A long, long time ago, when I was just beginning to use a Mac, the Command Shift 3 combo was one of the first non menu keyboard shortcuts I learned. And it served me well for many, many years. Eventually, I began to feel the limitations of the screenshot files that wound up on the desktop, and turned to various third party solutions.

Today, OS X has the built in option to capture a selection that you defined, also; it is now possible to copy to the clipboard instead of saving in a file on the desktop. And for those of us who know, it is also possible to grab any visible window by hitting space instead of dragging a selection after the Command Control Shift 4. So, with all these built in screen capture options, is a third party solution really needed? To be able to answer this question, one must first ask, is there anything else I need from a screen capture program or anything I want done different?

If the answer to any of the last two questions was yes, then you have reached the limitations of the built in functions and need a third party solution... like Snapz Pro.

What is it?
Snapz Pro is a third party screen capture solution that replaces, or rather shoves aside, the built in screen capture functions of OS X.

What can it do?
When you invoke Snapz Pro, using the default take screenshot command, you are greeted with the main window. There are four possible actions which are to capture the entire screen, to capture an object from the screen, to capture a selection of the screen and to capture a movie.

Now, of these four, the first three are also supported by the system, although Snapz Pro offers a heap of additional options when working with these actions, but the forth has no built-in equivalent.

Taking a screenshot of the entire screen is pretty much identical, except for the fact that you have to double click to take it. Oh, I should mention that when you invoke Snapz Pro it 'freezes' the screen. While this is good because you can now take your time to make a selection, it also means that the display is frozen and you will no longer be able to see what is going on until the snapshot operation is complete. It should also be noted that some full screen applications to not take kindly to Snapz Pro pausing them and fiddling with the screen.

Capturing a selection offers many, many improvements over the default function. For one thing the screen freeze means that you can make selections in your own time, without having to worry about loosing the moment. Furthermore, there is a little floating window that accompanies the mouse, acting as a magnifying glass, a web-color index identifier and a selection information box. It makes getting the perfect selection a snap. Another great feature is the ability to move the selection about, and modify it using one of the eight resize points.

Capturing an object is the Snapz Pro equivalent to the very hidden function built into OS X, with one major difference. Snapz Pro will show you the size of the object, with a selection, letting you gauge just how big that object is even if it is partially hidden. Also, the little floating zoom-info window will tell you precisely the width and height of the object.

Moving Pictures
Apart from the static snapshots that Snapz Pro can take, you also have the opportunity of saving a movie from a selection of the screen, complete with microphone capture so you can speak. The only letdown here is that we are not given any previews of the quality of the codecs we can use.

The whole nine yards...
Across all these capture methods, you are given the possibility to preview what the capture will look like, change color depth, add watermarks or copyright information, add borders and generate thumbnails as well as hide or show the mouse cursor.

The Good
Offers many more options than the default solution. Much easier to use and with the powerful preview feature, you can capture exactly what you want the way you want it to look.

The Bad
For full screen applications like games, the old-fashioned take screen shot to file method is still best, Snapz Pro is just too intrusive.

The Truth
Adds a new dimension to screenshots. More features, more control, same ease... who could ask for more?

Here are some screenshots, click to enlarge: