Friday Favorite: Snapz Pro X for Mac

I was straining my brain today -- admittedly not a hard thing for me to do -- trying to think of a topic for a Friday Favorite. The answer was right in front of me all the time, since one of the most-used applications on my Macs is Snapz Pro X (US$69) from Ambrosia Software.

Snapz Pro X, currently at version 2.1.5, is a deceptively powerful Mac application that hides out of the way until you need it. What does it do? It lets you capture pictures and video of anything on your Mac.

For those of us who write for tech blogs, create technical documentation, or write books, Snapz Pro X is a fast way to capture full or partial screens. You press the usual Command-Shift-3 to take a screenshot, and the simple Snapz Pro X user interface appears...

The four buttons let you capture a full screen, an object on the screen (such as a window or menu), a selection from the screen, or capture full-motion video of action on the screen. Once you select one of the buttons, a second panel appears. This one is for capturing a selection:

As you can see, you can change the color depth, file type, scale the image, make the cursor visible or invisible, add a watermark, and otherwise make the image look great. For videos, the settings panel changes to let you set the frame rate and a number of other settings.

I literally use Snapz Pro X dozens of times per day for the shots used in many TUAW posts as well as in my work. I've tried other similar packages, but Snapz Pro X remains my favorite. If you use a separate utility for taking screenshots, what do you use? Leave a comment.

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Source: http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzprox/

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Software Video Odds and ends Friday Favorite

I was straining my brain today -- admittedly not a hard thing for me to do -- trying to think of a topic for a Friday Favorite. The answer...

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MacREALTOR

I would like to be able to record GoToMeeting webinars. Will Snapz Pro X do this? Seems rather pricey. Is there a better solution for me?

August 16 2009 at 2:49 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

David Coffin

Skitch+ScreenFlow=Haven't opened SnapzPro in years. I try every other grabber as soon as I hear about them, so far can't see any reason to switch, or pay. Read about Camtasia features; sorry, what's the buzz?

August 15 2009 at 2:25 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

lookatthepiggy

I hope Techsmith releases SnagIt for Mac.

August 15 2009 at 12:31 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

michaelbelong

Snapz Pro! The German! Suck Dickman!

August 15 2009 at 11:33 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

natebeaty

iShowU is great and inexpensive. I rarely need more than default screengrab ability but I do use LittleSnapper now and then (from MacHeist 3).

August 15 2009 at 11:09 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

numpty

(Sorry for repost... the less-than sign in my first attempt confused it...)

Have to agree with the consensus here -- SnapzPro is way overpriced for what it does, these days. If you want video capture, ScreenFlick or iShowU HD are great value at under $30. If you want annotated screenshots, Voila ($40) is one of the best out there, closely followed by LittleSnapper (currently on special offer at $24).

August 15 2009 at 8:23 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

numpty

Have to agree with the consensus here -- SnapzPro is way overpriced for what it does, these days. If you want video capture, ScreenFlick or iShowU HD are great value at

August 15 2009 at 8:23 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Randy

Hi, never commented before, too lazy.
$70 is too much (I don't really need video) I've tried littlesnapper, voila, skitch, paparazzi and quite a few others. Recentyl I've discovered layers [http://layersapp.com], capturing to PSD is really handy, but they don't have organizer or web capture...and $25 is not peanuts.
Still waiting for the perfect capture beast...the all-in-one :)

August 15 2009 at 6:44 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Willson Smith

Personally I like iShowU HD, it's decent on your processor, and has a "low cpu usage" mode.

August 15 2009 at 2:28 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Unregistered

Any free 'video' screencapturing alternatives other than Jing?

August 15 2009 at 1:25 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply