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Instantly capture and share your videos or images whenever you need to

Instantly capture and share your videos or images whenever you need to

Vote: (97 votes)

Program license: Free

Developer: TechSmith

Version: 2.0.11.566

Works under: Windows

Also available for Mac

Vote:

Program license

(97 votes)

Free

Developer

Version

TechSmith

2.0.11.566

Works under:

Also available for

Windows

Mac

A Review of Jing

There are a lot of different programs out there available that were made to allow you to capture certain things on your computer screen. These are usually labeled as "screen capture" programs, and the competition ranges from small, free apps that are light and simple to use, to very complex, full-sized programs that are expensive and sap up a ton of resources on the PC. Toward the lower end in terms of price and size, you will find Jing. Though instead of just being a very simplistic tool with only a few features, Jing packs in a ton of different features and all sorts of functionality without costing a lot or using a ton of processing power.

Jing is a legitimate PC program for Windows, but it runs light and smooth like an app would on a phone. If you go looking for Jing today, you might not be able to find it very easily, and this is because the program has recently been re-launched as "TechSmith Capture," by the TechSmith company responsible for Camtasia, which is rated as one of the best pieces of capture software on the web. They also have one of the best video editors, rated right under Adobe Premiere, so TechSmith really knows what they're doing. They revitalized Jing from version 2.0 onward, and now the program is incredibly popular.

What is Jing?

Jing, or TechSmith Capture, is a screen recording program that was designed to be able to take snapshots of whatever's on your desktop, or to record actual live video of what you're seeing on the computer. It's a light program that runs smoothly, and it has a whole lot of features to be available in such a small package. It's rated as pretty easy in terms of difficulty, meaning that you likely won't have to watch a tutorial to use it. You will probably have to practice a bit to get the hang of it, especially if you've never used screen capture software before. Though it is praised for the quality of the videos it records and how easy it is to share the media after you've finished recording it.

The reason that Jing might be difficult to use for some people is that there are ranges of screen areas that the program can capture. You can choose to capture your entire screen, a specific web window, or you can adjust the area through your own custom parameters. Though you have to select the option for each area, and so you will have to get a feel for the program before you can use it fluently. Though after you take recordings or snapshots with Jing, you can share them easily on social media. You can publish directly to sites like Facebook, if you wish, or you can render your videos in MP4 extensions and resolutions that are ideal for social media sites like YouTube and Twitter.

Jing does a whole lot for you and allows you to make quick work of any sort of screen recording. Unfortunately, this isn't available for free. With TechSmith's famous Camtasia, which is similar to Jing yet a lot more advanced, users at least get a 30-day free promo where they can use the full version. With Jing, you only have two options. Either you download the free version and use its very limited features, or you have to purchase a subscription to Screencast in order to be able to produce and share actual videos. This might seem like a real pain to a lot of computer users, especially considering how many free programs are usually available, but Jing doesn't cost a lot for the full version.

One thing that really bodes well for Jing is that its interface is easy. What this means is that while there is a learning curve, and Jing has a lot of features to get used to, it's not going to be hard for you to figure out the program. It's one of those types of programs where you really learn as you go. You don't have to possess a mastery of the entire program to launch it and record your screen. As you need to perform a new task, you'll discover a new feature, and you will likely learn to master Jing organically.

How Jing Works

Jing is really simple to get started with. Once you open the program, you will see a user-friendly interface with some obvious options presented to you. You'll see options for your settings, screenshots, screen capture, and more. If you want to record videos, for instance, you will click on the screen capture icon and adjust your field in order to capture your screen. There are very simple buttons here that are axiomatic. You'll have the "Start Recording" button, and then you get a "Pause" and "Stop" button. Pausing the video allows you to wait until which point you're ready to start recording the screen again. When you stop the video, it gives you an initial render that you can name and save. Make sure you understand that stopping will completely end the current recording.

Generally speaking, Jing is going to work for you about as well as your computer allows. In other words, if you have an old or slow computer, then you're likely going to find that Jing freezes and glitches a lot. This will not affect the quality of the videos you're recording from your screen, but it may definitely make the processing time last a lot longer, or it may take longer to open up the program to start recording. Conversely, if you have a good PC, especially something along the lines of a gaming computer, then you're going to find that Jing runs very well for you. You likely won't experience any issues of lag or any freezes.

It's also a very discreet program. This means that you can have it running in the background and not even notice it. There are a lot of people who like to get clips from live sporting events, or news stories, and so they have to act quickly while these programs are airing. Jing is lightweight enough that you can leave it running and just pause and un-pause the recording as you need to, capturing what you want. You can minimize and hide the recording graphic when it's not in use, so Jing is never going to be in your way. You just can't bother with it while it's recording. You have to leave it alone and let it work.

However, just know that when it's running and recording is when the lags and freezes happen if your computer isn't great. These issues don't happen when the program is just open in the background.

The Features of Jing

Jing has a surprising amount of features for being a relatively small program. Aside from the features you would expect with screen recording software, such as the ability to take screenshots and to record areas of the screen, it has quite a few extra features that make it a quality program that stands out among the competition in the market. Of course, it's best to start with the most obvious features.

The first obvious feature here is the screen capture feature. This is broken down into two sections, the screenshot feature and the screen record feature. The screenshot feature is fairly axiomatic. You'll load up Jing and then just click a simple button to snap a shot of whatever is on the screen. The screen recording feature is a little more complex, though still not difficult to use. With this, you're going to have options to record your entire screen, a certain web window, or you can customize your parameters. For a custom recording, make sure you click on the option that looks like a broken figure 8, so that you can drag each corner of the recording box independently. If not, the whole box moves in scale, and you cannot get the sort of dimensions you want.

There is also an editing feature that comes along with Jing here. A lot of people might read this and get excited, because they might know about Camtasia from TechSmith and their world-class video editor-screen capture combo program. Well, unfortunately, Jing's editor is nowhere near as professional as Camtasia's editor, but it still does a great job at helping you make quick videos out of your screen recordings. For instance, you can clip parts off, edit for time, add text, various colors, and it even has graphics you can add in. This quick editor was created in order for users to edit their videos for social media sites. That's also why most of the rendering resolutions were designed specifically for sites like Facebook and YouTube. It's meant to make social media videos.

Another cool feature of this program is in the customization options of your video quality. You don't need to necessarily have expertise to play around with these settings, but it will help you a lot if you have a little know-how when it comes to resolution size and quality. This is a feature that allows you to adjust the quality settings of what you're recording. By playing around with this feature, you can find the ideal settings here that give you high-quality HD recordings without giving you incredibly large file sizes. That's always a negative with a program like this; the file sizes can often be huge, and that just takes up too much space on your PC. You can adjust these options in Jing and really limit the file sizes without sacrificing quality.

Is Jing Worth Downloading?

Do you need Jing for your computing? It really depends on what you do on your computer. There are a lot of people who make videos for social media to post on YouTube, Facebook, etc, and this is how they make a living. They'll cover popular news topics, video games, review movies, etc. For these sorts of people, a lightweight screen recorder can definitely come in handy. Having to download an entire news video, for instance, just to trim out a few seconds can be very time-consuming and annoying. Having the ability to just record the snippet that you want can be invaluable. There are all sorts of jobs and hobbies you might have where Jing is going to provide you with a lot of utility.

If you're a fan of screen recording software, you might want to consider ditching the heavy, clunky program that you currently have and going with something faster and lighter like Jing. The only thing Jing is really missing is a high-quality video editor. The editor it has can render simplistic videos that are formatted for social media. So, if you already have a good editor, Jing might be a good screen capture program to have.

Pros and Cons of Jing

Pros of Jing

  • A very easy and intuitive interface
  • A recording area that can be customized
  • Can stay open in the background without lagging you down
  • Provides you with an editor for your videos
  • Can record in full HD

Cons of Jing

  • When it's running, it can lag you down
  • Must purchase a Screencast account for the full version
  • The editor is very basic