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Last month, our friends at Realmac Software teased us with some screenshots of their newest application, LittleSnapper. LittleSnapper is a program that will let you take screenshots of full web pages, with adjustment and sharing features similar to Skitch.

The Realmac team has now produced a video (above) showing off how you can capture a web page, select a specific element from that page and quickly upload the image to Flickr. The video also shows off how LittleSnapper can be used to organize web screenshots into collections -- kind of like iPhoto -- complete with metadata.

For me, the DOM selector (it looks similar to what CSSEdit uses) is the most intriguing aspect of LittleSnapper. It isn't uncommon for me to want to grab a specific section from a web page, only to find that the image is embedded within the stylesheet. I can manually select that section with Snapz Pro or Skitch, but that can lack precision and will ultimately require me to spend more time prepping screenshots.

LittleSnapper is expected to be released at the end of the year.

Earlier this week, we described several ways to create screenshots with your Mac. Using the keyboard shortcuts in the Finder is great, but you may have noticed that the results aren't very sharp. Ivan at creativebits noticed that, too, and figured out how you can correct the problem.

He explains that a basic screenshot creates a JPEG with a resolution of 60 by default. As is often the case, the solution is just a couple of Terminal commands away. Set the default format to png, pdf or tiff for much better results.

If you're not the Terminal type, check out Skitch, which takes simple, great-looking screen captures.

Whether you want to post something to a web page or blog, or show off an application element in a presentation, taking quality screenshots is becoming an increasingly common task for lots of different Mac users. Although OS X comes with its own built-in screenshot utility, Grab, and onboard F-keys for the task, there are lots of third-party options as well. Contrary to popular belief, not all screen capture applications are created equal.

So what program is the best for taking quality screenshots off of your computer? To find out, I put five screen capture programs through their paces to try to find the "ultimate" screen-capture program.

The programs I used:

• Grab - built into OS X
• Skitch - free (at least while in beta)
• Snapz Pro X - $29 for image capture only, $69 for image and motion capture
• InstantShot! - free
• QuickSnap - $14.95

Read-on for my analysis and take a look at the gallery for screenshots from each program, as well as head-to-head comparisons.

TUAW disclosed an affection for Evernote a little while ago, and our love of Skitch is no secret. While love triangles are often a logistical nightmare, this one actually works out in a fairly organized fashion. An entry at the Evernote blog details the use of Skitch to input notes into Evernote, complete with annotations. It's simple, if not a bit obvious in a why-didn't-I-think-of-that way.

There have been several other thoughts on extending and integrating Evernote, but one of my favorites was a bright idea for setting up a liaison with Jott to facilitate voice transcription of on-the-go notes.

[Update 2: The invite window is now closed! Thanks for participating everyone, invites should be sent out soon!

[Update: The plasq folks have informed us that the response to this invite offer has been absolutely amazing; well over 1000 requests. The good news? They have agreed to send invites out to every genuine request they have received so far. Cut off point is 12pm PST today. Your invite should be on its way later today or early tomorrow!]

We've been talking up Skitch - a fantastic and powerful screenshot snapping and sharing app from plasq - for quite some time here on TUAW (if you want to take a peek, watch this video tour of Skitch in action). The only problem is: since its introduction at Macworld '07, it's either been in a private beta or, more recently, a tight invite-only public beta, making it hard to get your hands on a copy. Fortunately, all that finally changes today for 1000 of you - because we have a big ol' batch of invites to give away! Amidst all the time they're spending on polishing Skitch, their MySkitch picture sharing service (for the record: Skitch works with Flickr and even .Mac as well), and a new m.myskitch.com site they launched just in time for the iPhone, the kind crew at plasq were awesome enough to give us 1000 invites to give to you, our dear TUAW readers! As icing on the cake, they made the process about as easy as it can get by putting together an automated invite system: simply email [sorry, invites are now closed] from the address you want tied to your Skitch account, and you're done! Wait a little while for your sweet, sweet Skitch beta invite to arrive, and soon you can be Skitchin' and sharin' with the rest of us.

Please help us make this a great experience for everyone. Companies run beta invites like this not only to help generate buzz for the product, but to ensure that they can sustain their services and provide a solid software experience for everyone. Don't send multiple emails from different addresses or re-send your request. We've never done a beta invite this way before, but the plasq crew know what they're doing and you'll receive your invite soon enough. With that said - go get Skitchin'!

Click To Play

Skitch is the latest app from the boys of Plasq, makers of the hugely popular Comic Life. If you've never seen it in action, take a few to check out the simple yet powerful interface.

We may have been playing with Skitch and teasing you with screenshot galleries since the app's debut at Macworld '07, but today is the day that some of you can finally start teasing someone else for a change. That's right: the plasq crew have officially opened the flood gates and have begun sending out Skitch beta copies to users who signed up (you can now sign up at the official Skitch site). Not everyone will receive their copy right away, mind you: by 'invite-only public beta,' I mean that copies will more or less be sent out at a moderate but steady pace and only to those who sign up, as plasq wants to make sure they can maintain control over testing (after all: it is still a beta) and ensure their slick MySkitch photo sharing service can handle the load.

That said, if you get a copy, start testing away! It's a beta, so it'll act funny and it just might eat the family cat. Just remember: Skitch will be a commercial app when released as a 1.0 (though no official word on price yet), and the plasq crew is still kicking around whether they need to split some services or features off into a Pro version, so send in that feedback.

We sing the praises of plasq's fantastic private beta Skitch tool for making it dead simple to capture, edit and share screenshots with a good variety of online communities, but Mac OS X's own Preview app for viewing images and PDFs isn't without at least a couple of these basic tools. These definitely are not on par with Skitch's capabilities, but as you can see, Preview offers text and oval circling annotation tools, and that Select Tool can help you crop an image (or even multiple pages of a PDF). As far as getting your work out of Preview and off to wherever it's going, the best you can do is save a new copy of the image and manually move or upload it, but hey: if you don't need all the features Skitch has to offer at it's yet-to-be-set commercial price, Preview just might do the job for you.

We've been blogging Skitch, a new 'hybrid' photo editing and web services tool from plasq (makers of Comic Life), since Scott first met and fell in love with it at Macworld 07. Using the app through its development, it's clear that Skitch is going to knock people's socks off, with a well-executed blend of desktop editing and integration with web services like Plasq's new MySkitch and Flickr. For example: a major new feature in an upcoming public beta (that's right, I said 'public': join the mailing list for your chance to get a copy) includes iPhoto and Aperture integration:


Simply double-click an item from the library panel shown here to begin applying all manners of Skitch editing. Another feature that brings the 'hybrid' element to the table is Skitch's tight integration with web services. Skitch can send pics to FTP, .Mac and even Flickr accounts, but it also integrations with a new MySkitch service that will debut. MySkitch does a lot of interesting things, like giving you embed code for zoomable thumbnails (ideal for the likes of eBay and blogs with thin columns), a direct link for sending in email and even forum-friendly embed code. Skitch doesn't stop there though: you can also remove images from these web services directly from within Skitch, effectively making it a one-stop management shop for your images both local and otherwise.

That's enough blabbing about features for now though. The folks at plasq were kind enough to allow us to publish an exclusive Skitch screenshot gallery, and published we have. Check out more screenshots of Skitch's good side, and don't forget to hit up plasq's mailing list for a chance to snag your own copy when they release an upcoming public beta.

As a blogger here on TUAW I probably take an unusually high number of screenshots. I always have Grab and ImageWell running, so I can snag some pics of websites or of apps in action. That is, I always had Grab/ImageWell running, until I visited Plasq's booth on the Macworld showfloor.

Move over ImageWell: I have a new love, and its name is Skitch. Skitch is currently in a very private beta (we're talking single digit users at the moment), but the good folks at Plasq assure me that more info will be available next week. Skitch simplifies the way you take screenshots on your Mac. Think of it as a WYSIWYG screenshot taker (that's What You See Is What You Get) with the added bonus of making uploading those pics to a remote server (via FTP, SFTP, .Mac, or Flickr to name a few) dead simple. And it doesn't stop there; Skitch can also take pictures using your iSight and allows you to add text, doodles, and arrows to those images (and each of those elements is inserted onto its own layer, but Skitch handles all that... you need not interact directly with the layers).

Read on for a screenshot, though it really doesn't tell the whole story of this innovative UI.