Rating:

In a hurry?  Recommendation   

CAPTURE IT
To grab a still image, click the plus sign and yellow crosshairs display. Left click and drag the cursor over the area you want to capture. As you move the cursor, the bright area defines the capture field; dimmed areas are outside the capture field. At the juncture point of the crosshairs you'll see the capture dimensions.

After you define the capture area, let go of the mouse and Jing displays a menu at the base of the capture. At that point, the vertical and horizontal lines work independently so you can tweak the capture area. From the menu, click the computer screen icon to take a still capture or the film strip to start a video. The back arrow starts the capture process from the beginning and X icon deletes the capture area.

Jing provides very basic tools to annotate your capture: use an arrow to direct attention, insert text into a box, place a frame around part of the capture, or use a highlighter. I'm dismayed the program offers so few creative choices and what choices you do have seem uneven. You can't do more than select from a basic color palette and use different fonts.

And when I played around with the fonts, I couldn't use multiple font types in the same text box. It seems odd that there isn't a circle shape, but you can change the opacity level of a colored arrow. Maybe I'm spoiled from using TechSmith's robust SnagIT application, but I'd at least like to be able to mix font types in the same text box or have a few shape choices.

SHARE IT
After you take a capture, share it instantly with others. The menu below displays the sharing buttons.

The three-arrow icon publishes your capture to your Screencast.com folder and returns a link to your clipboard. Insert the link into an online chat session, send it via email, upload it to Flickr, or send a Tweet with the link included. You also can save your capture to your hard drive or copy it. If you have a website or blog, you can configure Jing to return embed code so you can insert the capture or video into your page.

Twitter is the latest sharing option available for Jing. You have to add the button, but it's simple to configure. Click the icon that displays a wrench from the sharing buttons menu to bring up the Customize Jing Buttons dialog box. Click New and the Button Settings configuration screen appears.

Add a description--in this case, Twitter--click "get twitter pin." Jing directs you to an online authorization page where you enter your Twitter credentials as shown.

Click Allow to receive a pin number. Enter the number that appears in Jing's PIN field, click Authorize, and then Save. The next time you take a capture or create a video, you'll see the Twitter button on the sharing menu.

Jing and Twitter integrate seamlessly. When you want to share your capture with your Twitter community, press the Twitter button. A text box appears and your capture uploads to your Screencast.com folder automatically while you enter your message. Tweets cannot exceed 140 characters so as an added benefit Jing counts down how many characters you have left before you reach the limit.

Click Tweet to post your message and the link to your capture on Twitter.

HISTORY AND PREFERENCES
Click the computer icon on the second ray of the Jing sun to access your capture history. Jing manages all captures so you don't have to go out to Screencast.com and search your folder or spend time organizing folders and sub-folders on the hard drive. Within the history window, choose to view images, videos, or both and sort by date or size. Anything you delete from the history Jing deletes from your Screencast.com account (if applicable).

Jing's third sun ray opens to a full yellow ball (the sun), which displays version information, includes a link to check for updates as well several other options. Click a check mark to close the sun, open the suggestion box, and connect to Jing's support and feedback webpage. Once there, post a technical problem or question, make a suggestion, or find a tutorial.

The gear icon opens Jing's preferences so you can set a capture hotkey, choose a video format (upgrade to the Pro version to create videos using the MPEG-4 format), change an email address or startup options, and allow Jing to collect usage data. The question mark opens to several help-specific links such as help with audio when recording videos. The final option closes Jing.

Recommendation
See Part 3.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

JING, PART 2 Rating