably pick this up after a few solid reviews and send Grab.app to the dustbin.
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phytonix said 6:08PM on 12-11-2008
$40? No thanks. Why hosting images themselves while most people already use Flickr and Picasa and MobileMe?
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George said 6:20PM on 12-11-2008
How often does one need to do this much editing to a screenshot? I don't know if I have ever needed to do any of this. Weird.
Try Paparazzi [http://www.derailer.org/paparazzi/] for full webpage screen shots, and the built-in OS X screenshots for everything else and save $40.
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NightOne said 6:53PM on 12-11-2008
Played with this for a little while and it is definitely cool for those that screenshot on a daily basis.
Things that make this different from other screenshot apps (I have Snapz, Skitch, SnapnDrag):
Organization - Collections, Folders, Smart Collections, and Tags.
Smudge/Blur option
Ability to capture entire or elements of a web page
Ran across a few bugs but I am sure a 1.0.1 version isn't far behind.
Solid app to check out for those that use professional tools like this.
Mini-Rant:
Enough with all the price bashing already. Every single time TUAW posts a non-free app we have the usual comments about the price is too high or there is some similar free app.
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Hobbes said 7:40PM on 12-11-2008
I couldn't agree more with your mini-rant. People work hard to make these applications and that's how they make a living. If you think $40 is too much for you then simply don't buy it, but stop this craziness where everything has to be free or cost 99 cents like in the AppStore. What incentive developers have to put any effort in building a cool application if everybody wants it for free?
Now my mini-rant:
Believe it or not, this mentality also fuels the bad economy. People want cheap products and that's why all our money is going to China and our jobs to India. Enough of this crap. Stop sending our money elsewhere and buy local products and services. Invest in your own country!!!!
Max said 8:53AM on 12-12-2008
I also agree 100% about enough price griping. As the others have said, this is what the company does, this is what they feel it should cost. Buy it, or don't buy it. People gripe like the company will say "oh, sorry" and lower the price.
Zion said 8:23PM on 12-11-2008
Played with it but can't see me paying for this when all I need is what skitch already provides for free, if you want to charge this much for an App then it must be further up the scale than ALL the free alternatives. Great software but should be half the price.
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NightOne said 11:13PM on 12-11-2008
Skitch is still in beta which is why there is currently no price tag on it.
/sigh
Luigi193 said 8:57PM on 12-11-2008
YIKES, $40!?!?!?
Thats a bit steep... dontcha think?
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Christina Warren said 11:18PM on 12-11-2008
It depends on what you are doing. If you don't take many screenshots, then yes, it is probably a bit much. If you are like me and you can take 40 or 50 a day (sometimes far more), this is a Godsend.
Tomas said 6:04AM on 12-12-2008
I miss the automatic URL-copied-to-clipboard to the recently snapped and uploaded image as in Jing. There you in settings can add [imagename] to the end of the URL.
It takes me one second to screendump, upload and paste URL to my IM-contact I'm helping out or showing something.
The interface in LittleSnapper is spiffy though.
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Max said 8:51AM on 12-12-2008
I can't believe it can't scale screen shots. That's a deal breaker.
The automatic hosting is nice for sharing online, and the DOM selection interesting. The annotation tools are good, too. But it needs scaling.
I'm still waiting for a Mac tool with the power and flexibility of SnagIt on Windows.
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Nik Fletcher (Realmac Software) said 10:31AM on 12-12-2008
Hi Guys
Thanks for all your thoughts on LittleSnapper, it's been really interesting to read (both on TUAW and elsewhere) your feedback on the product. We're always looking to make LittleSnapper better, so I wouldn't be surprised if suggestions made make it into a future update.
With regards to pricing...
We spent a fair while looking at pricing for LittleSnapper. Yes, we're a company - and that means there's bills to pay. Unfortunately, 'good karma' as a result of releasing a free product doesn't pay those bills. We also think that, for the target market of designers looking to build up a pattern (or design) library, or for managing a library of screenshots LittleSnapper is actually very good value.
It's genuinely interesting to hear what folks think about product pricing - what with the debate on App Store pricing still on-going - so thanks for taking the time to give us some honest feedback. Whilst I can't say we'll act on all of it, it's certainly noted.
Cheers,
Nik
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Todd Sieling said 11:37AM on 12-12-2008
Nik, will there be any consideration for beta testers? We offered our machines and feedback through your development process, and the release passed without nary an email of thanks.
Also, I'm not sure where RealMac is getting it's currency conversion rate, but the US$39 is converting to CDN$51 in the store, which is a few dollars higher than the going rate.
Nik Fletcher (Realmac Software) said 11:50AM on 12-12-2008
Hi Todd
We've sent out numerous emails, including free copies for all testers who gave feedback. If you've not received them, please drop us a note using the email addresses linked to in your beta emails, and we'll make it right.
We don't have any control over the exchange rates shown in the store, unfortunately. They're determined by our store provider, eSellerate, and we can't change them.
Thanks
Nik
Todd Sieling said 4:33PM on 12-12-2008
Thanks for the response, Nik. I appreciate that there isn't much control over exchange rates in the store; it might be worth asking them about it, as the rate fluctuates by tenths of a cent most days, but somehow is adding up to several dollars difference.