FastStone - Free Windows screen capture software

Posted on June 9, 2008 at 5:11 am

Make sure to read other posts from the Free Screen Capture Software series!

As someone frequently called on to create training manuals and how-to guides, I am constantly on the lookout for anything which makes that job easier. Screen captures, and the ability to edit them with annotations and highlights, are key to the job. I have used Snag-it very successfully.

However, I came across a freeware utility that covers most of the same territory for Windows XP and Vista users. So, system admins and technical trainers take note: FastStone Capture v5.3 not only makes it easy to take a variety of types of screen shots, it also includes handy editing and annotation tools. And best of all, FastStone 5.3 is free.

Later versions of FastStone have become shareware rather than freeware. But v5.3 is feature-packed and still freely available. Features include:

Resource friendly - uses a very small amount of memory, especially when minimized to the Windows tray area
Global hotkeys to activate the program’s capture capabilities anytime, anywhere
Efficient tools to capture windows, objects, full screen, rectangle/freehand-selected regions and scrolling areas
Option to specify destination (internal editor, clipboard, file or printer) where the captured image will be sent
Text/Arrowed line/Highlight/Watermark annotation
Drop-shadow, torn-edge effects
Add caption

The features I most use are:

Capture scrolling screens
Shoot a screen capture at a user-specified time delay (needed to set menu drops)
Editing by cropping, drawing, highlighting, annotating and highlighting without going into a separate editor
Set a filename template for each project

There are tons of additional features including flexible mapping of hot-keys to invoke different types of screen captures.

To get started, download FastStone v5.3 and install it to your XP or Vista workstation. Bring up the Settings window and review the defaults. You will commonly want to change the highlighted components, and once you become an expert you can tweak as many as you like.

I create separate output folders per project that I work on. I also set the filename template to something that begins with the project name. I usually use:

ProjectName_$H$N

This gives me files that are timestamped and also identified with the project name. Since these files inevitably are moved out of my project folder during the publication process I find it useful to put the project name in the filename not just the folder.

Once you’ve reviewed and adjusted basic settings, you can bring up the floating capture window (below) – or you can leave the app in your system tray and use the hot-keys when you need to capture. I like to keep the window floating because I have trouble remembering hot-keys. But, the app does use less memory if you leave it in the system tray. I don’t find it a hog even when running as the floating window.

The floating tool palette includes six capture presets: Active window, window or object, capture rectangle, capture freehand region, full screen,and scrolling window. The palette icon brings up a list of output options. The one I often use is output to the built-in Editor in order to crop, trim, highlight, caption or add annotations.

The built-in editor has numerous features. Cropping, resizing are simple. The drawing features take a little more practice but are well worth the effort to become familiar with them.

The toolbar includes all the basic features with the exception that the text tool is found within the Draw sub-menu. But cropping, resizing and effects such as edge blurs are found right at the top-level.

Fewer options are available than in Snag-It, but you can set font, color, size as well as arrows, highlights, and shadow effects. The main drawback is that once text or arrows are added and the new file is saved, the text or arrows can now longer be edited or even deleted. You need to start from the unedited screen cap. But that’s a quibble with a freeware app this powerful.

Pete Kushmeider, Writer and blogger

Technorati Tags: freeware, free software,

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7 Responses to “FastStone - Free Windows screen capture software”

Keith Dsouza said on : June 9th, 2008 at 12:55 pm

I have been using FastStone capture since more than 1 year now and has become a part of my blogging kit. I can’t imagine creating screenshots with any other software

ajay said on : June 10th, 2008 at 2:07 am

het thanks for this software. before this i am using the print screen option to capture the screen and then paste the screen to paint and then use it in my blog stories.
this has solve my job very much.

Vaibhav said on : June 10th, 2008 at 7:00 am

Even i use Fast stone software, but i was never aware of it. I just used it to resize and apply watermarks.on images.
definitely worth trying.
Thanks for sharing it

Madhur Kapoor said on : June 10th, 2008 at 3:02 pm

Loks like i am the only one who hasn’t tried it. Downlading it right now

p said on : June 11th, 2008 at 12:31 pm

This is not freeware. The license text that you read before installing says that it will work for 30 days and then you must pay the license fee.