Snagit (Opens in a new tab) is a cross-platform screen recorder for Windows and Mac. Made by TechSmith, the same company behind the excellent screen recording app Camtasia, you can easily take screenshots of your computer screen. , and even record your screen and webcam at the same time.
Techsmith Snagit 2022: prices and plans
- It's not the cheapest, but it comes with a free trial and the cost covers you for a whole year.
It's a screen recording software that you buy outright and is currently priced at $63/€67. Now, that might seem a bit pricey, especially when you consider that the basic features it offers are almost universally available by default. on Mac and PC.
Any purchase includes one year of maintenance. This means that if you do it at the right time, you can also get the next major revision for free (and of course you'll also get all the minor incremental updates in between).
If you already own an older version of Snagit, an upgrade path is available for €35/€37. It also has a combo deal, which includes Camtasia and Snagit screen recorders for €330/€350.
TechSmith also offers a 15-day free trial option, which is definitely worth downloading, so you can try it out for yourself and see if its features meet your needs.
- Rates and packages: 2.5 / 5
Techsmith Snagit 2022: Screen Recording
- Perfect audio and video recording, but no video editing capabilities
You will find that setting up Snagit is extremely simple and almost identical to Camtasia.
Once you've enabled all the features you need (like webcam access, the ability to record system audio, that sort of thing), you can control Snagit from hotkeys or, if you're on a Mac , a useful shortcut in the menu bar.
Whether you're taking a photo or a video, it's all there. And you will find many useful controls. This includes enabling the webcam, choosing its position and shape, whether to record the entire screen or just part of it, as well as options to capture your cursor, a connected microphone, and system audio.
Clicking the big red capture button doesn't start recording. Instead, you're in a kind of preview mode. You can't control other aspects of your computer outside of the Snagit tools in front of you. This is where you move the webcam to another corner and resize it by clicking and dragging its edges. You also have the option to enable or disable the microphones and webcam.
It's useful in a way, but it's the same commands you were offered before you hit that big red button, albeit presented in a different way. It is so superfluous.
Either way, once you click the big red button on that toolbar, the recording will start. You'll find that you can still manipulate your webcam footage while recording, which is a big plus: you can move it to another corner (it can't be a floating window), you can resize it like before, and even turn it off entirely.
The main difference, of course, is that all of these actions are recorded: once you stop the session, you'll see them happen just as you did, in the resulting video file.
The developers assured us that the recording agent has been improved for greater stability, with better synchronization of audio and video. In our experience, the recording was flawless and Snagit captured everything we asked of it, webcam, screen, audio, synchronizing everything perfectly.
The only drawback is the inability to control the webcam footage in post - it's effectively recorded into the clip, and there's a complete lack of editing tools other than cropping.
It's not surprising, because having a powerful and versatile video editor is Camtasia's strong point.
However, unlike Snagit, most of the included recording features do not allow you to record system audio. So it becomes a compromise: if you're looking for an easy way to do it and don't mind not having any editing tools, this might be the screen recorder for you.
- Screen recording: 3.5 / 5
Techsmith Snagit 2022 - Screenshot
- Lots of great features, especially the web page and panoramic view; It works great
Where Snagit really shines is on the image capture side. Many more options are available to you.
You can capture the entire screen or just a part of it. But it is a fact and nothing to get excited about. Snagit has a few tricks up its sleeve.
One of them is "Web Page". Choose it, type (or paste) the URL you're interested in, and Snagit will capture the entire page as one long (sometimes very long) image. This feature does not always work, be aware that some sites present you with a pop-up message when they first load, mainly for you to confirm or reject the inclusion of tracking cookies.
If the site you've chosen has this, Snagit won't see or interact with these options, and will instead capture the entire page, usually grayed out with that message front and center. But when that doesn't happen, the results are great and you end up with an image of all the content.
There is a way around this potential problem with the "Pan" option. It is a useful feature. Choose it, then select the section of a web page or document you want to copy. Start the process and slowly scroll the page. You'll see a small preview of the output as you scroll, but the more you scroll, the less sense that preview makes.
Just trust the process, and when it's done, you'll get a file containing all the images and text for that page. Any video content has the potential to look pretty weird, unsurprisingly. It worked amazingly well.
One option that has intrigued us is the "Enter text" option. Basically, select a section of the screen that has some text and Snagit will copy it for you. Why is this better than just directly selecting and copying the text like we've been doing for decades?
- Screenshot: 4.5 / 5
TechSmith Snagit 2022: Edition
- Many versatile editing tools, but only for your images
Image editing is Snagit's greatest strength. You are offered many tools that you can customize according to your needs. You can add captions, create arrows of different styles including double-headed and T-shaped arrows, add text, apply shadows, group objects. All of this is quite impressive and helps you turn a screenshot into an effective tutorial or full of useful information.
When it comes to exporting your work, you can save it to your computer as you'd expect, but you also have the option of saving it to a cloud storage provider. Supported online services include Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, or Box.
For those who need a screen recorder for Mac and PC, Snagit 2022 is now cross-platform compatible. So not only does this mean that the two platforms now have feature parity (finally!), but you can save your work on one machine, transfer it to another, and continue without any compatibility issues.
Newcomers may also appreciate the improved tooltips. You'll find them scattered throughout the interface, showing you how an on-demand tool works, with clear, fluid animation.
TechSmith Snagit 2022: Dashboard
Swipe to scroll horizontally Row 0 - Cell 0 Row 0 - Cell 1 Row 0 - Cell 2 5EditingExcellent image editing tools4I should buy?
Buy it if...
Snagit is a great screen recording app if you are looking for a cross-platform app with powerful tools to edit your screenshots. And it's ideal if you need versatile image capture options, but aren't too busy editing your video recordings.
Don't buy if...
If you focus more on video than still images, and are looking for more powerful video editing tools, this might not be the screen recording software for you.
TechSmith Snagit 2022: Alternatives
If you want to try another screen recorder, we recommend checking out Camtasia, ScreenFlow, and Debut.