Print Screen Deluxe

It does the basics--capture screen, capture window, capture menu--and then goes one or two steps beyond. It can, for example, capture text in an editable format--screen grab a Web page with this option turned on, and the text will be placed on the clipboard for you. It can also capture the contents of an active DOS window. It can also scroll a window to capture non-visible portions of it.

Beyond that, though, Print Screen Deluxe has many image editing features. It can add a 'tear' to an image, so it looks like it was ripped from a magazine, or add various other effects. It's not Photoshop, but it does let you apply shears, blurs, make the image look like an oil painting or watercolor, and so on. For those with relatively straightforward image editing needs, this subset of the program might be sufficient, even if the screen capture functionality is not needed.

The interface, sadly, is unattractive and nonstandard. While it's not impossible to figure out what's going on with a few clicks and experiments, it is still not especially slick or elegant. A good utility program should be virtually invisible, seeming almost like part of the operating system itself, but Print Screen Deluxe's non-standard interface calls a lot of attention to itself.

However, that is secondary to its functionality, which is robust and impressive. Print Screen Deluxe has a wide range of useful features and options, and "ugly but powerful" beats "pretty but weak" any time.

--Ian Harac