Jun 24 2008
The Best Ways To Create Simple Screenshots
This post is going to be the shortest “The Best…” list I’ve ever written.
When I use the phrase “simple screenshots,” I’m just talking about simple shots that can “liven-up” a blog post or website. I don’t use them in this blog, but do use them liberally in the blog for my mainstream ninth-grade English students so that it looks a little more engaging.
I am not talking about screenshots that excellent bloggers like Sue Waters and Silvia Tolisano use so effectively as instructional tools for those of us who are less tech savvy.
In order to make this list, a site needed to be free, not require registration, and quickly deliver the screenshot in a jpg image that could easily be placed on a blog or website.
I’ve experimented with quite a few of them, and can only list two on this “The Best…” list.
(I had originally thought that Thumbalizr outclassed most other sites because I was under the mistaken impression that they hosted images on their site indefinitely. However, they don’t appear to do so — you have to download the images on your computer first and then upload them to where you want them to appear. Given that, there are several other similar applications that are at least equal to Thumbalizr. They include Snapcasa, WebThumb, and Websnapr.)
One is Thumbalizr. It doesn’t get much easier than that site. All of the images on the blog I have for my ninth-grade class came from there.
The other is Kwout. It’s only a little more complicated to use than Thumbalizr, and the advantage is that the whole image you get back actually functions as a live link to the site. To the right of this post you can see an image of my website that was created using Kwout.
As usual, all feedback is welcome.
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6 responses so far
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Why not just use the free Snipping Tool that comes with Windows Vista?
John,
Will that create a jpg image, and is there an equivalent in Firefox and IE?
Larry
Snipping Tool? Do tell Mr. Thompson.
Larry, can we direct students to your class page for a lesson?
Yes, it can save as jpg, png, and gif. It can take screenshot of anything (e.g., this page), not just in Vista.
Yes! I’m a huge fan of the Vista snipping tool. It is highly customizable and VERY simple to use. One of the best ways to do it is to simply assign a keyboard shortcut that will run the program (instead of having to search for ’snip’ or double-clicking an icon. So for me, I just see something I like, and hit Ctrl+Shft+X and BOOM, I’ve got what I want. Huge fan of The Snip.
Larry,
Thank you so much for all the resources you have shared with us. I have used some of them and am pleased to say that my reluctant/struggling students were totally engaged by them. I plan on incorporating more of them into my class blog to make learning more enjoyable for my students and teaching more enjoyable for me-after all I want to have fun too.