Web Browser Wednesday
Sometimes it’s hard to grasp just how valuable something as simple as a screenshot can be. When we first started writing on CyberNet we didn’t always focus on providing screenshots of the things that we wrote about, but it didn’t take long for us to see that they often got our point across more than words ever could. And that is part of what’s made our site as successful as it is.
So what about taking screenshots yourself? Sure there are all kinds of applications out there to do it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if many of the screenshots you want to take are only of websites. If that’s the case and you’re a Firefox user then this is the article for you! Today we’ve got two different Firefox extensions that will appeal to both novices and professionals alike.
–Abduction (Homepage)–
First up is Abduction. This extension is rather different from the other one below. It’s not geared towards the people who want a screenshot utility brimming with features. Instead it focuses on how it can make snapping screenshots as easy as possible.
To activate Abduction just go to the File menu or right-click anywhere on the current site, and then choose the Save Page as Image option. You’ll immediately be shown a window similar to this one:
(Click to Enlarge)
Immediately after snapping the screenshot the entire site will be highlighted. That means if you hit the Save button without making any changes you’ll be including everything on the page… even the areas you would have had to scroll to see. That can easily be changed by drawing a box around the area that you want the screenshot to capture.
Abduction also lets you choose whether to save the screenshot as a PNG or JPG depending on what filetype is your preference. That’s it. No fancy interface and nothing to confuse you. Just snap your screenshots and go!
–FireShot (Homepage)–
FireShot, on the other hand, takes a completely opposite approach to screenshots. It’s possible to grab snapshots of a website in mere seconds, but it comes with a lot of additional tools that some users may not want. In particular it has a built-in editor that is extremely handy should you decide that you want to annotate a screenshot.
Here’s a list of features that I assembled after using FireShot for a little while:
- You can take a screenshot of the entire site (including scrollable area) or just the area currently visible. And then:
- Modify the screenshot using the built-in editor
- Upload it to screenshot-program.com where it will be hosted completely free
- Save it to your computer
- Copy it to the clipboard
- Open it in an external editor that you specify
- Built-in advanced editor
- Add shapes, drawings, lines, or text to any screenshot
- Crop, blur, convert to grayscale, invert colors, or add a glowing border to any area you select on the screenshot
- Color-picker available when selecting colors, which makes it easy to match any color on a screenshot
- One-click screenshots are available using the settings you specify in the options.
- You can automatically have a website URL added as a removable object to each screenshot
The editor aims to keep things simple, but it has a lot of different controls that take a little getting used to. Here is what the editor looks like:
(Click to Enlarge)
–Overview–
The Firefox extension that you choose to use for taking screenshot really depends on what you’re looking to accomplish. If you just want to share a screenshot with someone I recommend Abduction because I found it to be a fast and efficient way to save a screenshot. However, if you need to point things out and need some more advanced tools FireShot will better suit you. Whichever you choose you really can’t go wrong!
This is a very informing article. Thanks Ryan.
We also have Screengrab: [addons.mozilla.org]
I really like FireShot, but its windows only, so on Linux I use screengrab.
Thanks Ryan. I was looking for something just like this. Both are great options, depending on your needs. In my case, I prefer “FireShot”.
I use both Fireshot and Screengrab, depending on whether I need the features of Fireshot, or if I just need a basic grab – then I use Screengrab. Most of the time I use Fireshot. It’s great for emailing a capture as an attached picture.
They work great in Windows XP and Vista.
Nice find. It almost sounds like the Abduction extension from how simple it is.
I like Fireshot. Unfortunately, it won’t do a full page grab properly if there is Flash content. Try it on Amazon “browse inside” pages or CartoonSmart.com and you’ll see what I mean.
Well, I was thinking at first why bother, I use FastStone for my screen captures. But I downloaded and played with Abduction a bit and got to admit I like the way it works (especially being able to grab the entire page including content that needs to be scrolled to be visible
I was using a free version of a paid-for extension I cannot remember the name of until about a year ago when I found ScreenGrab. ScreenGrab offered the same as the other paid-for extension (and more than its free version). I see Abduction cannot copy to clipboard, ScreenGrab can. I really like how simple ScreenGrab works, still doing everything I need
Abduction’s simplicity is what I loved about it as well. It’s a fast and simple process for grabbing a screenshot. And as some other commenters pointed out ScreenGrab works in the same way.
I would also add Pearl Crescent…
Ah, yes, that’s the one I meant: Page Saver Basic from Pearl Crescent
Too bad you have to pay for the good version.
Another option is to use an Adobe AIR application. Not sure which browser it uses to take the screenshots. I suppose this would be IE? :/
[myspyder.net]
On Windows it’s probably using IE, but it would have to vary since it also works on Mac.