So much of our work these days is conducted by remote that it is very useful to be able to capture an image from a computer screen, make annotations, then send it to a client or colleague. TechSmith recently released Snagit in beta for the Mac. This tool is already available for those on Windows platforms, and it is quite useful in doing these tasks. Those using Macs probably are familiar with the built in screen capture using the Cmd-Shift-4 key combination, but I have found Snagit to have a couple of advantages. For one, it allows you to capture all of a window, not just what is showing on the screen. This is useful for long web pages that extend past the confines of your screen, for example. The other advantage is the variety of annotations available. You can use speech bubbles in addition to more standard fare such as lines and arrows, and easily adjust sizes, arc contours, etc. When trying to convey an idea to a client, or get markups out to a project team, the old adage of a picture being worth a thousand words is true. Perhaps even more important, it takes time to write those thousand words, so being able to convey your thoughts efficiently can result in improved project deliveries and economics.
