As a follow-up to an article published a year ago (see Digital Screen Capture Software: “SnagIt”, “ScreenHunter”), software company Aviary has released their own screencapture software which is very competitive with SnagIt and ScreenHunter, only it is either web-based or built-into the browser and is also free to use, which is in contrast to the previously reviewed alternatives which must be installed and stand alone at a cost.
To revisit the original reviews… because so much business is transacted over the Internet, I feel it is critically important for hobbyists to capture and archive as much evidence as possible with each transaction. Examples include the marketing of the items, such as eBay listings and other “for sale” marketing, such as how the item is presented on a dealer website, etc. It is also important to archive correspondence, such as e-mails and private messages. Anything that can and should be captured at the time of sale in order to archive history of ownership and other important, material facts. For me, much of this can be more valuable than a COA for a variety of reasons.
In my own work, I’ve used a combination of SnagIt and simply using the built-in “screen print” or “print screen” functionality that comes with all computers, depending on the specific situation and my needs and objectives.
Aviary Screen Capture : Talon
While not as robust as TechSmith’s SnagIt 9, which can capture from any source on your computer, Aviary Screen Capture excels at capturing from the web.
The service offers two options:
1) Simply preface the web page you would like to capture with http://www.aviary.com/.
2) Install the FireFox Plug-In, which adds a button to the right of the address bar in your browser.
The web-based version offers several options with regards to resolution, quality, and region.
Once captured, more tools are available to use in order to resize, crop, mark-up, and other tools/effects.
With the FireFox Plug-In version, an Aviary list of options is added to your browser’s toolbar as well as a button and as options when right-clicking the web page.
The quality and ease of use is outstanding.
Additional Aviary Products
Given that, and the price (free), this is an excellent option for those who do not currently use a dedicated program, such as SnagIt, or as a back-up alternative to that or similar programs.
Aviary also offers a number of additional free, browser-based graphics programs on their website, as seen in this G4TV segment (none of which I’ve personally tested):
Conclusion & Recommendations
As I have said over the years, I am a big proponent of saving and archiving everything, so I feel that screencapture software is a must for anyone who buys original props and wardrobe from film and television. Information is everything in this hobby, so it is very important to archive everything electronically and keep good records. There are now several products available that are excellent tools to accomplish this goal, and tremendous time savers.
I am pleased to see another worthy alternative made available to hobbyists.
Jason De Bord