SnagIt

A true masterpiece of ease of use and usability. This alone should be a reason to try out the software. Although moderately priced, nothing serious is missing.

Advantages: several useful additional functions like basic video capture and text capture; very easy and efficient to use; integration with Microsoft Word and FrameMaker; added texts can be updated and translated

Disadvantages: not the cheapest one, but excellent price to performance ratio anyhow

Price: approx. $50

http://www.techsmith.com

FullShot

FullShot is available in different versions. In the Standard Edition some of the important functions for comments and post-editing are missing. A special feature of FullShot is the additional buttons that the tool adds to each window in runtime. Instead of a shortcut key you can simply activate the relevant button, for example, "W" for "Window" or "R" for "Region", and FullShot will create the desired image. On the final Screen Captures FullShot of course automatically removes the additional buttons.

Advantages: images can be updated later, added texts are retained and can be edited; highly efficient functions for capturing menus and command bars; wide range of settings for effects in detail; good documentation

Disadvantages: comparatively high price; not quite as intuitive to use as SnagIt

Price: approx. $90 (Professional Edition)

http://www.inbit.com

MadCap Capture

In contrast to the other screen capture tools, MadCap Capture focuses especially on the requirements of technical documentation and single source publishing. For example, it is the only tool that supports text variables. Users of the authoring system Flare (developed by the same company) can save images automatically in an online variant and in a print variant (for example in color online, in gray scales and at a higher resolution for print).

Advantages: images remain fully editable, irrespective of their format; elements can be saved to palettes and reused; the design of several elements can be standardized comfortably; stepwise undo list.

Disadvantages: takes very long to load (requires Microsoft .NET Framework); rather complex for infrequent users

Price: approx. $39

http://www.madcapsoftware.com

H@rdcopy

Specifically powerful if you want to print screen shots on paper, but also has many options to save as file. User interface is a bit old-fashioned.

Price: approx. $15, free for non-commercial use

http://www.gen.hardcopy.de

TNT Screen Capture

Very simple to use. A unique feature: If you have made individual color settings in Windows, you can reset them to Windows default values on command, shoot your image and finally restore the individual settings automatically. Optionally saves images also as thumbnails of a defined size in a single step; can also produce excellent 3-dimensional images; good documentation; simple and efficient operation-

Price: approx. $30; free for private use

http://www.ec-software.com

SnapDraw

Screen capture tool with vector graphics annotation tools and visual effects.

Price: approx. $30

http://www.crossgl.com

WinSnap

Price: approx. $25

http://www.ntwind.com

Ashampoo Snap

Price: approx. €20

http://www.ashampoo.com

CaptureXT

Price: approx. $30

http://www.capturext.com

HyperSnap

Price: approx. $40

http://www.hyperionics.com

SPX Instant Screen Capture Bundle

Price: approx. $23

http://www.moodysoft.com

FastStone Capture

Price: approx. $20

http://www.faststone.org

PicPick

Basic screen capture tool, combined with image editor, color picker, color palette, pixel ruler, protractor, crosshair and whiteboard.

Price: approx., $20; free for personal use

http://picpick.wiziple.net

Screenshot Captor

Flexible screen capture program, most standard capture, editing and annotation options are available.

Price: up to you to decide (Donation Ware)

http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/screenshotcaptor/index.html

GIMP

The "GNU Image Manipulation Program" comes with a built-in screen capture function to capture screen, windows or areas. Images can then directly be edited within GIMP before saving.

Price: free (Open Source)

http://www.gimp.org

Greenshot

Saves screenshots to files.

Price: free (Open Source)

http://greenshot.sourceforge.net/

zscreen

Allows for region/window/full-screen screenshots, text services and file hosting.

Price: free (Open Source)

http://code.google.com/p/zscreen/

Screenpresso

Provides a basic set of capturing and editing features.

Price: free (Freeware)

http://www.screenpresso.com

EasyCapture

Supports capture of scrolling windows and adding of annotations.

Price: free (Freeware)

http://www.xydownload.com/easycapture/

PrtScr

Basic, straight-forward screen capture tool.

Price: free (Freeware)

http://www.fiastarta.com/PrtScr/

Scenegrabber.NET

Creates screenshots from movies.

Price: free (Freeware)

http://www.scenegrabber.net

SiteShoter

Automatically creates screenshots of web sites.

Price: free (Freeware)

http://www.nirsoft.net

SnagIt

The market leader for Windows is also available for the Mac.

Price: approx. $50

http://www.techsmith.com

Voila

Full-featured screen capture tool for the Mac.

Price: approx. $30

http://www.globaldelight.com/voila/

layers

Captures every item on your screen as a PSD (Photoshop) layered image.

Price: approx. $25

http://the.layersapp.com

LittleSnapper

Price: approx. $39

http://www.realmacsoftware.com/littlesnapper/

SnapNDrag

Price: approx. €5

http://www.yellowmug.com/snapndrag/

InstantShot!

Price: free (Freeware)

http://projects.digitalwaters.net

Skitch

Price: free; note terms of service

http://www.skitch.com

Paparazzi!

Price: free (Freeware)

http://derailer.org/paparazzi/

Capture Me

Price: free (Freeware)

http://www.chimoosoft.com/products/captureme/

Backdrop

Not a screen capture tool but a useful little utility that fills your screen with a giant blank window. This window can be filled with a solid color or a custom image. Useful to take screenshots of one or many windows without having to clean up your desktop.

Price: free (Freeware)

http://www.johnhaney.com/backdrop/

Shutter

Feature-rich screenshot program for Linux.

Price: free (Open Source)

http://shutter-project.org

KSnapshot

The screen capture tool of KDE.

Price: free (Open Source)

http://kde.org

GIMP

The "GNU Image Manipulation Program" comes with a built-in screen capture function to capture screen, windows or areas. Images can then directly be edited within GIMP before saving.

Price: free (Open Source)

http://www.gimp.org

Finally, if you only need to take a limited number of screen captures, there is still the option to capture them manually. On Windows: Using the [PrintScreen] key, you can copy the currently displayed screen contents to the clipboard or, using the key-combination [Alt]+[PrintScreen], you can copy the contents of the active window. Then, you can directly paste the clipboard contents into any document or graphics application. You can also automate this process individually with the help of an automation tool like the Open Source tool AutoHotkey, for example (www.autohotkey.com).

Windows Vista and Windows 7 make the procedure even simpler. The build-in Snipping Tool allows you to instantly save basic screen captures as a file. However, if you want to apply any special effects such as a torn edge, or if you want to add some callouts, for example, you will have to use some general-purpose graphics software to do so manually.

On the Mac, OS X also provides a number of build-in options to capture both entire screens and specific regions. [CMD]+[Shift]+[3] saves the whole screen, [CMD]+[Shift]+[4] saves a selected region, and [CMD]+[Shift]+[4] then [Spacebar] saves a selected item to the desktop. Note: Holding down the [CTRL] key in addition saves to the clipboard instead of the desktop.

In addition, OS X also offers a basic Grab utility located in Applications > Utilities.