Annotate, manage, and upload Screenshots on your PC
Edited by Eng, Lynn
With the increasing need for I'm, and the use of web chatting and communicating programs and applications, the need for a handy application to send a PrintScreen shot of your whole PC desktop screen, your active window or even only a small part of any window is increasing too. Also,there is an increasing need to be able to annotate or mark your PrintScreen. This is especially important when you are trying to show someone on the other end of your I'm messenger what you are looking at on your screen, or trying to help the person over an issue he or she is having.
I have tried several, and recently I came across one of those applications that is an open source. Plenty of useful handy marking features are incorporated in it, and it can also be configured to upload your PrintScreen to several photo servers like "Flickr", "Jira Server", "Picasa web" and "Skitch". As I said, it is an open source, and it was created by "Janusz Gorycki".
Downloading, Reporting Issues and Installation
- 1http://code.google.com/p/mazio/downloads/list . Save the installation file mazio-setup-1.2.1.exe to your hard disk, and click on it to install. Agree to the EUA, then click "Next". Choose the installation location or accept the default destination folder. The space required to install is very small, 1.5MB.You can download it from:
Advertisement - 2Once installed and running, it uses a fairly low amount of memory.
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In here, I will summarize this application and run through the most outstanding features that it has.
Basics to know
- 1Among those, I liked most the "Magnifying Glass".It is basically a screenshot grabbing application, with easy to use annotation tools.
Advertisement - 2Three major Tool Bars are there, beside the main top tool bar.
- Left Tool Bar. Here, you can choose your annotating tool, like Arrow, Straight Line, Oval, Rectangle, Pencil line, Text, Magnifying Glass, Sensor, Ponies, and Additional Image.
- Right Tool Bar. Here, you can change the property of the annotation tool that you select from left tool bar. Each annotating tool has the options of Color, Shape Opacity, Line width, and Placing (behind, in front, etc.).
- Bottom Tool Bar. Here, you can upload to several photo servers, Zoom (1:1 zoom, Fit, Center), and Name the saved screenshot.
- 3Each Annotating tool you select will show a "Hint Window" with a yellow background, where you can read a useful using hint.
- 4You can see two buttons -- the left one is labeled "Get Screenshot". Clicking that button will trigger a selecting marquee, the active window of "Mazio" will be hidden, and your background active Windows will be shown. Drag the mouse to select the portion of the window that you need, and release.When you first run the "Mazio" application.That portion will be transferred to the "Mazio" window, where you can annotate, etc.
- 5When you hit your Keyboard "PrintScreen" key, your active screen will be in the clipboard. Activate the "Mazio" application window, and hit "Ctrl + V". This will trigger a small window. Select "As New Screenshot" to paste the content of the clipboard into "Mazio".Another way to take a screenshot.Here I have pressed the keyboard "PrintScreen" with my desktop front window shown, and then pasted in "Mazio".
Main Annotating Tools
You can use the Right Tool Bar to change the format of any annotation line width, color and opacity.
- 1Arrow.This will draw an arrow, in any direction and angle.
Tips Tricks & Warnings
- This application really does what it says it does. Open source, yes, but it is good.
- The feature that I miss in it, is a selectable option, that enables it to be launched automatically when pressing the "PrintScreen". That would be great to have.
If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.
