Interesting: InstantShot!
October 8th, 2008
InstantShot! is a Mac OS X freeware program that does everything one could expect from a screen capture program and then some. If you find yourself reaching for Apple’s Grab and find it lacking, take the time to download and learn InstantShot! and you’ll never launch Grab again.
The Good
- Once launched, InstantShot! appears as an icon in the menu bar, providing easy access.
- Several file formats (JPEG, PNG, TIFF) or copy the screen to the clipboard.
- Several options for what to grab and when: the full screen, rectangle, or a timer. The timer function is particularly useful if you want to take consecutive images of a video. While multiple shots are being taken, the icon changes as an indicator.
- Preferences give you even more options, which are too numerous to list here, but some of the more useful are:
- A custom save path and naming options. Go to Preferences > General.
- Different timings for multiple screenshots Go to Preferences > General.
- Custom default rectangle sizes Go to Preferences > Advanced.
- Start InstantShot! at login. Go to Preferences > System and check the box next to “Start InstantShot! at login”.
- Hotkeys for the most common image capture functions. Go to Preferences > Hotkeys. I set my basic screen shot to Option + Shift + S.
- Assigning scripts to the images after they’re created. Go to Preferences > System.
The Bad
Due to all the functionality in a small space, some of the functions are a bit obscure and even overwhelming.
Conclusion
InstantShot! has become a necessity on both our Macs – one of the few programs I set to launch at startup. Definitely check it out if you take a lot of screen grabs on a regular basis.
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Posted In: Apple, Interesting
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Agreed. This is an *essential* free app for me as well. I keep it running in my Mac navbar at all times. So superior to the Mac's default screen grabber.
I've been using it for months and months now, but because I like the drop-shadown of Applekey+Shift+4+Space, I've been using it less and less lately.
Try out Skitch, http://skitch.com
I feel that's better
//: Anol
I came here to recommend Skitch, too.
I don't do screenshots often, but if I need to do some quick editing to them, they go into Skitch. Otherwise, it's OS X key combos for me. I use Command-Shift-4-Spacebar a lot.