Its emphasis on getting screen captures and screencasts shot and shared makes the freemium application Jing extremely quick and easy to use for Mac and Windows users. I use its big brother, the professional capture app Snagit, at work (we take a lot of screenshots in these parts,) but I've often installed Jing on laptops and on other peoples' computers when I need something light and free.
The one irony for Windows users is that if you don't have the .NET framework installed, it adds a few more minutes of set-up time and a heftier footprint. The benefit is that you won't have to do much--Jing's installer takes care of the framework and of launching Jing after round one of the installation. This video takes on the Windows perspective for installation and use, but the program's main components will remain the same for Mac.
While Jing saves video clips and stills to your desktop, sharing is its specialty. Take your pick of publishing via Screencast.com, an FTP site, Flickr, or even YouTube, if you subscribe to the premium version for $15 a year. Upgrading also gets you access to recording from the Webcam, a neat feature you can use to narrate or introduce a screen recording.
The freemium screen capture and screen recording application Jing received an update on Tuesday that adds new video functionality to paying users, and a few other enhancements for all Mac and Windows users.
Two hotkeys now help Jing's capture crosshairs snap to common aspect ratios. Press Ctrl to maintain a 4:3 aspect ratio and Shift for 16:9 widescreen proportions. While locked into a ratio, dragging out the crosshair shows you boundaries for common screen measurements within that ratio that you can easily snap to, like 320×240 or 640×480. This is a nice addition in keeping with Jing's visual, low text-density design.
Jing 2.1 adds buttons to export the capture to Camtasia or Snagit.
(Credit: CNET)After capturing a video or still, Snagit and Camtasia Studio users can export the clip to either of Jing's sister programs. Techsmith, the creator of all three, offers a 30-day trial for Snagit and Camtasia prospectives to give either a try. After taking the capture, click the program icon to continue editing the video or still using those premium tools. In addition to sharing captures with yourself, you can add toolbar shortcuts to push captures to any Screencast.com folder you've set up. In Jing 2.1, you can further let Screencast.com visitors comment on your captures.
As usual, premium users get the most impressive addition. Subscribers to the $15-a-year Jing Pro can now record from their Web cam, and toggle between recording from the Web cam and from the screen. For more details and video clips, read the Jing blog here.
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