The ability to capture screenshots in Mac OS X has been built-in from day one. But as is the case with most built-in features, third-part developers often find simpler/better ways of doing things. Users who create screenshots generally fall into two categories; those who have simple screen capture needs, and those who need more than just a full-screen, or Finder window capture.If you fall into the first category, Apple’s built-in screen capture app (Grab) and the associated keyboard shortcuts are often all you need. There are a few shortcomings with using Grab, and that’s where Captur comes in.
Captur adds accessibility to built-in screenshot tools
Captur is a simple menubar application that brings the built-in screen capture tools into a more easily accessible place. Users can choose to capture a full screen, window, or a selected area. And rather than having to open the Grab application to do it, you can choose to capture a timed full screen shot. You can also capture a full screen shot and have it open immediately in Preview for annotation and further adjustment. Captur also allows you to take a screenshot of Dashboard Widgets, make the cursor visible, and turn off window shadows if you wish. All of this is just a click away under the Captur menubar icon.
Upon selecting which method you want to capture the screen, the image is opened in an overlay window where you can choose to save the file, annotate it in Preview further, or ignore (delete) the image. Captur must save the image in memory, because you can switch applications without losing the capture image. This is great if you need to compare the current capture to a previous one you have open in your image editor.
Where Captur falls short is the very thing that makes it so great. It’s built on top of Apple’s own tools, and offers little customization and additional features. For instance, the screenshot at the right of the Captur menu cannot be done using Captur. That’s because in order to capture a menu, you need to click the menubar icon – this prevents you from selecting anything from the Captur menu (you can’t click two things at once, obviously). Another issue is that the cursor only appears in full-screen captures. If you need to capture menus, and absolutely need the cursor in every screenshot, you’ll need to use a more professional screen capture application, such as Snapz Pro X. But if your needs are simple, Captur is free and makes screenshots dead simple.