If a picture paints a thousand words, then how many words does a video paint? While no one can give you a definitive answer, one thing is for sure: in this era of information, using only words to tell your stories is not enough. To stand on equal ground with everybody else you need to combine your words with images and videos in your narratives.
To help you do that you’ll need a good screencasting app that can not only capture an image or a video of your screen but also help you manage them. One such app is Capto (US$ 29.99 – free trial available), a screen capture app from Global Delight and the successor to the popular Voila. While it’s not free, Capto is one of the best alternatives out there being a fraction of the price of its competitors. Let’s dig a little deeper into the app.
Screen Recording and Video Editing
One of the core features of Capto is screen recording and video editing. The app can record all activities that happen in all or a partial area of your screen. It’s perfect if you need to make a tutorial on how to do something on your computer. You can also record video using the built-in FaceTime camera.
If you need to add audio to your video, check out “Record Computer Audio” and “Record Microphone” and choose which audio source you want to use.
One feature most iOS users will find very useful is Capto’s ability to record the screen of an iOS device. With this feature you can create video tutorials of iOS features and not be limited to screenshots. All you have to do is connect your iOS device to your Mac and select it from the video source to record.
But it doesn’t stop there. After the recording is done, you can do basic video editing to get the result that you want. You can cut the portion of the video, crop it to the size that you want, and trim its length. You can also add boxes, arrows, callouts, and text to make your video clearer or blur the part that you don’t want your audience to see, such as login information.
Screen and Web Capture with Image Editing
While not as interactive as videos, images have the advantage to not be as distracting as videos. That’s why many people still use images to accompany their writing. Images are also easier to get and process.
Capto uses top notch screen and web capture to produce images that can fit your needs. Next to the video recording button, you have the option to capture full screen, area, window, menu, and Web.
Other than capturing the usual square, you can also capture a circle or freeform area of your screen. As for the Web capture, you can open and capture a web page in Capto’s built-in browser, or you can capture the whole page of the active URL on your main browser. Please note that a longer web page will take a longer time to capture.
File Manager & File Sharing
Capto also comes with a file manager. All of your captures will be organized into one big collection that you can filter based on several criterias for easy findings.
In addition to sorting by date and name, and using the search feature, Capto also gives you “Collections” in the library. There are several default smart collections such as “Recent, Screen Snaps, Web Snaps, Imports” and “Dragged Out.” You can also create your “Collections” or “Smart Collections” by clicking the “Plus (+)” button and defining the rules (for the smart collections).
One more feature that will help you with your files is File Sharing. Other than saving your captures into the hard drive of your Mac, you can also share them on cloud accounts such as the conventional FTP and SFTP, YouTube, Tumblr, Google Drive, Evernote, Dropbox, etc.
But first you have to configure your cloud account(s) by going to the “Preferences -> Configure Account” menu. You can also do this from the “Share” button.
After trying Capto for some time I can conclude that this app is a great screen capturing and recording app. The price is more reasonable than other competing apps and has more bells and whistles than the free alternatives. But don’t take my word for it; give it a try and decide for yourself, then share your thoughts and opinion in the comments below.
Image Credit: Global Delight
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Jeffry Thurana
Jeffry Thurana is a creative writer living in Indonesia. He helps other writers and freelancers to earn more from their crafts. He’s on a quest of learning the art of storytelling, believing that how you tell a story is as important as the story itself. He is also an architect and a designer, and loves traveling and playing classical guitar.
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