Bug Shooting – Simple Screen Capturing Software That Works!

bugMy needs for screen capturing software are fairly basic.  In reality, there are many uses for taking screen shots.  For instance, if you’re having trouble and you need to easily send a copy of some error message to someone trying to help, a quick and easy screen shot of the isuue can be a life saver.  If you are trying to write a tutorial or manual for a software application, whether it’s for your mother or a potential client, screen shots are almost always needed.

Me?  As a writer, I am often writing about some new web tool or piece of free software and screen shots can really draw readers in and get an understanding about how a program looks and works.  Well, until recently I have been using Lightscreen Portable as my screen capturing software of choice.  Don’t get me wrong, we’re not parting ways permanently.  Lightscreen Portable is portable by the way and that will come in handy!  However, for my day to day screen shot taking I am moving over to Bug Shooting.

bugshooting1

In this article, I would like to list my basic needs for a screen capturing software tool and list how Bug Shooting seems like the tool to meet those needs.  So, here are my basic needs for a screen capturing tool:

1.  The ability to easily grab a portion of the screen

Most screen capturing tools offer this but some make it easier than others.  For instance, simple features such as dual monitor support, crosshairs.

screen capturing software

And the display of the shot size.

free screen capturing software

Which can make life a lot easier when trying to grab a portion of the screen.  All of which, by the way, Bug Shooting offers!

2.  Easy editing and annotating

One thing I think the version of Lightscreen I was using was lacking was in the area of editing and annotating.  If a program somehow makes it easier to open the file automatically after a shot is grabbed in some sort of program for editing, it will save time and frustration.

bugshooting_annotating_arrow

Bug Shooting has it’s own window that pops up allowing for some basic editing, including an easy-to-use arrow tool.  This alone has saved me a lot of time in just the past few days!

3.  Easy file naming

While a program such as Lightscreen makes automatically file naming easy, Bug Shooting makes naming files separate names on each screen grab a bit easier.

bugshooting_savefile

The program automatically opens, as I already mentioned, and then just saving it opens the window allowing for file naming.  In this category, it really depends on your needs but for my every day needs, Bug Shooting takes the cake for me.

4.  Manageable file size

One of the first things I noticed about Bug Shooting was the size of the image files it produces.

screen capturing software

They are quite manageable compared to those of Lightscreen (for larger captures I often found myself optimizing the image files just to get the size down)!  For instance, a popular size for a screen grab for me is 200×580, for whatever reason.  In Lightscreen, the file size is significantly larger than what Bug Shooter produces.  There may be settings I can tweak in Lightscreen but I like how Bug Shooting just works for me!

Weakness!  There are WEAKNESSES!

Only a few things annoy me about Bug Shooting but they are not enough to drag me away from using it.  First of all, besides the easy annotating and arrow tools, the editor, in my honest opinion, is a bit annoying to use.  Also because of the compressed file size, the images are a bit pixelated.  Lastly, unless I’m missing something (which happens sometimes, believe it or not) there is no resizing tool.  In order to resize a captured image, I ended up opening it in another program (Fireworks is what I use instead of the famous Photoshop but to each his own).

I know how the saying goes: “different strokes for different folks” and it sure rings true for screen capturing software!  What are YOUR basic screen capturing needs and what software program bests meets them for you?

Bug Shooting works on Windows XP and Vista (32-bit) and requires Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0.

Tagged: • •

Tim Lenahan

I am a 30 something year old kid at heart. I have been working on and at computers ever since high school. I enjoy finding new and interesting sites that are useful to the every day person. I have been helping and training people on tech-related issues for years and don't see myself stopping any day soon.

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  • mw

    You’ve got to try Greenshot at http://greenshot.sourceforge.net/

    I think the weakness might be the same, but it is open source, and I know personally that it works in XP, Vista, and 7.

  • boogie

    FastStone Capture is irreplaceable, although it will cost you (not free). I use it at work every day and find it to be indispensable.

  • Rod

    You should also try Hardcopy (freeware) at http://www.gen.hardcopy.de/

  • http://blog.gabspoint.co.cc gab007

    I’ve been using BugShooting for a while now, one of the reasons is that the app had a low memory footprint and works the way I want.

    I hope they’ll implemet the “upload to FTP” feature (besides “upload” to other online services or “send to” email, etc)….

  • http://david-burton.org Dave

    I’ve used MWSnap for quite a while:
    http://www.mirekw.com/winfreeware/mwsnap.html

    Most of the features in BugShooting except for the editor, which you didn’t seem to care for anyway. You can capture a fixed or on-the-fly rectangle, menu/window area, or full desktop, save the capture in one of 5 formats, plus MWSnap has handy tools like an onscreen ruler. magnifier, and color picker. Low memory footprint at about 8k, too. It’s getting a little long in the tooth (last version was released in 2002 I think) but it works well.

  • http://www.bugshooting.com Alexej Hirsch

    Hello Guys,

    In the beginning of the next week “Bug Shooting 2″ will be published. So keep an eye on the Bug Shooting web site “www.bugshooting.com”.

    Best Regards
    Alexej

  • http://markontour mark

    I’ve used MW Snap in the past. It works well, but very pixelated.

  • Nick

    Try ‘Jing’ – Lot’s of features, so much so, it’s sure to blow your socks away!
    And here’s the kicker – it’s free!

    • http://timmyjohnboy.com Tim Lenahan

      I appreciate simplicity but I have heard really good things about Jong. Def worthy of a mention so Thanks!

      • http://timmyjohnboy.com Tim Lenahan

        I mean Jing

    • http://gecrafting.blogspot.com/ Kim Hjortholm

      Recommend Jing also – works perfect and very easy to use. No bells and whistles – but for a simple screenshot adding text in a box and an arrow it’s very handy.
      Makes flash video’s too, up to 5 min in the free version, ideal for a short tutorial.

  • http://www.icttrends.com Suresh Khanal

    I was looking some sort of capturing solutions but now I’m confused if I should use bug capture or greenshoot. I think the later is better since its opensource?

  • http://blog.gabspoint.co.cc gab007

    Hi Alexej,

    Good to see your intervention here, thanks for the update (and for the app)!

  • Paultx

    You can find the last free version on FastStone Capture here: http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/page4.html#FastStone Capture. BTW I love one of its features: Capture Scrolling Window.

  • http://www.koutq8.com/ كوت الكويت

    I’ve used MW Snap in the past. It works well, but very pixelated.

  • http://www.icttrends.com Suresh Khanal

    Does anybody know some free solution to capture screen as video?

  • ron

    I too am a FastStone user. The only feature in Bug Shooting you mentioned that free/old FastStone doesn’t have is displaying the capture size. I like it’s multiple capture modes, multiple output modes and annotation function.

  • http://SiteAesthetics.com Ron M Kolman

    I’ve forgotten price ($50?), but Snagit seems the most comprehensive screen (and video)capture tools available. Has page-scrolling, capture-links, save to PDF, resize, borders, brightness&contrast, and arrows are the beginning of ‘dozens’ of creative addons for captures. If bucks aren’t preclusive, Snagit blows everything else away. (By makers of Jing – TechSmith.)

  • vixblu

    After reading your article I was excited to get a screen capture tool that could do annotations, but decided not to go with Bug Shot because of the mentioned weaknesses. I searched for another tool, and found Screenshot Captor and combined it with 2 other services to get what I wanted.

    Believe it or not but I now have 3 screenshot programs running, each serves a specific purpose:
    Lightscreen (thanks again for that tip) for the traditional full screen captures (no cursor, output png).
    I use Gadwin Printscreen to get nice screenshots of a game I play (active window, no cursor showing, high quality output png, does not interfere with game hotkeys)
    And now I use Screenshot Captor for those images that need annotations (how-to’s, explanation in forums), I have 2 hotkeys assigned (cursor showing, output png), one for Selected Region and one for Screen.
    After I edit my screenshot, I copy the image and I’ll find it in my PicturePaste screen. I can adjust the settings to get a friendly size, and I can convert the image to jpg or png.
    To get the images showing in a forum post I’ll drag the converted image in a Just Paste It page, and copy the image url from there (sadly PicturePaste doesn’t give the url to your image in their cloud).
    Although my funny system works for me, I could do with 1 program that does al those 3 things… LOL

    Screenshot Captor http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/screenshotcaptor/
    Gadwin Printscreen (4.3 = free version) http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen/
    Lightscreen http://lightscreen.sourceforge.net/
    PicturePaste http://picturepaste.com/
    Just Paste It http://justpaste.it/

  • WendyElf

    Gadwin printscreen does the job for me too. I like the user friendly feel of it, and the quality is good enough for what I need……….

    http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen/

  • http://blog.gabspoint.co.cc gab007

    I was mentioning earlier on in the comments that I’ve been using BugShooting for a while and I hope that they’ll implement the “upload to FTP” feature. Well…they did but in the paid version only.

    Thank you Alexej, goodbye BugShooting at 19 Euros (a single license) – for a version that does FTP uploads. If that’s the case, I prefer to spend my money on SnagIt. I do not like freeware that has gone payware (same goes for Artweaver bty). SnagIt has always been payware and for that reason I have no problems paying for it. And to be honest…Zscreen it’s free and does FTP out of the box.

    See Alexej…? It’s all psychology…good luck!

  • http://www.swiftapplications.com mike

    really like the idea

  • Jessica Cam Wong

    It seems like now you can only download Bug Shooting 2 on trial version for 30 days.

    At least, Bug Shooting 2 is pretty (it’s got that MS Word ribbon UI).

    • http://timmyjohnboy.com Tim Lenahan

      Weird. That’s new!

    • http://timmyjohnboy.com Tim Lenahan

      I’m still using version 1.9.2 I wonder if it can be found someplace online?