Jing

Explaining something with images and videos is always infinitely better than having to write instructions. Screen capture applications are ideal for this task, especially if they are simple and easy to use. With TechSmith's Jing, taking snapshots or recording the screen can be one of the simplest things you do on a computer. This lightweight application can help you capture the screen and share the content at a moment's notice. It doesn't take anything more than a few clicks to send a screenshot or a video recording to someone over the Internet.

Jing is absolutely free and you can have it up and running in no time. It works on all popular Windows platforms and it doesn't ask for any special tools or services. Also, the application's hardware requirements are modest, so you don't need powerful hardware to run it.

When launched, Jing places a sun icon on the top edge of the screen, which you can move anywhere you want, on the upper, left and right edges. Hovering with the mouse cursor over this icon will reveal options for capturing the screen, viewing a history of captured content and accessing the general settings menu.

With the capturing tool selected, you can draw a rectangle over the area you wish to capture, after which a few options will appear right next to your selection. These options allow you to take a snapshot of what you've selected or start recording within the rectangle.

Once you take a snapshot or stop recording, the application will show you the captured content on a new window, along with options for saving it on the hard drive, copying it to the clipboard or uploading it to Screencast. If you decide to upload your content, the software will automatically copy a share link to the clipboard. This way, if you need to show something on your screen to a friend, you can send them a link in no time.

The software can also integrate with TechSmith's Snagit. If you have it installed on your computer, you can add a new option to Jing, for sending the captured content to Snagit's image editor, so you can make more annotations and adjustments.

Regardless of what you have on your screen, Jing can help you take snapshots and record it as quickly and easily as possible.