There really MUST be a Santa Claus after all! Right here at the Holidays, from the “free, actually-USEFUL software downloads” front comes: Ready? (Drumroll, please…)
Your absolutely FR*EE…no strings attached downloads (full licenses…not “trials”) from ‘TechSmith‘ of: Camtasia3 (Reg. price: $299) and SnagIt7 (Reg. price: $29).
What’s the catch? None, really. You will be offered an opportunity to “upgrade” to the newer versions (Camtasia5 and SnagIt8) but it is absolutely not necessary, nor required!. The newer versions are…well…”newer”… but from what I understand, these previous versions still work perfectly well!
So, if you’ve ever wanted to experiment or have an actual need for either product, here’s your chance! Grab them while you can. I haven’t found anything indicating how long TechSmith will make these versions available for free… it could be “forever” or for the next week…I really don’t know…so you might want to go ahead and download while the downloading’s good!
Ok! Let me see if I can explain what ‘Camtasia’ and ‘SnagIt’ are:
From what I understand, they are dynamite, tremendously coveted and extremely useful software put out by TechSmith. For that reason alone you should get it A.S.A.P., just so you will have it! You never know when one of your techie-friends, or someone who knows even less about all this stuff than you do… might ask…). And you can always figure out what to do with them later!
Camtasia
Take Camtasia, for example. You know when you are on a website and they show you a video? Chances are very good that they made it with…you guessed it…Camtasia!
So, say for instance you always wished you could make a Video, or wish you could explain your ideas in a Tutorial Video, or maybe make some promo videos to showcase some of your “wares” on your Blog or Website…or on eBay…or whatever… but you just couldn’t see coming up with the $299 for the best of the best: Camtasia. Well, now you can play till your heart’s desire… and it won’t cost you a dime! So go ahead…live dangerously…download Camtasia3 and make a video!

SnagIt
Oh yes, and SnagIt … well, that’s a fine thing too! You know when you hear everybody talking about “Screen Shots”? Well, SnagIt, which is also in the “best of the best” category, is a great way to make Screen Shots… which are actually “pictures” of something on a webpage, or on your computer; you can “capture” the image with SnagIt!

Unfortunately (sigh), copy and paste just don’t work for everything! That’s when you need something like SnagIt! So grab this free download from TechSmith while it’s still available, too … and don’t worry, you’ll figure out something you want to “Snag” one of these days!
Now, in order to be fair, I really should present some of the “cons” of these products…(if there are any to be found) but I think I will defer to my more Techie colleagues to expound on those in their Comments below. What that means is this: if you really want to learn something today…which I’m guessing is why you are on MakeUseOf to begin with…check out the Comments!
DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS:
Please Note that these Instructions are two-fold: First, download the product. Second, click on the link for the License Key. Give them your email address so they can email you the KEY…which you will COPY and then PASTE where they ask for it within the Product Download instructions. That’s it! If you want both products, rinse and repeat.
For Camtasia3: (for Windows 2000 & XP; not Vista or Mac…sorry!)
For SnagIt 7.2.5: (for Windows 2000 or XP - not Vista… sorry!)
For sure you will be offered exceptional offers to upgrade to the newest versions of both Products. But, as I mentioned before, these are merely incentives, and while you will find that they are excellent offers…(and strictly up to you whether or not you decide to upgrade)… upgrades are not mandatory nor required. Your Free Versions will work just fine!.
If you know anyone who could benefit from this Free software, be sure to refer them to MakeUseOf.com !
(Credits: www.TechSmith.com , and everyone else who gave me a heads up on these great downloads! ). So why are we passing on these ‘fabulous finds’ to you? Why, because Santa says you’ve been extra-good this year, and also… as a loyal MakeUseOf subscriber… you just plain deserve it!
Filed Under: Cool Software Apps
Tags: image effects, image resizer, screen capture, screencast
Camtasia & SnagIt are softwares that people into blogging must have…So, linda is also into action.Great Post..
Thanks TechDune!
Coming for you and your AWESOME site…that’s quite a compliment!
~Linda~
Just installed both of them… really impressive tools. Thank you Linda.
You are very welcome Aibek!
Glad you could ‘make use of’ them!
I was pretty impressed myself!
Great giveaway by TechSmith!
~Linda~
SnagIt is totally awesome. Highly recommended!
You know, Marco, it really is awesome!
If an old “techno-phobe” like me can easily use it and make a beautiful screen shot…
well, need I say more? (wink!)
~Linda~
Dam! Got me all excited for nothin’. I’m on Mac so it looks like this software won’t work for me.
AWWW JOHN! I am sooooo sorry!
But hey…we’ll keep looking…and we’ll find something cool for you, too! You’ll see!
After all, the good folks at Make Use Of are nothing at all if not…”at your service”…!
So stay tuned!
~Linda~
Awesome!
“Ain’t it?” (LOL!)
~Linda~
Great !!! Thanks a lot for these useful tools for free.
You are more than welcome Alpesh Patel!
Glad to be of service!
And as we come across even more “useful tools for free”,
we’ll have them right here for you!
~Linda~
Great tools indeed. As a long-time fan of them, I’m tickled to see them making this creative offer. Sure, these are 2 releases behind the current, but they were great for so many of is then and just that much better in their latest releases.
That said, I want to point out a typo in the entry above: Campatsia3. If you do correct it, I hope you’ll remove this portion of my comment, or strike it out. Thanks.
Yep! For most of us, these will do just fine!
But, hey Charlie…if you are using the more recent releases,
how about giving us a heads up on them.
(Do you think that if someone has a need or interest,
upgrading would be that much more beneficial?)
~~~Re: TYPO: Oh yeah…it was almost the first thing I saw!
Jumped right out there at me! (sigh)
Well, I guess it just wouldn’t be a “first post” without at least
one typo, would it?
But thanks for bringing it to my attention Charlie,
just in case we had missed it!
~Linda~
Thanks for heads on typo, it’s fixed.
P.S. “… Campatsia3″
Hey Linda,
thanks for the fantastic software, working perfectly on my machine, I will probably go blind now, I will be spending even more time on the computer ;))))
more,more,more, please
Regards,
Noel Lackey.
Well thank you Noel!
You’ve made my day!
~Linda~
Thanks a lot for this great gifts, one question, which one would you think is better?
I am going for SnagIt. But that’s also maybe because I don’t have much use for Camtasia.
Depending on what you are trying to do, Mauricio,
I’d say get BOTH. Why? Because with Camtasia3, you can actually
make a video! And SnagIt is great for capturing “still” pictures.
Now, if I am not mistaken, you can also use Camtasia for screen captures
(correct me here if I’m wrong about this folks!) so if you only have space for one download,
I’d probably go with Camtasia. (After all, it really is a $299 value, so I’d get it for sure!)
~Linda~
[...] so gave up on that project. Today I was Stumbling along and came upon a free give away of both Camtasia Studio - the full version and also of SnagIt. Warmly advise any of my friends who are playing around [...]
Thanks for passing the it on galileegateway!
~Linda~
Must have downloads. Still can’t believe that they are offering two awesome softwares for free! Bump!
[...] Camtasia3: (for Windows 2000 & XP; not Vista or [...]
[...] SnagIT Free - Potente capturador y editor de pantallas para Windows. [...]
[...] SnagIt 7 Free (Windows) - Poderosa ferramenta para Screenshot (captação e edição). Normalmente, o custo é de $29, mas a versão 7 está disponível gratuitamente. Snippy (Windows) – Ferramenta de tray para capturar tela. Marque a região da tela que você deseja copiar e Snippy ela. Clip2Net (Windows) – Tire screenshots, acrescente notas e setas, e guarde sua imagens online. WebShot (Windows) – Versão Free porém é muito limitada. Camstudio (Windows) – Capturar a atividade da tela (vídeo + áudio) e salva no formato AVI ou SWF. Windows Media Encoder - Captação de áudio e vídeo e codifica vídeo para formato WMV. [...]
[...] SnagIt 7 Free (Windows) - Poderosa ferramenta para Screenshot (captação e edição). Normalmente, o custo é de $29, mas a versão 7 está disponível gratuitamente. Snippy (Windows) – Ferramenta de tray para capturar tela. Marque a região da tela que você deseja copiar e Snippy ela. Clip2Net (Windows) – Tire screenshots, acrescente notas e setas, e guarde sua imagens online. WebShot (Windows) – Versão Free porém é muito limitada. Camstudio (Windows) – Capturar a atividade da tela (vídeo + áudio) e salva no formato AVI ou SWF. Windows Media Encoder - Captação de áudio e vídeo e codifica vídeo para formato WMV. [...]
[...] Windows Media Encoder - Capture audio and video content and encode video captures to WMV format. SnagIt 7 (Windows) - Powerful screenshot capture and editing tool. Normally it costs $29 but version 7 is [...]
This is the comment at the URL to get the license key: “This offer has expired but we encourage you to test out a free 30-day copy of the most recent version, SnagIt 8.2″
Am I too late?
Bummed,
John
Check out my reply below …
As of 2/15/2008… could not find a way to get the free version of SagIT. Their website state “Offer expire, instead use our 30-day trial non-free version.”
My computer class instructor uses it constantly.
Can the key be shared to open the 7.2.5 version or other version?
Any other options??
Double bummed,
Mike
@ John and Mike
Hi Guys, yes unfortunately this was a temporary offer. Nonetheless, if you’re looking for an alternative screen capture freeware see ‘30+ FREE Desktop applications for Bloggers’
[...] SnagIt 7 Free (Windows) - Poderosa ferramenta para Screenshot (captação e edição). Normalmente, o custo é de $29, mas a versão 7 está disponível gratuitamente. Snippy (Windows) – Ferramenta de tray para capturar tela. Marque a região da tela que você deseja copiar e Snippy ela. Clip2Net (Windows) – Tire screenshots, acrescente notas e setas, e guarde sua imagens online. WebShot (Windows) – Versão Free porém é muito limitada. Camstudio (Windows) – Capturar a atividade da tela (vídeo + áudio) e salva no formato AVI ou SWF. Windows Media Encoder - Captação de áudio e vídeo e codifica vídeo para formato WMV. [...]
[...] SnagIt 7 free (Windows) - Uma ferramenta de captura e edição de screenshots. A versão 7 foi tornada gratuita. Outras versões custam $29 dólares. [...]