How to Capture Screenshots with Snagit

Hi folks. This is one that’s close to my heart. I capture lots of images, and I do mean lots! I write most of our training materials here at Keystroke Learning, and any given manual would easily have well over 100 screenshots. So, I thought this might be a helpful blog to those of you who need to take screenshots like me.

In this case, I’ll be working with TechSmith Snagit. I use this software because it gives me loads of flexibility when recording, uploading and editing screenshots. Of course, we take screenshots for many reasons, including anything from creating training documents, troubleshooting guides, or grabbing an image of an error message on screen to send to your IT folks to help you out.

Let me walk you through a few of my favourite ways to capture images with Snagit.

Full-Screen Capture

Sometimes you just need to grab everything on your screen at once, and Snagit makes this easy.

1. Open Snagit and in the capture window, select Fullscreen.
2. Hit the red Capture button, and Snagit will immediately take a screenshot of your entire screen.

This method is ideal when you’re working with multiple applications or need a snapshot of your whole desktop setup. Once captured, the image opens in the Snagit Editor, where you can crop, annotate, or highlight key areas.

Region Capture

If you’re like me and only want to capture a specific part of the screen, such as a menu, a tool, or a single window, then Region Capture is the best option.

1. In Snagit, select Region from the capture types.
2. Click on the Capture button.
3. Drag your cursor across the exact area you want to capture, then release.

This is a great option for focused screenshots, ensuring you only capture what’s relevant. For example, when I’m documenting how to use a feature in Excel, I’ll just grab the relevant toolbar or cell range.

Tip: I find it useful to set the Time delay in Snagit to give me time to open a dialog box or menu option I want to include in the capture.

Scrolling Capture

This one is excellent if you’re working with webpages or documents that scroll. Snagit can capture everything, even the parts you can’t see to start with!

1. In the capture window, select Scrolling Window.
2. Click the Capture button and hover over the window you want to capture.
3. Once the scrolling arrows appear, click to let Snagit capture the entire page.

This usually takes a few moments to capture the scrolling window, depending on how big the webpage or document it, so be patient.

Note: I’ve cropped the screenshot above to save space, while giving a sense of what the scrolling capture is doing.

This feature can save a lot of time when creating manuals with step-by-step guides from long documents or web pages. It’s an efficient way to grab content without having to stitch multiple screenshots together.

Freehand Capture

For those creative moments when you want more control, Snagit’s Freehand Capture lets you draw a shape around the area you want to grab.

1. In the Snagit Capture window, select Advanced > Freehand.
2. Click on the Capture button.
3. Use your mouse or stylus to outline the area you want to capture.

This is particularly useful when you need to grab irregular shapes or highlight specific elements that don’t fit neatly into a rectangle.

Why I Like Using Snagit

Once I’ve captured the images I want, I move across to the Snagit Editor. It’s a great tool where I can keep track of all my screen captures and add annotations, callouts, arrows, and even blur sensitive information. It also has options for saving your screenshots in a huge variety of formats, and the ability to save templates for recurring tasks means I get to save time.

So, now you have a few ways to capture images with Snagit. Whether you’re creating training manuals or just saving time, these methods will help you get the job done efficiently.

If you haven’t already, I recommend you give Snagit a try. Trust me, once you do, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it.

Happy capturing!