If you've used Skitch or Little Snapper, SnagIt seems much more full-featured. The best parts I've seen so far are far more font options and really easy composite image creation.

One thing that's missing is the ability to quickly post an image to Flickr or any other online site. That would be nice and is a feature that competitors offer. Easy click and drag resize is something that SnagIt could pick up from other services as well. All in all, though, this looks like a very nice product.

For more control over the screenshot, you can also invoke Talon from Aviary's web site, where you can manipulate the image quality, set the screen resolution, and decide if you want to capture the entire page or just the part that would be above the fold. In the next version, users will also be able to set which browser and OS to take the screenshot from (which should be great for web designers who want to test their creations).

Some Issues

One problem with the Firefox plugin, however, is that it doesn't capture Flash content, and that, of course, is a deal-breaker in many cases. Using the 'aviary.com' prefix to capture Flash content works, but you can't select a specific moment in a video to show in your screenshot, for example. For this, you still need desktop based tools like Jing or Skitch, which a lot of us here at RWW use. Though they can't capture a complete web page that goes beyond the fold, you can use another desktop tool like Little Snapper, which makes it pretty easy to capture complete web pages at once.

Today, with the launch of Jing 2.1, both Jing and Jing Pro users are getting a bevy of new features which makes the little app we can't live without just that much better.

Although I'm proudly running the $14.95 version of Jing Pro (well worth the money), all Jing users will receive some of today's upgrades.

First on the list is a minor tweak to Jing's aspect ratio feature which will now let you hold down either the Ctrl or Shift key to select the appropriate aspect ratio for standard or widescreen images and videos, respectively.

If you often do more advanced editing using other TechSmith tools like Snagit or Camtasia Studio, you'll be pleased to find that you can now shoot your saved captures and recordings directly to these programs straight from Jing.

Also new today, when uploading to Screencast.com, you'll now be able to specify which folder - great for keeping all your recordings organized. To use this option, you simply create buttons for each of the folders you want to make available from Jing. (Jing supports up to 8 buttons). You can then choose enable commenting on those Screencast.com videos via Jing, providing a more social element to the sharing service.

However, the best feature to arrive in this latest version is one available only to the Pro users - and possibly one that will tempt a few standard users to upgrade their copy. In the new Jing 2.1, Pro users finally have access to their webcam from within the program. No longer limited to screen recordings alone, you can now use Jing to record your very own self, perfect for doing video intros or other webcam recordings.

If you're already running Jing, you can check for the update by going to Settings and then clicking on Help (the question mark button). Then click "Check for Update." New users can download the latest version of Jing from here.