FastStone Capture for Windows

Screen capture and video recorder

FastStone Soft has developed FastStone Capture, a screen recorder and screen capture tool. It allows you to take a picture of your entire screen or active windows in different sizes and shapes. It can also be used while you scroll through a page or run a program to capture the screen. FastStone will open your file in the editor once you have uploaded your image or video. There are many editing tools available, including the ability to draw, trim, resize and tint. You can save the final product as a BMP or GIF, JPEG. PCX, PNG. TGA. TIFF. PDF.

FastStone opens with a Capture Panel. This panel can be divided into Screen Capture, Screen Recorder and Output. Screen Capture tools include the following functions: Active Window, Window/Object, Rectangular Region and Freehand Region, Full Screen Scrolling Window, Fixed Region, and Full Screen. These are all easily accessible from the control panel. However, you can also choose to take a screen capture by pressing a hotkey and right clicking on FastStone tray icon. Each capture function has its hotkey, while the tray icon provides functions in a popup menu.

Before you enable a screencap, it is important that you set the destination. These options are available in the Output dropdown menu. There are 10 places where you can save your image. These include: Editor, Clipboard (with Auto Save), File, File with File with Auto Save and Printer. FastStone can also send you a preview of the image before saving. You can do this by ticking the Preview in Editor box.

You can also use 6 additional Output Tools to enhance your photos: Delay Before Capture, Include mouse Pointer, Copy To Clipboard, Auto Caption and Watermark. If you choose any of these 6 tools, it's important to preview your work. You can then view the image and edit the text.

The Recorder is the only screen recording tool. It can record screen changes, computer audio, mouse movements and clicks. You can also use this tool to edit or perform specific functions similar to the Screen Capture tools. Click the film strip icon on the Capture panel before you start recording. The pop-up window with the modification options will open. First, select one of the following areas: Window, Rectangular Area or Full Screen without Taskbar.

FastStone cannot record computer audio by default. To enable it, you will need to tick the Record Audio box. Once you have all the settings set, click on the red circle icon to start recording. When you click the icon again, the recording will stop. You can click Edit to add effects or graphics. Once you're done, the video file will be saved. FastStone cannot save WMV or Windows Media Video files.

FastStone claims to be a compact tool because all its main tools are located in a control panel. You will find that FastStone offers many modification options that allow you to capture or record your screen in the way you like.

Although it doesn't support other video formats than WMV, it does offer a wide range of screen caps formats. The program has enough graphics, effects, annotation tools, and annotation tools to emphasize visual cues. FastStone is an ideal tool for streamers and office workers who need to share their screen with groups of people.