We all know how cumbersome it is sometimes to work with screenshots when we are creating screencasts or handouts as part of a tutorial or “help” resource. You have to use the “alt” and “print screen” keys to capture the image; then, you have to use some kind of photo editing application to edit and clean up your screenshot.
Labor no more! Kwout is a free and cool new tool that debuted in December 2007 that allows users to capture screenshots with ease; furthermore, you can embed that screenshot into your webpage or blog. You can even embed the image into Flickr!
The first thing you have to do is visit http://kwout.com/. At the bottom of the screen are two options for grabbing the “bookmarklet.” As an Internet Explorer user, I simply right clicked on the first option and saved it to my “links” folder under “Favorites.” This puts it into your “Links” toolbar at the top of the browser.
Once you have taken these steps, you then browse to the web page that has information you want to grab. Simply click on the “kwout” button that is automatically installed when you follow the directions in the previous paragraph, and depending on which option you chose (open in a new window or open in the same window) earlier, the webpage will load along with the “Kwout” tools. You just click and drag the area you want to capture; then click on the “cut” button. Your embeddable HTML code will appear in a few moments so that you can then copy and paste that code into your blog or webpage, impressing your patrons and fellow colleagues!
There is also now a “My Kwout” feature. What does this do? In the words of the “about” page, “My Kwout”:
“my kwout” is a collection of the sources that you quoted via kwout. With “my kwout”, you can share with your friends what you are/were interested in. You can also use it as like your online bookmarks.
Please note that “my kwout” doesn’t show a source until you post the quotation to your website/blog except Flickr, SNS (such as MySpace and Facebook) and other private sites.
The latest quotations may not be shown for a while. We update “my kwout” pages periodically, once a day or more often.
Give Kwout a try!
The Unquiet Librarian 