Jing!

So, I’m a linux guy. In the office, we’re OS X people. Before starting at AWP, I hadn’t spent more than five consecutive minutes at a Mac. Ya know what? I kinda like it!

As a linux user, I spend a lot of time hunting down the best open-source software on the web. Shifting over to Mac, I’ve had to start searching for non-linux open-source software and I have run across some great little products. I will continue covering open-source goodies in the future, so check back in regularly.

Today I want to introduce you to Jing, a great little gadget for screenshots and video grabs. A pro version is available, however I have only test-driven the free version. After the install, a little yellow ‘sun’ sits up in the corner of your screen. Drag the mouse over, click, and it comes to life with a simple three-tiered menu: Capture, History, More. Using capture, you’re given a cross hair. Click and drag to select any area you want on your screen, or just click once to select the area as an entire active window.

You get a little menu there where you can choose to capture a screenshot or video. Select the screenshot and you can do some basic editing, share it, and/or save it. Simple!

The best thing about this gadget is that it’s always available in the upper right corner – and it’s never in the way. You don’t need to move windows around to get to it or open it (after the initial load – set it to load on boot and you’re set).