OK. I admit that I'm a shameless opportunist. This blog entry is an attempt to win some cool stuff from TechSmith, the manufacturers of SnagIt, a screen capture utility. But I have to add that SnagIt is one of the best software investments I ever made and that I pay for the major upgrades as soon as they are available (and as soon as I have enough money). It transformed the way I captured and edited graphics for technical manuals and Web content. Even simple instructions in an e-mail become elegant documents using SnagIt graphics.
It was some time in 1994 when I first tried SnagIt. As a Technical Writer, I needed screen captures to illustrate features in the software the company I worked for was developing. The engineers were giving me huge files with all sorts of extraneous junk on them. I was trying to make useful graphics out of them in a graphics editing program, which was time consuming. I think it was the Webmaster who first suggested SnagIt when he saw my frustration with the process. "Hey, you can download a free trial for 30 days," he told me. I must have sold at least 100 copies of SnagIt with the same line since then. As soon as I tried it, I was hooked. I had my requisition in for my own copy after the first week of the trial period.
What makes SnagIt so cool is the cost versus features factor. For a very reasonable outlay, you get one of the most function-filled applications on the market. It's really easy to set it up and to figure out how to capture a window, a region of a window, or a full screen. Saving one file or multiple files is a snap. Through the years, TechSmith has added more and more excellent, useful features to make graphics capture and editing easier and easier.
If I could total the hours the application has saved me - well, let's just say I was able to get more done in way less time leaving me more time for fun stuff outside the office. Not that using SnagIt isn't fun. I've used it to make birthday cards and invitations, add some kooky features to photos, and just scan through piles of graphics quickly to find the right one for the occasion.
So, should you run right out and download a free trial of SnagIt? Yes! Then enter the contest and maybe you will win an iPad or iPod Touch. Sorry, I've got dibs on the MacBook Pro.
