Scoop’s Views

Yesterday, for Black Friday cheer, I blogged about Techsmith, maker of Camtasia Studio, SnagIt, and a few other cool tools, giving away fully licensed copies of Camtasia Studio.

Today, to help you recover from sticker shock that many likely had at the end of the mad shopping spree yesterday, the first shopping day of the 2007 Christmas season, I am pointing out another tech freebie. This one, while not as high-value, at least in terms of dollars-and-cents, is a handy item many people use on a daily basis.

Following in the same line of giveaways, Techsmith is currently giving away fully-licensed, legal copies of SnagIt, the premiere screenshot software. In fact, if I am not mistaken, it was the first screenshot software on the market, having been released in the early 1990s. It’s also a product I’ve been using — in both the corporate world and my personal life — since the mid-1990s.

SnagIt allows you to easily capture an image of anything on your screen and save it to a variety of formats, including JPG, GIF, PDF, PNG, SWF (Flash), and many others. Using SnagIt, you can create full-page, scrolling screenshots of Web pages, with active links, as well, if you want. It’s a tool I use several times every day.

What’s the catch? Well, the catch is that Techsmith is giving you a license — for free — for SnagIt 7.2.5. The company is hoping you will use this version, decide you love it, and opt to buy the current version, which is SnagIt 8.2. If you do opt to buy the current version of SnagIt, you get a 50 percent discount off the $39.95 price, meaning you will pay just under $20 for the current version of SnagIt. That’s not a bad deal.

To get the fully-licensed copy of SnagIt 7.2.5, simply download a copy of the SnagIt is your language from the links below.

• ftp://ftp.techsmith.com/pub/products/snagit/725/SnagIt.exe [English]
• ftp://ftp.techsmith.com/pub/products/snagit/725/snagitfr.exe [French]
• ftp://ftp.techsmith.com/pub/products/snagit/725/snagitde.exe [German]

After downloading the SnagIt executable file (installation file), visit the Techsmith SnagIt 7.2.5 giveaway page, and enter your name, your email address, and the country in which you reside, and seconds later, an email from Techsmith will arrive with your license key. Be sure to keep the key in a safe place. This key unlocks the software, turning it from the demo version, which lasts for 30 days, into the full retail version.

Although SnagIt is a handy and easy-to-use program, many people don’t use it to its full potential. To be sure you get the most out of the program, check out the free online SnagIt tutorials on the Techsmith site.

While you’re still smiling about having saved an initial investment for SnagIt, why not make an end-of-year tax-deductible donation to a non-profit, helping them further its mission. Since I pointed this offer out to you, let me suggest you make the donation to Awake In America, a non-profit focused on sleep and sleep-related issues, such as shift work, sleep deprivation, and sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, narcolepsy, restless legs, among others.

Awake In America works to improve general awareness about the importance of proper sleep, and how, just like diet, is important to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Awake In America also has relief programs designed to assist individuals obtain sleep studies or durable medical equipment, such as CPAP and BiPAP machines, to treat diagnosed sleep apnea for individuals with inadequate or no health insurance, as well as those without the financial means to obtain the services independently. Go ahead. Make a donation and help someone else while you get a great product –SnagIt 7.2.5 — free from Techsmith.

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