Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

User avatar
viking33
PlatinumLounger
Posts: 5685
Joined: 24 Jan 2010, 19:16
Location: Cape Cod, Massachusetts,USA

Re: Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

Post by viking33 »

Rudi wrote:I do a LOT of screen captures in my daily work... I have gone through several freeware screen captors and a few stand out as excellent. This one however I'd like to streess due to its editor. It has the perfect set of arrows, text boxes and annotation features to add to the screenshot...VERY good pick!

See here: http://www.screenpresso.com/
Rudi,
This site apparently has a poor WOT rating, based on user ratings?
Any idea why?
--------------------------------
Edited to add: I went back to try again and this time it came up without any bad WOT rating. Don't know why or reasons.
BOB
:massachusetts: :usa:
______________________________________

If I agreed with you we'd both be wrong.

User avatar
Bigaldoc
PlatinumLounger
Posts: 3757
Joined: 24 Jan 2010, 11:00
Location: Lexington, KY, USA

Re: Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

Post by Bigaldoc »

Hmmm, that's strange, Bob. I get a "green" when I go there.

User avatar
HansV
Administrator
Posts: 78236
Joined: 16 Jan 2010, 00:14
Status: Microsoft MVP
Location: Wageningen, The Netherlands

Re: Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

Post by HansV »

Rudi wrote:(...) This one however I'd like to streess due to its editor. It has the perfect set of arrows, text boxes and annotation features to add to the screenshot...VERY good pick!

See here: http://www.screenpresso.com/
However, it appears that editing is limited in the free version: you can edit a screenshot only once, and effects such as drop shadows are not available. You need to buy the Pro version for those...
Best wishes,
Hans

User avatar
BobH
UraniumLounger
Posts: 9216
Joined: 13 Feb 2010, 01:27
Location: Deep in the Heart of Texas

Re: Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

Post by BobH »

FWIW, I was surprised to find that Win 7 has a built in snipping tool. I've used it only a couple of time to do screenshots and haven't explored it fully.
Bob's yer Uncle
(1/2)(1+√5)
Intel Core i5, 3570K, 3.40 GHz, 16 GB RAM, ECS Z77 H2-A3 Mobo, Windows 10 >HPE 64-bit, MS Office 2016

User avatar
Rudi
gamma jay
Posts: 25455
Joined: 17 Mar 2010, 17:33
Location: Cape Town

Re: Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

Post by Rudi »

HansV wrote:
Rudi wrote:(...) This one however I'd like to streess due to its editor. It has the perfect set of arrows, text boxes and annotation features to add to the screenshot...VERY good pick!

See here: http://www.screenpresso.com/
However, it appears that editing is limited in the free version: you can edit a screenshot only once, and effects such as drop shadows are not available. You need to buy the Pro version for those...
That is true, but screenshots tend to have a short lifespan. You take a screenshot, edit it and then publish or use it. Its not like a piece of art or an image that needs continued development. Drop shadows (which actually are picture borders - not shadow options behind the arrows and annotations) too are only a nice to have addition that personally i do not need. Hint: If you need drop shadows and borders, you can add those within Outlook or Word from the picture effects.

All in all...a very nice user friendly screenshot capturer with the best annotation tools I have seen. (The limitations are hardly noticed!!!)
Regards,
Rudi

If your absence does not affect them, your presence didn't matter.

User avatar
Rudi
gamma jay
Posts: 25455
Joined: 17 Mar 2010, 17:33
Location: Cape Town

Re: Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

Post by Rudi »

BobH wrote:FWIW, I was surprised to find that Win 7 has a built in snipping tool. I've used it only a couple of time to do screenshots and haven't explored it fully.
The snipping tool is great for quick screen shots and VERY basic annotation. Its convenient but if you use screenshots daily for support or publications you would tend to want something that offers a bit more than the snipper!
Last edited by Rudi on 10 Dec 2012, 11:54, edited 2 times in total.
Regards,
Rudi

If your absence does not affect them, your presence didn't matter.

User avatar
HansV
Administrator
Posts: 78236
Joined: 16 Jan 2010, 00:14
Status: Microsoft MVP
Location: Wageningen, The Netherlands

Re: Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

Post by HansV »

Rudi wrote:Drop shadows (which actually are picture borders - not shadow options behind the arrows and annotations) too are only a nice to have addition that personally i do not need.
Ah - I hadn't seen that, I thought they meant shadow effects for arrows and annotations.
Best wishes,
Hans

User avatar
Rudi
gamma jay
Posts: 25455
Joined: 17 Mar 2010, 17:33
Location: Cape Town

Re: Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

Post by Rudi »

Here is a quick sample of the annotations...
Note: There are many more customization's in the menu and all the items have shadow options that also can be customized.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Regards,
Rudi

If your absence does not affect them, your presence didn't matter.

User avatar
HansV
Administrator
Posts: 78236
Joined: 16 Jan 2010, 00:14
Status: Microsoft MVP
Location: Wageningen, The Netherlands

Re: Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

Post by HansV »

That looks good!
Best wishes,
Hans

User avatar
Rudi
gamma jay
Posts: 25455
Joined: 17 Mar 2010, 17:33
Location: Cape Town

Re: Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

Post by Rudi »

Add Chrome-style tabs to Windows Explorer

Clover adds Chrome-style tabs to Windows Explorer and allows you to quickly switch between multiple folders. The Clover tabs blend nicely with the standard Explorer window and feel like a natural addition. You can re-arrange tabs by simply dragging them into place, pin tabs so that they're always accessible. Clover also adds a bookmark bar to the Explorer window that you can use to quickly open frequently used folders or websites with the click of a button.

Pretty useful and avoids having to open multiple explorer windows...

Download Clover here at Snapfiles
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Regards,
Rudi

If your absence does not affect them, your presence didn't matter.

User avatar
agibsonsw
SilverLounger
Posts: 2403
Joined: 05 Feb 2010, 22:21
Location: London ENGLAND

Re: Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

Post by agibsonsw »

If you had to manually edit an XML document which (free) application would you use?

I guess it would need to have error highlighting for mismatched tags and inconsistent spelling, but also a way of entering expressions such as XPath?
"I'm here to save your life. But if I'm going to do that, I'll need total uninanonynymity." Me Myself & Irene.

User avatar
Rudi
gamma jay
Posts: 25455
Joined: 17 Mar 2010, 17:33
Location: Cape Town

Re: Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

Post by Rudi »

I don't dabble a lot in raw xml, but i have briefly used apps like NotePad ++, Easy XML Editor and Firstobject XML editor. (I just opened and reviewed these apps...no hardcore coding :))

There is a lot of editors out there...It may just involve some downloads and tryouts to find the one that's most suited to you!
Regards,
Rudi

If your absence does not affect them, your presence didn't matter.

User avatar
agibsonsw
SilverLounger
Posts: 2403
Joined: 05 Feb 2010, 22:21
Location: London ENGLAND

Re: Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

Post by agibsonsw »

Thank you @Rudi
It seems there are quite a number of similarly featured tools. I'll have a look at XML Notepad 2007 firstly. But I'm not heavily involved with XML so my interest might wane quite quickly :)
"I'm here to save your life. But if I'm going to do that, I'll need total uninanonynymity." Me Myself & Irene.

User avatar
Dave Davison
SilverLounger
Posts: 1849
Joined: 27 Jan 2010, 19:15
Location: Darlington, Co. Durham. UK

Re: Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

Post by Dave Davison »

Don't know if it is common knowledge but DropBox has increased it's upload size of files to 250 MB for the unpaid version however it seems -from their forum- many are still looking for more capacity. Pity they have not come across https://www.wetransfer.com/ which is free and has a max of 2GB per upload. Just tried it and if one is using Broadband both the upload the download times are less than five mins for a 278 MB file. :cheers: Dave.

User avatar
agibsonsw
SilverLounger
Posts: 2403
Joined: 05 Feb 2010, 22:21
Location: London ENGLAND

Re: Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

Post by agibsonsw »

Microsoft Expression Web and Expression Design are "all free today!"
"I'm here to save your life. But if I'm going to do that, I'll need total uninanonynymity." Me Myself & Irene.

User avatar
Dave Davison
SilverLounger
Posts: 1849
Joined: 27 Jan 2010, 19:15
Location: Darlington, Co. Durham. UK

Re: Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

Post by Dave Davison »

Don't know if this freebie has been posted before but it looks interesting for any who want to Merge / Split /Edit out sections etc of videos.....http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/idoo-vi ... the+Day%29
Only free till midnight today....Cheers Dave.

User avatar
Leif
Administrator
Posts: 7193
Joined: 15 Jan 2010, 22:52
Location: Middle of England

Re: Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

Post by Leif »

Dave Davison wrote:Don't know if this freebie has been posted before but it looks interesting for any who want to Merge / Split /Edit out sections etc of videos.....http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/idoo-vi ... the+Day%29
Only free till midnight today....Cheers Dave.
Have you tried it yourself? - it doesn't rate well amongst its users.
Leif

User avatar
Rudi
gamma jay
Posts: 25455
Joined: 17 Mar 2010, 17:33
Location: Cape Town

Re: Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

Post by Rudi »

A neat little app to enhance ones File Explorer context menu is FilerFrog. It contains some nifty options for common file tasks all in one sub-menu. Some of the common options are:
  • Extract From Folder, Extract To Folder
  • Copy/Move
  • Delete Empty Files\Folders
  • Copy Path to Clipboard
  • Split and Join
  • List of Files
  • Encrypt/Decrypt
  • Rename Operations
  • Image Manipulation
See features here: http://www.filerfrog.com/features.html
Download here: http://www.filerfrog.com/download.html
Regards,
Rudi

If your absence does not affect them, your presence didn't matter.

MSingh
3StarLounger
Posts: 366
Joined: 12 May 2010, 06:49

Re: Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

Post by MSingh »

Hi,

I just found this "forum" while posting a request.

If this has not already been posted:
To keep passwords (& also in a portable means)
http://keepass.info/
works perfectly for me.

The UI is very user-friendly.
Seeing that we end up with so many p/wrds these days & the gurus advise not to use the same p/wrd in other logins etc.
you can append notes describing what the p/w is securing.
Also good to be used as a repository for applications that you've developed and deployed: forgetting the p/wrd to an MS Access Back-End for an installation done a few years ago is both embarrassing & a nightmare!

Kind Regards,
Mohamed

User avatar
geecee
3StarLounger
Posts: 357
Joined: 02 Jun 2013, 05:55
Location: Australia - SOUTH MORANG - A northern suburb of the city of MELBOURNE in the state of Victoria

Re: Best FREE Software (Used and Rated by Loungers)

Post by geecee »

A great site for finding freeware, it's HERE that I have found most of the free programmes I have at one time or another installed on my computer. I check it fairly regularly and today I found Caesium - Image Compressor.

As you can see in the first screenshot, the compression quality has been set to 50 and the resizing has been set to one-half resulting in a reduction in size of some 171.73 Kb yet without much noticeable difference between the two images.
Screenpresso_01.jpg
This is the image before resizing and compression:
Image_089.jpg
This is the image after resizing and compression:
Image_089_compressed.jpg
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
George

When we're gaun up the hill o’ fortune, may we ne'er meet a frien' comin' doun!
(When we are going up the hill of fortune, may we never meet a friend coming down!)

:smile: Don't cry because it's over...Smile because it happened.l :smile:

:note: At the end of the day it's midnight. :note: