A description of Jing, developed by TechSmith, might read: a simple screen capture/recording software that lets you edit your images, save or share the images and videos, and, also sports a cool interface. Though we usually insist on featuring absolute freeware for our Download of the Day section, the differences between the free and paid version are minimal, and you can make full use of most of its features, without reaching for your wallet.
While Jing does screen capturing/recording no better than most other such software, its main differentiators are its image/video editing capabilities, its uploading/sharing features, and its always on top minimalist interface.
Screen capture/recording
Both functions are called up by a single hotkey, and thereafter you can change the suggested time-stamped filename, edit/copy it the clipboard it if it’s an image, save the file (PNG for image or SWF for video), or share it.
Image editing
Lets you add frames, arrows, text, and highlights to the image, in many colours.
Uploading/sharing
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[RELATED_ARTICLE]You will have to make a free Screencast account, and thereafter, any image or video you want to share will be easily accessible from your 2GB of online storage space, via a tiny URL, that’s automatically pasted in your clipboard, or can be found at the Screencast website.
If you are still wondering what’s in the Jing Pro version, well not much more, just some convenient features you could easily choose to do without, if you don’t mind using additional software or spending some extra time. You can see a comparison of paid and free features below. You can also invest in paid software such as Snagit and Camtasia Studio to directly edit images and videos from the capture and recording screen.
Jing Pro vs Free Version Feature Comparison | |
Free Version | Jing Pro ($14.95/year) |
Screen Capture & Editing (in PNG format) | |
5 Minutes of Screen Recording | |
Screencast.com “Free Account”—2GB of storage/bandwidth for online sharing | |
SWF Video | SWF or MPEG-4 Video |
| Unbranded Videos |
| Share Instantly to YouTube |
| Recording from Webcam |
Additional features include capture/recording history, which can be accessed via the Jing Sun interface, which also gives access to settings and capture options as seen below:
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On the whole, if you are looking to capture video or images of a fullscreen application, such as a video player or game, you might want to look elsewhere for software that’s dedicated to such purposes. Jing however, in any incarnation, is great for recording tutorial/walkthrough videos, and for serving many of the innumerable reasons for taking a screenshot. Download Jing from here, and do also check out our other featured Download of the Day software here.