7 Best Snipping Tool Alternatives

It doesn’t matter whether you are writing a tutorial-based post or instructing your friend or colleague to do a task he or she doesn’t know; screenshots are extremely helpful! There are several other instances too when screenshots will be helpful, such as when you have complaints about software or need a proof of something for later use. To do all of these, you need a screenshot capture tool! By default, Microsoft Windows 7 and above comes with Snipping Tool, which is a basic screenshot tool you can use. Nevertheless, there are instances when Windows Snipping Tool becomes a bit inefficient, such as when you need in-built screenshot editing features or integrated sharing features. Plus, this is not available for Macintosh or Linux, which is pretty much a reason for finding alternatives. If you too need that, you’re at the right place. Here, we have a list of top 7 alternatives for snipping tool.

1. Snagit

Snagit is one of the best and most professional screen capturing tools you can find and it comes from TechSmith, one of the prominent software developers in industry. It actually lets you capture both screenshots & video. Once you’ve installed Snagit, you can set up a hotkey and hit it to launch the fully-fledged screen capturer of Snagit — there are lots of customization aspects too. Other features include Scrolling Capture that lets you take screenshot of entire page, even when a part of it is visible [such as a webpage]. Also, Snagit has an integrated editing section, with every shape and other stuff you need when it comes to making the screenshot really helpful. Talking of availability, Snagit is available for both Mac & Windows — Snagit 12 for Windows and Snagit 3 for Mac. Thus, when you need a professional alternative to snipping tool, Snagit is the best.

• Price: $49.95 for Single User License; Free trial available for 15 Days

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2. LightShot

LightShot is my personal favourite when it comes to screenshot capturing, probably because it is free and usable! It’s an extremely simple installation procedure, after which it can replace snipping tool, with some superb features. One of the most important things that we found in LightShot is the simple interface, which still includes integrated option for editing, one-click uploading and a method to similar image search. LightShot actually works when you hit the Prt Scrn key but you can set a specific hotkey as per your requirement and convenience. Also, there are some options to customize output of LightShot, such as output file format, whether you need the cursor included in the shot, etc. Yet, it’s FREE, for both Windows and Mac; plus, there are browser extensions. Another factor is that you don’t have to open a dedicated editor to edit but it all happens in same screen.

• Price: Free

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3. PicPick

PicPick is a fully-fledged screen capture tool and a snipping tool alternative that gives prominence to editing aspects! When you need a screenshot that is graphically rich, you can pick PicPick. The screen capture tool lets you capture an extreme variety of methods, like the full screen, active window or scrolling window etc. On the other hand, when we come to the graphic accessories section of PicPick, there are options such as Magnifier, Pixel Ruler, CrossHair as well as WhiteBoard — each of these will be helpful in various instances. The editor also includes all the required elements for creating an effective screenshot. Plus, PicPick lets you export the screenshot in various formats like image files & PDF along with web-based integration. PicPick is available only for Microsoft Windows.

• Price: Free for Personal Use; $21.99 for Single User License

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4. Greenshot

Greenshot is yet another fully-fledged screenshot capture tool that you can grab for free! Although available only for PCs running on Windows, Greenshot is free and open-source and is hosted by SourceForge. Each part of Greenshot — its screenshot section, image editor and export — includes impressive features to move on. For instance, you can take a lot of screenshots using different methods, whereas the image editor lets you add annotations and highlights to that particular screenshot to make it more informative and effective in the end. On the other hand, export section will be helpful when you want to save the screenshot for later use. Greenshot is damn usable in the sense that you can have particular hotkeys for particular modes of capturing. So, the open-source tool also includes some quite impressive & adequate features a developer or a normal user would expect.

• Price: Free, Open Source

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5. DuckCapture

DuckCapture is a fully-fledged screenshot capturing solution you can find when snipping tool isn’t enough! It has all features you need for capturing, editing and sharing screenshots you take. In the capturing section, you have options to take window-based screenshots, region-based screenshots and scrolling screenshots, in which you can cover one entire webpage. Editing section is impressive as DuckCapture comes with sufficient annotation tools as well as ability to refine multiple captures. In the long run, you have the option to make the screenshot as informative as you can! It is possible for you to share the screenshot through different methods, as well. DuckCapture is now available for both Windows and Mac OS X; also, there is a command prompt-based version of DuckCapture. Despite all the features, it comes with an impressive user interface that sets usability at top. We prefer it when you prefer simple yet effective.

• Price: Free

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6. Jing

Jing is another screenshot capturing solution and a snipping tool alternative from TechSmith, one of whose products are mentioned in the first part. Jing is a simplistic tool for capturing screenshots and screencasts and thus lacks those professional features you would find in Snagit. Despite this, you can use Jing for a various purposes, including those in work, education and personal use. The user interface of Jing is so simple that you will never be confused; nor will you have trouble in editing or sharing the content you have captured. Just like the case of Snagit, Jing is available for both Windows and Mac and it has a relatively lower set of system configuration that you would often find. It’s to be noted that Jing is completely free to use, but you still get the customer support from TechSmith. If you prefer a simple-looking yet productive screen capture tool, Jing deserves a place in shortlist.

• Price: Free

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7. Screenpresso

Used by many popular companies, Screenpresso is a great screen capture solution for Windows devices (compatible all the versions including Windows 10, 8.1). Also, it is available as an app for iPhone and iPad. You would just love to see the features of Screenpresso, as it includes different modes of capturing, support for hotkeys, ability to capture content in scrolling windows etc. It also support recording screen cast videos in HD quality, meaning that you can use it for different purposes. Just like other tools mentioned here, Screenpresso comes with an integrated image editor, in which you can annotate screenshots you have taken, and then update the screenshot in the most convenient format as far as you are concerned. It has to be noted that Screenpresso has some visually-superb features that are productive too — the support for workspace, for example. There are advanced features like Android capture, portable mode, multilingual support and integrated sharing through different methods.

• Price: Free; Premium versions are also available

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SEE ALSO: 10 Best Screen Recording Software

Which snipping tool alternative you liked most? Our favourite LightShot, for its simplicity and free availability!