New tool advances the art of screen captures

Like SilverLakeTech.com's Print Screen Works [FCW, Aug. 30] CaptureEze Pro from Application Techniques Inc. offers flexible Windows screen captures at the press of a button.

Unlike Print Screen Works, however, CaptureEze also offers some nifty editing tools.

Running on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 95/98 or Windows NT operating systems, CaptureEze Pro provides effective image editing tools. CaptureEze does not, however, deliver the breadth of tools found in Adobe Systems Inc.'s Photoshop, but it does offer a set of tools well-chosen for quick image manipulation.

You can, for example, add embossing effects to images, change the orientation of images and zoom quickly in and out from within the CaptureEze interface. CaptureEze Pro also supports external image acquisition through digital cameras and scanners.

For users interested in collaboration, CaptureEze makes it a snap to send screens to others via Messaging Application Programming Interface-based e-mail programs. Like Print Screen Works, CaptureEze Pro also boasts superlative online help features and a no-frills installation procedure.

On the down side, CaptureEze Pro does not support encryption of captured files—a handy feature to have if you need to send sensitive information across the Internet.

Overall, CaptureEze Pro is an ideal and inexpensive complement to the Windows desktop environment and offers almost identical performance to Print Screen Works, edging out the latter application with its editing tools.

Whereas Print Screen Works seems geared simply toward quick generation of Windows screens, CaptureEze Pro is better suited for somewhat more complex operations as well.

—Gray is a free-lance writer based in Washington, D.C. He can be reached at edgray2000@yahoo.com.