Jing - Sceen Capture Software
Imagine this situation, your colleague who is working in another office just emailed you with a client's problem. After reading it you come up with a brilliant solution and need to show your colleague the steps you took in solving the problem. You know that it would only take 2-3 minutes to show them the solution face to face but communicating it through email will be a difficult and lengthy process. To simplify this process what you need is a software application that takes snapshots or video recordings of your screen and then allows you to add comments, descriptions, instructions etc onto the image or video. Basically you require something that will allow you to highlight and comment on the most important sections of each screen snapshot or recording, allowing you to walk your colleague through the solution step by step.
If this sounds like a situation you have experienced then Jing may be the solution for you!
What is Jing?
Jing is a free screen capture tool which allows you to take a static picture of your computer screen or record a video of on screen action. When creating static images of your screen, Jing only produces its screen snapshots in one format - PNG (Portable Network Graphic). However, as a static image PNG is considered to be far superior to gif, tiff or jpeg. The image editor then allows you to highlight or frame specific text, add comments/descriptions for your colleague to follow and insert arrows to draw
attention to specific items on the image. The editor also provides a colour palette allowing you to pick whatever colour you like for your annotations.
The video capture capability within Jing allows you to record your actions in real time and add an audio commentary, thus allowing you to talk your colleague through the actions they see on screen. The video is recorded in SWF format which can be viewed easily on most computers. It also allows you to pause and resume the video whilst creating the initial recording which can be useful. However, there is a 5 minute limitation for each individual video recording you make and as the software is free, Jing adds its own logo and web link to the beginning and end of each video recording.
Once you have created your screen snapshot or video, Jing allows you to save them to your computer for later use or upload them directly to TechSmith's content hosting service Screencast.com. Jing provides 2GB free storage space as well as a 2GB monthly bandwidth allowance. If 2GB of space is not enough, Screencast allows you to buy more.
Jing is compatible with Windows and Mac.
Further Information
Jing comes in two editions, a free one (Jing) and a commercial one (Jing Pro). At the time of writing the Jing pro license is $14.95 per annum. There are 4 noticeable differences between the 2 versions:
1.While the free edition only allows you to save videos as SWF format the pro version provides the option to save your videos in MPEG-4 format.
2.Within the free edition, Jing adds its own logo and weblink to the start of each of your video recordings in order to promote its service. This is removed in the pro edition.
3.Jing Pro allows you to upload your video to YouTube.
4.The webcam feature in Jing Pro allows you to record yourself which means you can switch between your screen and webcam recording.
Alternative Applications
Overall Jing is one of many software tools that allows you to easily create and annotate short and simple screen shots or videos. If you need to be able to record for longer than 5 minutes or require more extensive editing and enhancing tools then you might want to look at some of the other available screen capture applications such as Camtasia Studio or Adobe Captivate
At a glance summary
Pros:
- Free
- Easy to use
- Choice to save or upload screen capture to internet site
- 2GB of free online space and 2GB monthly bandwidth
Cons:
- Limited format for image/video capture (PNG and SWF)
- Limited to 5 minutes video capture
- Addition of Jing logo and link in the beginning and at the end of each video recording