PicPick- simple and multifunctional application for creating and editing screenshots, developed by Wiziple. The program combines a very convenient utility for taking snapshots of the current state of the computer monitor, as well as a program for editing these snapshots. The photo editor, although it has a limited set of tools, is nevertheless not devoid of basic functions. Useful services include a ruler, a screen magnifier, a slate board, a protractor, and color recognition.
You will need a ruler to accurately determine the distances in the drawing. Sometimes it is quite rich in details and it is important to make accurate calculations. If the objects in the picture are too small, you can easily enlarge them using a screen magnifier. The slate board is designed for writing on top of the picture. Sometimes you also need to accurately determine the slope of some lines in a drawing. To do this, the user should select a protractor. When the picture is very saturated color scheme, then the color recognition function becomes especially important. The color palette in the program is very rich, so to edit an image you need to strictly monitor the color matching.
Thus, downloading PicPick means acquiring two important functions in one program at once.
You should not be afraid that pictures taken with this program will not open in other applications. On the contrary, in terms of formats, this is one of the most universal programs. The pictures you take can be saved to JPG formats, BMP, GIF, PNG. They open without problems in any other program and even more. They can be quickly and easily sent to FTP server, By e-mail, and also post on Facebook and Twitter.
It will be easier for you if you decide to download PicPick in Russian. Therefore, always pay attention to what language you are downloading the program in. This will make it much easier to learn how to use the utility, and you will immediately like it.
If we move on to a more substantive conversation, it should be noted that PicPick has the ability to take pictures of both the entire computer screen and certain elements: only active window, control panel, button, as well as a selected area (both a fixed area and a free one).
In a graphic editor, which is this program, Very important point is the ability to undo a previous action. This will protect against unnecessary, accidental changes.
It is important that the resulting images can be easily exported to office Word applications, Excel, PowerPoint. They can also be uploaded to an FTP server, sent by email, or posted on your personal page on web resources such as Facebook and Twitter.
The PicPick application is very similar in functionality to the other one useful utility, but is simpler and more convenient to use. The program interface is...
Hello, today I’ll tell you about a screenshot program and, part-time, a graphic editor PicPick. This is a free program.
I've been using it for several years now, it replaces me Photoshop in such simple tasks as: resizing, cropping, adding text, etc.
4. Brightness/contrast
Of course, to do color correction it is more logical to use Photoshop, but sometimes no special changes are needed - just a little brighter. Then you can bypass the functions PicPick- In chapter Image – Effects – Brightness/Contrast... (using the example of a photo from a review about Miracle Yogurt):
5. Photo frame
Sometimes you want to make some kind of frame for a photo - in PicPick There are several: for example, a notepad. frames are in the section Image – Effects – Frame ...
6. Photo cropping
To cut out part of a photo you need to go to , select the desired area, the program will open new section menu and there you need to select Trimming (using the example of a photo from a review about hazelnut oil)
7. Make the photo smaller
To make a photo smaller you need to go to the section Image – Size – Change image dimensions:
8. Easily copy an edited picture into Word.
This is very convenient, since you don’t even have to save the photo, you take a screenshot and immediately add text, and with one click of a button you copy: section Clipboard – Copy..
and in Word just press Ctrl V and the picture is inserted:
When you need a lot of pictures, cutting and pasting saves a lot of time. Pictures in the document Word are saved without saving the original image in PicPick, A PicPick In addition, it supports opening a large number of pictures and screenshots at the same time.
9. Hide your face in the photo, etc.
I personally don’t hide my face in the photo for reviews, but maybe someone will find it useful. You need to select in the section Tools – Area – Rectangular Selection... , select the area you want to hide:
In the new menu Options – Pixelation...
Well, you can’t see your face :)
Can beep bank card number, last name on the sea ticket, price on the box, data in the passport, etc.
10. Save in various formats
Transparency PicPick does not support so save in PNG or GIF doesn't make much sense. I always save in JPG:
An excellent screenshot that allows you to take a screenshot of the screen or any area of it, including scrolling windows, in one click.
ATTENTION! The description below is relevant for the earlier version of the program 3.3.1.
Signs of a good screenshot program
A good program for taking screenshots, in my opinion, should have the following functions:
- removing both the entire screen and its parts (active windows, selected areas, window elements, arbitrary selection);
- presence of built-in graphic editor with the ability to overlay explanatory elements (callouts, arrows, highlighting, etc.);
- support for both hot keys and interface buttons for capturing the screen in one mode or another;
- the ability to directly send a screenshot to a specified email or to a social network;
- saving in several graphic formats.
Not even all paid programs can satisfy the listed requirements. “What can we say about the numerous free ones,” you say.
However, I have a serious objection to this in the form of an excellent program that I have been using for more than a year. We'll talk about PicPick.
Comparison with a paid analogue
This program meets all of the above requirements and even moreover, it has a number of very useful additions that can come in very handy!
I'll tell you a secret that before encountering PicPick, I worked with a well-known paid SnagIt program, that’s why I want to compare it with her.
As you can see, there are not many differences between our two programs, if you do not take into account the fact that PicPick cannot capture video. Otherwise, our free screenshot is even slightly ahead of SnagIt in terms of functionality.
Judge for yourself - in addition to capturing images from the screen in various modes, PicPick has the following tools:
- capture color under the cursor;
- color palette for selecting the desired shades;
- magnification window with the ability to zoom in 10x on any area of the screen;
- ruler for measuring any distance on the screen;
- crosshair for measuring the linear dimensions of rectangular areas;
- goniometer;
- slate board so you can write and draw directly on the screen!
And it's all in one program!
Installing PicPick
PicPick does not have a portable version, so you will have to install our program before you can take a screenshot.
To do this, we will need to download the archive from installation file, which you will need to run. In the window that opens, click the “Next” button, then “I Agree” and stop at the next screen.
Here we are offered to install a browser add-on along with the program. Naturally, hardly anyone needs it, so before clicking “Next”, uncheck all three boxes. Next, we complete the installation as usual.
Initial program settings
Once the installation is complete, PicPick will automatically launch the main window and open the Settings window on top of it.
Before moving on to working directly with our application, let's go through all the settings, which are located in several tabs.
In the “About the program” tab (which opens by default) you can configure the interface language, as well as activate the creation of a shortcut on the desktop, autoloading and checking for program updates.
Let's go to the "Capture" tab.
Here we can configure where the captured screenshot will be sent (by default - to the built-in editor), some capture parameters and display of the zoom window when capturing.
Name mask- a template for future names of saved screenshots.In the “File name” tab, you can set a name mask for saving your captures, as well as set the default format for the resulting image.
On the "Editor" tab you will find a number of options that will allow you to make additional settings into the work of the built-in graphic editor PicPick.
The next tab (“Images”) allows you to set the quality of the resulting screenshots.
Accordingly, the “FTP” tab contains all the settings that relate to the transfer of images to an FTP server.
Last tab, which we will consider - “Keys”.
With its help, you can set keyboard shortcuts that can be used to call any PicPick function.
How to take a screenshot using PicPick
Now that we have sorted out all the settings, it’s time to start actually creating screenshots. If we close the settings window, we will find the main PicPick window underneath it.
If you are used to using various keyboard shortcuts, you can easily disable the display of this window by checking the box “Do not display this window when the program starts” in the lower left corner. If you are not used to “hot keys”, then you can safely use this window for your own purposes :).
All functions in the main PicPick window are sorted into two columns: on the left are actions related to images and their capture, and on the right are additional graphic tools.
To activate any task or tool, just press the corresponding button.
By the way, if you have hidden the main window, then you can access all program control buttons through the PicPick context menu in the tray.
As soon as you decide on the desired capture option, you should press the corresponding button (or “hot” keys on the keyboard), after which in certain modes a frame may appear to define the area of the image.
If for some reason you change your mind about taking a screenshot, in this mode just click RIGHT key mice. Otherwise, the resulting image will immediately open in the built-in graphic editor.
We can apply a number of effects to the resulting image, add arrows and callouts different forms with explanatory text, as well as add arbitrary shapes, add any text and overlay any parts of images from the clipboard.
Unfortunately, the PicPick graphic editor cannot work with layers, but you can still combine two pictures in it :). To do this, as I already said, you need to copy the desired fragment to the clipboard in advance, and then simply paste it anywhere in the new screenshot.
From the same menu you can send the resulting screenshot for printing, post it on the Internet, or open it in another program, for example, for additional processing!
Additional PicPick Tools
Now you should not have any problems with capturing images and subsequent processing of screenshots, so to fully familiarize yourself with the program, I suggest studying its additional functions.
In the main PicPick window they are called “Graphics Tools” and are collected in the right column. And the first one is “Color under the cursor”.
With it, as the name suggests, we can capture any color on our monitor! When this tool is activated, the mouse cursor takes on the shape of an eyedropper and a magnification window appears, which we can use to more accurately determine the desired shade on the screen.
RGB(from English Red, Green, Blue- red, green, blue) is a color model based on these three primary colors.Please note that under the magnification window, the code of the current color is determined in real time in the format specified in the settings (by default HTML - RGB).
After clicking on the desired color, a second tool window will open in front of you - “Color Palette”.
Here we already see a full spectrum of colors with all sorts of shades, any of which can be selected and copied, for example, into the code of your program or into the palette of a graphics editor. Moreover, here you can already change both color display modes and their encoding!
If you don't need color capture capabilities, but just want to take a closer look at some small parts on the monitor screen, then the “Zoom Window” tool may be useful to you.
It allows you to quickly enlarge the desired area under the mouse cursor up to 10 times the size, which is one order of magnitude larger than the built-in Windows Screen magnifying glasses.
The following three tools can be very useful for web developers, as they help make various linear measurements of any objects on the screen. And the first function here is “Ruler”.
It allows you to measure the width and height of any elements displayed on the monitor. Measuring with it is as easy as with a regular ruler - just set the beginning of the floating “Ruler” window to the beginning of the object being measured, and then move the cursor to the opposite edge of the element of interest.
The number we are looking for will be displayed in the magnification window. For example, in the screenshot above we found out that the width of the “+1” button in the Google search engine is 31 pixels :).
You can customize the ruler using context menu, which allows you to position the tool vertically or horizontally, change the units of measurement (pixels by default), transparency and its color.
The next tool is the Protractor.
It is even easier to use than the “Ruler”. The result is achieved in three clicks:
- First we fix the point at which the measured angle is located.
- Secondly, we fix the first adjacent vector that forms the angle.
- Third, we indicate the second segment, after which we get the value of the angle in degrees accurate to minutes!
Last measuring instrument is "Crosshair".
This tool is similar in functionality to the “Ruler”, but, unlike it, it allows you to simultaneously measure the width and height of any object on the screen, although only in pixels.
To start measuring, you need to left-click on the “zero” measurement point, and then use the crosshair that appears and the magnification window to adjust the end point. The width and height dimensions in pixels will be displayed under the crosshairs.
PicPick's final additional tool is the Slate.
With its help, we have the opportunity to draw directly on the screen. This function can be useful for people who often give presentations or record video lessons, as it allows you to focus the viewer’s attention on specific objects.
When you activate the “Slate”, a small toolbar appears on the screen, where you can access:
- Move - a tool for navigating through the increased space of the “board”;
- Increase - no comments :);
- Pencil - allows you to draw arbitrary lines “by hand”;
- Arrow - draws arrows according to the template you choose;
- Shape - allows you to draw rectangles, rounded rectangles and ellipses.
In addition to everything listed, the panel has a slider for controlling the transparency of drawn parts, buttons for clearing and capturing the screen, as well as a scale for the size of drawn elements and a color palette.
To exit the slate mode, just, as in all previous cases, RIGHT-click on the free space or click the “Close” button on the toolbar.
Advantages and disadvantages of the program
- Full range of screen capture capabilities;
- support for customizable hot keys;
- built-in additional tools;
- availability of functions for quickly sending received screenshots to the Internet;
- good built-in graphic editor.
- the program is “for non-commercial use only”, although... :);
- no video capture function;
- restrictions when enlarging screenshots in a graphic editor (up to 1000%);
- There is no function for adjusting color tolerance when using fill.
conclusions
In fact, PicPick is no worse than paid analogues like SnagIt or the snickering FastStone Screen Capture :). And thanks to the availability of developer-friendly tools, it might even get better!
In any case, with the help of this program you can not only take a screenshot of a screen of any complexity, but also professionally process it. Naturally, like any other application, PicPick is not without some flaws and shortcomings.
However, given the fact of frequent updates, we can say with confidence that the number of shortcomings will decrease from release to release. Or maybe new functions will appear (for example, video capture)... Then it will be absolutely beautiful :)
Afterword
Often, when working at a computer, we perform certain actions “automatically,” taking them for granted. However, to the uninitiated they may not be so obvious.
If you want to teach something new to your colleague or friend who is next to you, then the easiest way is to turn on the computer and directly show how this and that is done.
However, what if your “student” is far from you, and a regular telephone consultation does not bring the desired effect? There are two options for solving the problem.
Users often wonder how they can save screen content to a file. For most people, the PrintScreen key and the built-in graphics card are enough for this. Paint editor to paste the screenshot copied to the buffer and save it to a file. However, this is not always enough. There are situations when you need to capture not the entire screen, but only part of it, some area, window or toolbar. This is where screen capture utilities come to the rescue. The most famous is probably SnagIt. But in Lately this program has not always gained mass useful functions, besides, it is paid. We will consider its analogue, free utility called PicPick. In addition to its main function, PicPick provides several other useful tools for working with the screen.
Let's install PicPick and prepare the utility for work. In the settings we set hotkeys for different types screen capture. PicPick defaults to the key PrintScreen in combination with other special keys. For example, to capture the entire screen, a key is defined PrintScreen (the same key is used by the operating system itself Windows system), and to capture the active window you need to press Alt + PrintScreen . Hotkeys are set to grab the toolbar, scrolling window, selected, fixed and free-form area.
The initial settings of PicPick establish the following screen capture mechanism: after pressing hot keys, the screenshot is opened in the built-in program editor, after which it can be processed and saved to a file.
The editor's capabilities allow you to apply standard effects of blur, changes in sharpness, brightness, saturation, contrast and hue to the image. Also in the editor you can invert colors, convert them to grayscale, add pixelation and a frame (border or shadow). Of course, there are tools for resizing, rotating, flipping and cropping images, highlighting, drawing, filling, and entering text.
A screenshot processed in the PicPick editor can be either saved to disk or transferred to any application Office package. If you have an Internet connection, the image is easily sent from the program to Facebook, Twitter, FTP server, web page or Outlook.
In order for the image captured from the screen to be immediately saved to a file, open Settings – Saving and enable the option Automatically save images. Here we select the folder where the files will be saved. In this case, after pressing the hotkeys, the program will save the screenshot in a file and open the file in its own editor. PicPick supports the following formats graphic files to save: JPG, PNG, BMP or GIF.
The default file type saved is set in the settings in the section File name. There, by the way, you can configure the file name format.
If opening the captured screen in the editor is undesirable (for example, you need to quickly “grab” several dozen pictures), go to the Snapshot section in the settings and select the program behavior. The default action is defined Open in PicPick editor. In our case we install Saving to file, but you can also choose to copy to the clipboard, print, and the previously discussed image transfer methods.
In addition to the main function - image capture, PicPick provides a whole set of additional features. You can quickly access them either through a menu called up by clicking on the program icon in the system tray, or using hot keys.
Function Color under cursor starts the process of tracking the color of the pixels under the cursor. A small window appears on the screen, where the pixels located under the cursor are visible on an enlarged scale. The HTML color code under the cursor is also indicated here. After clicking, a window appears Color selection with the selected color and palette. In addition to the html code, you can find out the RGB color format, as well as for the C++ and Delphi languages.
Magnifier works almost the same as a similar built-in Windows tool. As you move the cursor, an enlarged image of the screen appears in a small window.
Tool Ruler displays a horizontal or vertical ruler with markings on the screen. The ruler can be easily moved across the screen using either the mouse or keys. You can set the units of measurement (pixels, inches, centimeters), set the transparency level and color. To close the PicPick ruler, just press the key Esc .
Goniometer useful when you need to quickly measure an angle. We select a tool, click on the origin point, after which two coordinate lines are displayed on the screen. Now we move the cursor to indicate the first line, click and repeat the procedure to indicate the second line. Along the way, the angle between two segments is also displayed here.
The Crosshair tool allows you to mark a rectangular area on the screen while simultaneously showing the coordinates of the center of the crosshair (horizontal and vertical pixel number). Moreover, the second time you move the guide lines, the distance from the first crosshair in pixels is displayed.
Another tool called Slate displays a small panel on the screen with several functions and enables a special mode for using the screen. Thus, the contents of the screen can be scaled, moved, lines, arrows (pointers) and simple shapes (rectangle, ellipse) can be drawn on it. At any time, everything that we have drawn on the screen can be saved to a file.
Overall, PicPick is quite impressive in its capabilities and is in many ways on par with similar programs. And since it is free, the utility can be considered as the main tool for screen capture.
Characteristics:
Interface language: Russian, English and others
OS: Windows XP, Vista, 7
File size: 3.5 MB
License: free for personal use
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