Looking Forward to Snagit 13

This morning I participated in a preview of TechSmith's Snagit 13. Last month TechSmith announced that they were closing down the Snagit Chrome extension and apps Knomia and ScreenChomp to keep the focus on Snagit and Camtasia for desktops, so I was excited to see what this heightened focus will bring. The results are pretty cool.

Snagit 13 will still have many of the features that users already love - the ability to capture still images and video, the ability to make animated GIFs, the ability to annotate images with robust tools. These features are complemented by some new ones like the ability to capture panoramically. In Snagit 13, users will be able to use panoramic capture to grab a screenshot by scrolling around on the screen, even in an unusual shape. 

Making a GIF will never be easier. Once you have a video captured (screencast or from webcam), just highlight the section you want to loop and click a GIF button. Instant GIF!

Another feature I liked a lot was the ability to magnify a spot on an image. Once you have grabbed a screenshot, you can use the magnifier tool to grab a spot on the image (like the green circle above) and magnify it. I love the idea of this feature for a map. In science, I might also use this feature to screenshot a measurement tool and then magnify the graduations to make it easy to read.

Snagit 13 will also have the ability to create presets for the functions that someone uses most often. Let's say you often put a red 3 pt border on your screenshots. Now you will be able to create a preset for this so that it happens to screenshots instantly, with the click of a preset button. Customization is also available in the editor itself so if there are features you use more often than not, you can click and drag those to the toolbar for easy access.

New Snagit will be available on June 7, 2016! To be sure, many users were disappointed with the news that the Chrome extension would no longer be supported. Still, it looks like the new product is going to offer more options, often customizable, for users. Techsmith is also offering a single license of both Snagit and Camtasia at 50% off for a limited time with the promo code DESKTOPDISCOUNT. This is a great deal, cheaper than with the already available education discount!