Technically Speaking

TechSmith produces a couple of tools that are important in my tech writing workflow including Snagit (probably the best stand-alone screen capture software available, in my opinion) and Jing (a simple program for sharing quick screen captures and screencasts (video).

I complained last week about Jing’s latest release, and how when I capture small videos and play the SWF file directly, the video scales to the browser viewport size. So videos that I had captured at 300×200 pixels were being displayed six times their size in my web browser, and like 10 times their size on my boss’s monitor.

I’ve had an extended conversation with TechSmith’s support department over this issue, and then yesterday I received an e-mail from a developer who is working to resolve the problem.

We’ve now written back and forth a couple of times, discussing ideas to resolve the problem.

I’ll wait until the next release of Jing to decide what I think about this whole issue, but I wanted you to know that what I think TechSmith is getting right, so far, is  how they are handling my complaint. I feel like my concern has been not only heard, but is being acted upon.

In the end, TechSmith will have to make a decision on how to proceed based on what they think is best. But at least I know that my voice has been heard and considered.

Thanks, TechSmith.

MadCap Software announced an open beta of Capture V3, MadCap’s screen capture tool. According to MadCap:

Version 3 of Capture builds on the strengths of the initial version of MadCap Capture and dramatically improves cross product integration with the full suite of MadCap Software tools. Additionally Capture Version 3 has added many requested user features, such as Clipboard functionality, zoom while capturing, time delay, improved image cropping, better support for print formats and much more!

Frankly, this couldn’t have come at a better time for me. For several weeks, I’ve been trying to wrestle with how to make my screen captures look better in printed output. I had finally decided to remove all the MadCap Capture images from my project, and replace them with images I’d taken with SnagIT. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it fixed some of the problems I was having with my capture-only workflow.

However, now I’m using Capture V3 for my screenshots, and I finally have the control I need over both the printed and the online images that are used in my Flare projects, using a single image.

If you want to participate in the open beta of Capture V3, you can find more information in the MadCap forums.