My needs for screen capturing software are fairly basic. In reality, there are many uses for taking screen shots. For instance, if you’re having trouble and you need to easily send a copy of some error message to someone trying to help, a quick and easy screen shot of the isuue can be a life saver. If you are trying to write a tutorial or manual for a software application, whether it’s for your mother or a potential client, screen shots are almost always needed.
Me? As a writer, I am often writing about some new web tool or piece of free software and screen shots can really draw readers in and get an understanding about how a program looks and works. Well, until recently I have been using Lightscreen Portable as my screen capturing software of choice. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not parting ways permanently. Lightscreen Portable is portable by the way and that will come in handy! However, for my day to day screen shot taking I am moving over to Bug Shooting.

In this article, I would like to list my basic needs for a screen capturing software tool and list how Bug Shooting seems like the tool to meet those needs. So, here are my basic needs for a screen capturing tool:
1. The ability to easily grab a portion of the screen
Most screen capturing tools offer this but some make it easier than others. For instance, simple features such as dual monitor support, crosshairs.

And the display of the shot size.

Which can make life a lot easier when trying to grab a portion of the screen. All of which, by the way, Bug Shooting offers!
2. Easy editing and annotating
One thing I think the version of Lightscreen I was using was lacking was in the area of editing and annotating. If a program somehow makes it easier to open the file automatically after a shot is grabbed in some sort of program for editing, it will save time and frustration.

Bug Shooting has it’s own window that pops up allowing for some basic editing, including an easy-to-use arrow tool. This alone has saved me a lot of time in just the past few days!
3. Easy file naming
While a program such as Lightscreen makes automatically file naming easy, Bug Shooting makes naming files separate names on each screen grab a bit easier.

The program automatically opens, as I already mentioned, and then just saving it opens the window allowing for file naming. In this category, it really depends on your needs but for my every day needs, Bug Shooting takes the cake for me.
4. Manageable file size
One of the first things I noticed about Bug Shooting was the size of the image files it produces.

They are quite manageable compared to those of Lightscreen (for larger captures I often found myself optimizing the image files just to get the size down)! For instance, a popular size for a screen grab for me is 200×580, for whatever reason. In Lightscreen, the file size is significantly larger than what Bug Shooter produces. There may be settings I can tweak in Lightscreen but I like how Bug Shooting just works for me!
Weakness! There are WEAKNESSES!
Only a few things annoy me about Bug Shooting but they are not enough to drag me away from using it. First of all, besides the easy annotating and arrow tools, the editor, in my honest opinion, is a bit annoying to use. Also because of the compressed file size, the images are a bit pixelated. Lastly, unless I’m missing something (which happens sometimes, believe it or not) there is no resizing tool. In order to resize a captured image, I ended up opening it in another program (Fireworks is what I use instead of the famous Photoshop but to each his own).
I know how the saying goes: “different strokes for different folks” and it sure rings true for screen capturing software! What are YOUR basic screen capturing needs and what software program bests meets them for you?
Bug Shooting works on Windows XP and Vista (32-bit) and requires Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0.
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