Introducing Skitch: A Helpful Screen Capture Resource

Typically, when you want to save an image from your computer monitor-like an error message or a step in a series of instructions-you have to mess around with trying to remember keyboard shortcuts to take a screen capture. Skitch provides a much easier alternative: It's a software program that allows you to drag a box around exactly what you want to capture. Your screen captures are a matter of selecting what you want to save with your mouse, rather than trying to type lengthy keyboard shortcuts.

Once you've got your image captured, Skitch immediately loads it in a window that allows you to edit it. You can adjust the size, add notes, circle important items or even draw arrows. You can also blur out sensitive personal information or do some basic image editing. You can do all of this without loading any heavy image-editing software, with an interface that's much easier to use than standard options, like Microsoft Word. When you're done editing the image, you can click the "Save" button and consider your options.

Depending on what you want to do with your screen capture, you can drag and drop it on to your desktop. You can also click the "Webpost" button. If you do so, Skitch automatically uploads the image to your Skitch.com account (you set up the account as part of installing the software on your computer). Once the upload is complete, Skitch provides you with different options for sharing it. You can copy an address that you can drop into an email and send to the person you want to see the image, eliminating any concerns about opening attachments. You can copy a snippet of code to embed the image in a website or blog post. You can also copy code for use in forums-perfect if you need to share the image in a help forum. With these tools, trying to figure out uploading an image is no longer an issue, no matter who you need to share it with.

You have control over your images, even after they've been uploaded to Skitch.com. You can set privacy restrictions, controlling who can look at your screen captures, as well as adding descriptions or even deleting an image when you no longer need it. Even if you delete an image from the website, you'll still be able to access it in your Skitch History (an archive of your screen captures) on your computer. You can reopen those images in your history at any time, just in case you misplace a screen capture.

Skitch is a free application. At this time, it is only available for Macs, but it integrates with iSight, iPhoto and other tools automatically. You can download the application and set up an account at Skitch.com.