Yes, I’ll turn to other tools to create a collage, to apply rarely used filters and to fix an image’s white balance, but nothing is as easy, intuitive and functional as SnagIt for my purposes. Simply put, SnagIt is my business and personal workhorse for image editing. The editor has some of the best annotation tools as well as ability to obscure sensitive information with highly configurable blurring. I can crop, resize and paste in images with clear feedback on the pixel size throughout the editing process. I typically mashup images such as an author picture with book cover elements to create a banner (with their permission, of course). Not too many images have that as their native dimension. For example, the particular WordPress template I use has the banner set to 960 x 260. Many online platforms have defined recommended pixel height and width (they’ll accept others but the aspect ratio or quality will be degraded). There are times I’m just using my home computer and I always run into a challenge – there is no other tool in its price range (roughly $50) that I can find that allows me to edit an image for a particular pixel dimension without degradation of the image.

One of the primary uses I’ve had over the last couple of year is to manage images for this blog. I typically use the original image but will crop/paste, annotate or resize for web use. Now, it’s not going to have filters, change of white balance or other pure photo editing features, however, I tend to use those aspects sparingly. While its screen capture ability is the gold standard, I use its editing tool at least as much I use it for photos as well as screen captures.

Snagit editor online