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DPChallenge Forums >> General Discussion >> Anybody familiar with "Snagit"?
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05/23/2014 11:23:14 PM · #1
I often make little "cheat sheets" and mini tutorials for family and friends who need help with all sorts of computer tasks such as opening or sending an email ;-)

To make that job easier, I just purchased "Snagit". All is good so far, but there is one thing I can't work out an EASY way of doing it.

When it first captures an image (such as a window, text box, area, etc) it opens it in the editor window without any extra space around, like so:


If I want empty space around it, I have to enlarge the canvas - exactly like in Photoshop. Yes, it can be done, but it is awkward, and I bet there is a much quicker, easier way to achieve the same thing:


Does anybody know a short-cut, or better still a way to change the default of giving me empty canvas space around a capture?

Thanks for your help.
05/23/2014 11:27:37 PM · #2
I have never heard of it but can you change the black background to white and add your comments then?
05/23/2014 11:34:06 PM · #3
I always just capture a large enough area to add what I want. I make sure my desktop is a solid color and there aren't any other windows hanging out in the capture area, of course.

But yes, I haven't found anything better than snag it for what it does.
05/23/2014 11:49:04 PM · #4
Originally posted by Ann:

I always just capture a large enough area to add what I want.

Yes, that has been my work-around for captures of full windows - it just doesn't work when you want to grab only a portion of a - say - webpage, because the other stuff around it would be in the way and then has to be dealt with via other means such as dimming.

@ Tracey:

Nope, it doesn't work that way because the screen capture you're looking at includes the editor background.

Doesn't matter... if nobody knows a simpler way, there is always the "hard" way, right? I shouldn't be so lazy ;-)

Message edited by author 2014-05-23 23:53:47.
05/23/2014 11:54:15 PM · #5
Are you just trying to take a screen shot of a specific window? I just used word when making instructions. And you can screen grab just a window with alt+print screen, or maybe ctrl. Been a while, but then you just paste it into word. Quick and easy.
05/23/2014 11:58:14 PM · #6
Originally posted by bmatt17:

.. word. Quick and easy.

Yes, the capture via print screen is quick and easy as long as you want ALL your screen or ALL of one window, but try adding a huge bunch of effects, shapes, callouts, automatic numbers, stamps etc etc etc in Word.

No, I don't want to use Word. I am happy with Snagit. Very happy. All I am hoping for is to find a way to EASILY (or better still automatically) add empty space around the captured image.
05/24/2014 04:17:57 AM · #7
I was trying to figure this out last week - I wanted to add arrows and callouts to the screenshot. If anyone knows, post here!

I worked around it by importing into paint2 and enlarging the canvas.
05/24/2014 05:40:31 AM · #8
Originally posted by JH:

I was trying to figure this out last week - I wanted to add arrows and callouts to the screenshot. If anyone knows, post here!

I worked around it by importing into paint2 and enlarging the canvas.

Oh heck no - no need to do that!!!!
The "hard way" is to simply click on: Image-Resize-Resize Canvas

Then decide on your size and image placement exactly as you do in Photoshop.

I'm just looking for a quicker, simpler, automated way to achieve this.
05/24/2014 10:01:10 AM · #9
The other thing I do is select big, then make liberal use of the eraser. The eraser is my favorite part of the whole thing.
05/24/2014 11:26:06 AM · #10
Originally posted by Beetle:

I'm just looking for a quicker, simpler, automated way to achieve this.


I do this all the time too. My (Windows-based) process is:

1.) ALT+PRTSCRN* to capture the window (absolutely no need for third-party applications, this is built into Windows)
2.) Click on the PS application
3.) CTRL+N to create a new image; Ps automatically uses the dimensions of the clipboard
4.) CTRL+V to paste to the new image
5.) Double-click on the new "background" layer to change it to a normal layer
6.) Create a new layer, move it to the bottom of the stack
7.) Right-click in header and choose Canvas Size, change to a size larger than I know I will need (I'll crop it later)
8.) Fill the layer created in (6) with the BG color of my choice

* On laptop keyboards, it is normally necessary to use FN+ALT+PRTSCRN because the key functions are combined.

Steps 5 through 8 above could be easily automated with an action, though the whole process literally takes 30 seconds.
05/24/2014 11:45:03 AM · #11
Originally posted by kirbic:

I do this all the time too. My (Windows-based) process is:

1.) ALT+PRTSCRN* to capture the window (absolutely no need for third-party applications, this is built into Windows)
2.) Click on the PS application
3.) CTRL+N to create a new image; Ps automatically uses the dimensions of the clipboard, but you can ...
3a. Add twice as many pixels to each dimension as you want for a "border"
4.) CTRL+V to paste the new image into the center of the "pre-enlarged" canvas*
5.) Save

Added a half-step to shorten the process.

*Note: you want to have your background color pre-set to the color of your border area.

Message edited by author 2014-05-24 11:47:33.
05/24/2014 11:51:51 AM · #12
what operating system are you using.

In Windows 7 there is a SNIP tool that does just this. Its called "Snipping Tool" You can select any portion of the entire screen you want. you make the selection your self, then hit save. then you can edit that to add what you want

05/24/2014 01:03:49 PM · #13
Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by kirbic:

I do this all the time too. My (Windows-based) process is:

1.) ALT+PRTSCRN* to capture the window (absolutely no need for third-party applications, this is built into Windows)
2.) Click on the PS application
3.) CTRL+N to create a new image; Ps automatically uses the dimensions of the clipboard, but you can ...
3a. Add twice as many pixels to each dimension as you want for a "border"
4.) CTRL+V to paste the new image into the center of the "pre-enlarged" canvas*
5.) Save

Added a half-step to shorten the process.

*Note: you want to have your background color pre-set to the color of your border area.


This is an alternate, shorter process, but if you follow my process, your BG is on a separate layer, and that is much more flexible.
05/24/2014 01:40:03 PM · #14
Originally posted by kirbic:

This is an alternate, shorter process, but if you follow my process, your BG is on a separate layer, and that is much more flexible.

Actually, I left out that you have to flatten before saving or use the Save-As-Copy option to make a JPEG, since the pasted-in screen-capture is on a separate layer above the BG canvas ...
05/24/2014 01:45:31 PM · #15
YES, windows has the capability of capturing. YES, other programs, in conjunction with this, can produce the desired output. BUT, Snagit does all that in one place, and very flexibly, and makes it easy to export/disseminate the results. It's very useful if you do a lot of captures. Especially if you need to capture a scrolling conversation as "evidence"...
05/24/2014 08:36:23 PM · #16
Originally posted by Bear_Music:

YES, windows has the capability of capturing. YES, other programs, in conjunction with this, can produce the desired output. BUT, Snagit does all that in one place, and very flexibly, and makes it easy to export/disseminate the results. It's very useful if you do a lot of captures. Especially if you need to capture a scrolling conversation as "evidence"...


Thank you, Robert. I'm not sure where I am going wrong with my explanation, but I'm obviously not being clear.

Guys, thanks for your suggestions, but I am NOT looking for solutions for Print Screen or Photoshop. I am very much aware of those.

I WANT TO USE SNAGIT. I just want a quicker way of resizing the canvas INSIDE OF SNAGIT. Doing it inside of snagit isn't even any harder than the other ways, but I'm just being economical (or call me lazy if you must) and want to speed up the process for doing mulitple capture resizes more quickly.

05/24/2014 08:54:39 PM · #17
Woo hooo, it's all good. Not 100% the solution I wanted, but a great start. So simple... drag out the handles, and ta-da, more space!

Managed to find a tutorial I hadn't checked out before.

However, if anybody shows up who knows how to do this automatically and to a consistent size, please let me know.

Thanks

Karin
05/24/2014 08:54:40 PM · #18
sorry.... double posted for some reason.

Message edited by author 2014-05-24 20:55:02.
05/24/2014 08:54:58 PM · #19
The snagit website says "Are you out of space on the canvas and need to add more items to an image? Simply drag a white handle on the edge of the canvas out to create more space."

I can't try it, because I don't have a copy of the product right now. But there are a bunch of tutorials on their website, and if worse comes to worse, they do have free tech support.

Edit: SNAP! Glad you figured it out.

Message edited by author 2014-05-24 20:55:50.
05/24/2014 09:00:27 PM · #20
Originally posted by Ann:

Edit: SNAP! Glad you figured it out.

He he he.... "snap" alright! Thanks, Ann!
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