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Capture full and select screenshots with ease on a Windows computer and upload them automatically

Capture full and select screenshots with ease on a Windows computer and upload them automatically

Vote: (173 votes)

Program license: Free

Developer: Skillbrains

Version: 5.5.0.7

Works under: Windows

Vote:

Program license

(173 votes)

Free

Developer

Version

Skillbrains

5.5.0.7

Works under:

Windows

Pros

  • A small program that's still powerful
  • A good replacement for the traditional method
  • Comes with a high-quality online editor for image manipulation
  • Available as a solo application or as a browser add-on

Cons

  • Needs Internet connection for the editor portion of the program
  • The two capturing options don’t offer much flexibility

Small, compact and neat, LightShot is a screen-capturing program designed to offer higher-quality screen shots compared to what Windows offers with stock functions.

How LightShot Works

Developed by Skillbrains to act as a replacement for the screenshot feature with Windows PCs (CTRL + PrntScrn), LightShot snaps high-quality captures in a simple format. The application itself is relatively light, only taking 2.5 MB of space, and it has quite a few extra features compared to the old-fashioned Windows capturing method.

Even though it brings more features to the party, the tool itself is still rather simplistic. By choosing either the full screen (whatever is on the desktop) or a user-defined area, a one-click feature allows users to quickly snap a capture and save it to a defined database of captures. After the shot is taken, a small notification box appears on the bottom of the screen, which provides a few separate options for users.

Although the screenshots taken with LightShot do automatically go into a database, the user has the luxury of defining the area. For instance, the image can be outright cancelled, copied to a clipboard, or stored via a storage server or with third-party hardware (thumb drive, external HDD, etc).

A downside to using LightShot is that the capture mode itself isn’t as detailed as other features within the program. You can only choose the two initial areas, which puts it behind Firefox and Chrome add-ons due to its inability to capture an entire page (scrolling included).

What You Get with LightShot

LightShot might be compact and may only offer some rudimentary capturing options, but the editing options are far superior to the traditional Windows method, and even more detailed than other browser add-ons. After the shot has been taken, it can also be edited. Users can access the program's online editor to work magic with the various screenshots taken.

One of the best aspects about this editing tool is that it is more detailed than a program like Paint or Microsoft Picture Editor, which are two programs that most Windows users have by default. While the editor is not as detailed as programs like GIMP or Photoshop, you can still layer, cut, color, add backgrounds and borders, and tinker with other types of image manipulation.

There's also no quality loss when taking a screenshot. That seems to be a problem with default methods, particularly on slower computers. By the time the capture is converted to JPEG, it's typically dimmer, blurrier, and you can’t zoom with it. LightShot takes a higher-quality capture that allows you to do much more with the actual image. It’s great for creating your own themes or for quickly snapping page areas on the fly.

Pros

  • A small program that's still powerful
  • A good replacement for the traditional method
  • Comes with a high-quality online editor for image manipulation
  • Available as a solo application or as a browser add-on

Cons

  • Needs Internet connection for the editor portion of the program
  • The two capturing options don’t offer much flexibility