7 of the best programs for taking screenshots for the computer
There are countless screenshot programs , even the Windows system itself contains more than one tool for taking screenshots, perhaps the most prominent of which is the Snapping Tool, which gives you more options and controls before and after taking screenshots.
If you want a quick keyboard shortcut that will allow you to take screenshots, you can simply try the Prt SC key shortcut. However, if you want more professional settings that will allow you to edit your screenshots in several different ways, you should rely on third-party screenshot software and tools.
As they always say in proverbs, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” The question of why you might need screenshot tools is easy to answer. Quite simply, these programs help you take a screenshot of your computer and then upload it to the Internet and share it with others. This is a very useful and important feature because it helps you clarify and explain complex things that are difficult to explain with words alone, especially the technical problems and solutions associated with them.
For example, if you want to help your friend solve a problem on a program or explain how to skip certain steps inside applications or the correct steps that he should follow inside Windows settings to perform a certain function or perform specific tasks that he finds difficult to understand through verbal or written explanation. Therefore, to save your valuable time and shorten the long written explanation, you can simply take a picture from inside Windows settings or applications and programs and then share it with your friends to help them understand your point of view or so that they can solve the problems.
If you find yourself in this boat and you really need a tool to take a screenshot on your computer, then welcome, you have come to the right place. We understand that there are countless programs and tools, some of which are completely free, and some of which are paid. But the truth is, you do not need paid programs because all their features are already available in free programs and tools , so we decided to exclude and exclude all paid programs and focus on free solutions.
The only question that comes to mind now is what are the best programs for taking screenshots on the computer? Well, there is no need to worry and search for them here and there. In this list you will find the best tools that we have carefully selected for you, so let's get to know them.
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1-ShareX |
ShareX is perhaps one of the best and most prominent free open source programs that is simple and easy to use. Intuitive main interface, professional features, easy sharing of images after taking them, and many distinctive additions. The tool is one of the best tools for taking screenshots for laptops, whether for capturing the entire screen, selecting specific parts of the screen, or multiple windows and taking screenshots of them at once.
As we just mentioned, this tool allows you to easily share photos after taking them using one of the most popular and best cloud storage services, most notably Google Drive and Microsoft's OneDrive. In this way, you can store your photos in a safe place online so that it is easy for you to return to them later and share them more easily. Before sharing the photos, ShareX allows you to customize the theme and appearance of the screenshots and their settings, or add annotations, draw on them, mark them, and add many different shapes and symbols to ultimately get the perfect shot you want to reach before sharing it.
All of this means that it’s more than just a basic screenshot tool, and in most cases you won’t need any image editing software to edit your screenshots before sharing them. Plus, the tool gives you the option to store your screenshot folders on an unlimited number of online file hosting servers, either by uploading images via URLs in your browser bar or by dragging and dropping images into the service.
2- Greenshot tool
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| Greenshot |
Greenshot is not much different from ShareX, it is free and open source and contains many additional tools that you can use to edit and modify your images according to your personal preferences. With Greenshot, you can use the editing tools to add shapes to screenshots, draw on the shots, add text or annotations, and adjust many image parameters from brightness levels to contrast levels to color saturation degrees, in addition to many other controls and settings. The method of using the tool is very simple and does not require any experience.
In fact, if you are used to using keyboard shortcuts, you will feel like you are still in your favorite home, as all you need to do is press the Prt SC key at the top of the keyboard for Greenshot to automatically take a screenshot on behalf of Windows and save the screenshot in high-quality PNG format. This tool is compatible with all different versions of Windows, including 32Bit and 64Bit architectures as well, and lest we forget, let us remind you that through it you can take screenshots of specific parts of the screen or capture the entire screen.
DuckShot is classified as a productivity enhancing software and application on the personal computer, as the program contains a large number of additional tools and features that are always one click away from you to implement and use in your daily tasks. This program does not only allow you to take screenshots, but it also gives you the option to add multi-layer annotations to images, crop unwanted areas and parts of screenshots, adjust the height and width parameters of images, and many other settings.
With DuckShot, you can naturally take screenshots of the entire screen or specific parts of it, or take advantage of the multi-window mode, the timer mode for taking pictures, or the multi-shot mode, as well as the editing and modification tools on the images, starting from the ability to draw on the image, through controlling dynamic parameters and selecting colors, and even taking video clips and converting them to animated GIF images.
4- Lightshot program
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| Lightshot |
Lightshot is a simple program but we haven't seen anything like it before. With it, you can not only take a screenshot, but you can also record your computer screen as a video . I think it will be a very useful feature to create your own tutorials and explanations before sharing them on video sharing sites like YouTube and so on.
Its main features include the ability to choose the shooting mode, select specific areas of the computer screen or take full-screen shots, add important notes to the screenshots, and search for all the shots taken using it to compare them with each other. The best thing about Lightshot is the set of quick actions that help you quickly take screenshots of open windows on the desktop.
This is a very useful feature to capture the right moments in videos and movies or to point out glitches in some programs or settings, etc. If all this is not enough to convince you to use it, let me tell you more. This program is capable of taking screenshots from within web browsers and games alike and is available on all versions of Windows as well as on Mac versions and different Linux distributions. Every time you try to take a screenshot using it, you will be shown a notification as an indication of the completion of the task.
If the above programs don’t suit your personal preferences, no problem. There is a good chance that you will find what you are looking for in the free PicPick program. PicPick is a free, very simple and battery-friendly program, meaning that it does not consume any noticeable amount of power or computer resources and therefore works perfectly on all old computers or those with modest hardware.
As we mentioned earlier, it is a simple and easy-to-use program and all its main features are just a click away including cropping tools, annotating screenshots, blurring important parts that contain sensitive information or data to protect your privacy, adding comments and different shapes to screenshots like arrows and other elements which is an ideal feature for making tutorials and demonstrations.
In fact, there are many tools and features that you can take advantage of while using PicPick, which we will leave for you to explore on your own, but we should just draw your attention to the fact that the program supports taking screenshots in PNG format as well as JPG and is integrated with the most popular secure cloud storage services, including Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive.
There are also different shooting modes including freehand, open window, full screen, scrolling screenshots, and more. Some additional settings that may enhance your experience with PicPick include options to adjust colors, transparency, and remove unwanted objects from images.
Just as the name suggests, Screenrec is not just a tool for capturing still screenshots, you can also use it to record videos. The tool’s basic features include taking screenshots of your entire computer screen, capturing open windows, or selecting specific parts of the screen to capture, saving them in more than one of the best quality formats, and finally sharing these screenshots on social media sites directly from within the tool.
As for the video recording mode, it will be ideal for creating tutorials, demonstrations, and visual lessons along with the ability to record game screens. From within the video recording mode, you can adjust recording parameters such as frame rate, video resolution, video quality, format type, and more.
The app developers promise not to upload your content to the company's servers and not to sell your private data to any third party companies. You can also use it to share self-destructing links once they are viewed if you have concerns about the privacy of your personal data.
7- ScreenTake tool
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| ScreenTake |
We have to be honest with you, ScreenTake is a relatively new tool in the world of computer programming but it is impressive that it does its job very well and without getting tired or bored. The tool is very lightweight, simple and intuitive to use and allows you to take screenshots in more than one way and the best thing is that all of these methods are just a click away to help you take quick screenshots at crucial moments.
Through it, you can capture the entire screen or specific parts of it, crop unwanted areas, and adjust the image size and resolution standards. All of these features are simple and easy to use and do not require any effort or prior experience. In addition to the ability to keep screenshots on the computer locally, it also allows storing images on the cloud by creating a special URL link for them.
Additional tools include the ability to adjust the transparency of the image and save the image in PSD format to help you open it with Photoshop. The tool is multi-purpose, multi-lingual, supports many features, is compatible with all versions of Windows, and it is important to remember that it is still free for now.