Evernote Web Clipper, Skitch and Screenpresso

I did a couple of screen shots today to answer some questions about the Evernote Web Clipper so I thought I would share them here and also talk about Skitch and Screenpresso.  I use each of these for different things.

Evernote Web Clipper

If I am doing genealogy or just looking for something on the web I will use the Evernote Web Clipper.  Why?  The Evernote Web Clipper lives in my Google Chrome browser.  By just clicking on the little elephant icon the Web Clipper appears!(#1 in image below).  In the Evernote Web Clipper I have various clipping options available to me.

They include(#2 above):

• Article
• Simplified article
• Full page
• Bookmark
• Screenshot

I use Article, Simplified article and Full page the most; in all three of these you can use the highlighter to highlight text.  

It is easy to select the notebook you want your clip to go in and to also add tags.  Just below the Add tag button there is one called Add remark and here you can type anything about the clip (#3 in the above image).  The last step is to click the big green Save button and then off to Evernote it goes(#4 in image above).  When you go to the notebook you chose you will find your note waiting with the tags you added as well.  There are some web pages the web clipper does not play nice with.  For example, you cannot clip a document in from Ancestry when viewing the image.

Skitch

Skitch is a program not a browser plug in like the Evernote Web Clipper.  However, Skitch can save your screen snaps to Evernote.  You can do a screen capture to capture whatever is on your screen and you have a lot of options to annotate your image.  You have the option of saving to Evernote with one click or going to Skitch in the top left corner and saving to your computer.  Within Evernote you can use skitch to annotate images in your notes.  While in a note with an image if you hover over the image an annotate button comes up on the top right of the image.  When you click on Annotate it will open the image in Skitch.  Make sure you go to File then Save and Edit to save any changes to your image because if you just click on the x in the top left corner to close the window your changes are not saved.  The only option to save when you open Skitch in Evernote is to save back to Evernote. Once the image is saved in Evernote you can edit it to make changes and re-save the image.

Screenpresso

I use Screenpresso for my screen captures of web pages that I cannot use the Evernote Web Clipper for and for taking screen shots of my different programs when I am trying to explain something to someone.  Screenpresso has a few more options for annotations than Skitch does.  There is also a paid version of Screenpresso that will unlock more features.  I use the free version and I have for years the only downside is that every so many screen clips you get an advertisement to upgrade (they don't bother me).  Your screen clips are automatically saved to a folder that Screenpresso creates but you can also save them in other places on your computer.  Another reason I love Screenpresso is because it integrates with Evernote.

When using Screenpresso this box comes up in the lower right of your screen.  All of your screen captures are in here.  The best part of this window is the Publish button (in image above). By clicking on a screen capture and then the Publish button you get a lot of options.  I have Dropbox and EVERNOTE activated.  You can also publish your screen shot to the web and it gets its own URL (http://screenpresso.com/=HObbe).  

To send your screen clip to Evernote just click on the Evernote button and a window pops up where you can add a title, tags, description, and pick the notebook to send it to. (image below).

My note in Evernote from the screen capture created in Screenpresso below.

Another favorite feature of Screenpresso is that I can press the print screen button on my keyboard to activate the screen capture feature in Screenpresso.

As you can see they are pretty much the same kind of tool but each work a little differently and that is why I use each of them for different reasons.  Screenpresso and the Evernote Web Clipper are used multiple times a day to clip and save various information.  I use Skitch occasionally but it is still a powerful tool.

Do you do screen captures?  What tools do you use??

Happy ancestor hunting!