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Using SnagIt with PowerPoint
Works from within PowerPoint to make your life easier
by Geetesh Bajaj
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 Microsoft PowerPoint presents information visually -- in the form of text, images, clipart, charts, diagrams, maps, video, animation and any other media that can be incorporated within a presentation. Our topic of discussion in this article is screenshots -- there is probably no dispute about the fact that screenshots of any kind can enrich presentations of all kinds. Normally, incorporating a screenshot in a presentation involves capturing the entire screen area to the clipboard and then editing it in an image editing application. Another alternative is to use a dedicated screen capture program.
We'll now discuss a third alternative -- a program that works from within PowerPoint. Imagine being able to click an icon in PowerPoint itself that captures screens, windows and regions - finally inserting all captured content in new slides within the active presentation! The product we are reviewing here is SnagIt from TechSmith - particularly the new PowerPoint specific features introduced in version 6.2 of SnagIt.
About TechSmith and SnagIt
SnagIt is from TechSmith, a company that operates from Okemos, Michigan, USA. SnagIt, a screen capture tool with built-in editing and cataloging capabilities was TechSmith's first independent product. More than a decade later, SnagIt has over 5 million users - probably because each version has added new innovative capabilities that have kept the product a step ahead of the competition.
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Version 6.2 of SnagIt provides screen capture add-ins within Microsoft PowerPoint, Word and Internet Explorer. We shall look at ways to integrate SnagIt and PowerPoint later in this article.
TechSmith also makes Camtasia Studio, another popular product that allows users to create videos from any activity or source that is viewable on their Windows desktop, adding special effects and voice annotation.
By the way, Jennifer Veldman has been my contact at TechSmith during my research for this page -- I would like to thank her for all her assistance.
Download and Installation
You can download a trial copy of SnagIt from the TechSmith Web site -- the trial copy is fully functional for 30 days.
A single user version of SnagIt costs US$39.95 - -discounts are available for multiple licenses. You can also request for special pricing if you belong to the education or government segments.
Installation is a quick affair that leads you step-by-step through various screens. One of these screens provides you with options to initialize the SnagIt add-ins for PowerPoint, Word and Internet Explorer (see screenshot below).
The next time you run PowerPoint, you'll find a SnagIt toolbar within the interface. On my system with PowerPoint 97, 2000 and 2002 installed, the SnagIt toolbar showed up in the latter two versions.
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