ScreenHunter is a Windows program from Wisdom Software for taking screenshots and recording the screen to video. It combines capture, recording with sound and webcam, and an annotation editor. ScreenHunter comes in a free edition and two paid editions, Plus and Pro, which differ mainly in recording length and memory use.
Choosing what to capture
Every capture starts from the Screen group on the Capture tab, where the user picks one of five modes.
- Rectangular area is dragged and fine-tuned with the mouse or arrow keys, with the help of a magnifier. It can be free-form, locked to an aspect ratio such as 4:3 or 16:9, set to an exact pixel size, or saved as a fixed area reused on every capture.
- Window captures a whole window or one object in it, such as a button or menu. A multiple option collects several items, like cascading menus, by clicking each one. ScreenHunter can also grab the active window on a hotkey. It can capture a specific window from a list even when that window is minimized or covered.
- Full screen captures one monitor or all of them.
- Shape takes freehand, circular, rounded-rectangle and polygon images.
- Auto scroll scrolls a long window or web page and joins the content into one image. The user can adjust scroll speed, and Esc stops scrolling while keeping the captured content.
Screen recording with sound and webcam
Record Now, or the recording hotkey, starts the same area selection used for screenshots. The button then turns into Stop. ScreenHunter saves video as MP4 or FLV, with quality and frame rate each set on a scale from 1 to 100. A length setting can end the recording automatically, and recording also stops if free disk space falls to about 100 MB.
Audio can come from speakers or other playback devices and from a microphone, with volume boost, stereo or mono, and four quality levels. The user can show a webcam on screen, capture it as a still or record it. Its settings control the camera and resolution.
In recordings, the pointer can get a colored highlight circle and a click marker shaped as a circle, square or focus mark. ScreenHunter also records the enlarged pointer sizes set in Windows. ScreenDraw freezes the screen so the user can draw on it before a capture or during a recording.
Captions, watermarks and downsizing
The Add group attaches elements to each capture as it is made. A caption places text, optionally with an automatic date and time, using its own font, colors, background transparency and position. A watermark overlays a chosen image, ideally a transparent PNG, at a set scale, transparency and position. Downsize shrinks each image by a selected scale.
Where captures go
One screenshot can go to several destinations at once. The user ticks one or more formats among JPG, PNG, PDF, GIF, TIF and BMP. They can also copy the image to the clipboard or open it in the editor. Other options print it with a chosen size, position and title, or attach it to a message in the default email program. The user can send the message directly or open it for review.
Automatic file names use parts the user selects and orders: a note, a sequence number, the date, the time, the computer name or the user name. ScreenHunter can create a new dated folder each day. When a name already exists, it can add a number, ask, or overwrite. Videos follow the same naming rules in their own folder.
Timed and scheduled captures
A delay of up to 100 seconds can precede any image or recording. Auto-capture takes images repeatedly at a set interval for a set period. Schedules run image or video captures once, daily, on chosen weekdays or monthly, starting at a given time or at program startup. Both work with a fixed area, the active or a specific window, or the full screen.
Hotkeys can use one key for everything or separate keys for different capture settings. This lets users switch capture types without returning to the main window. The user can save whole sets of settings as profiles. A desktop toolbar keeps the capture and record buttons within reach.
Image editor for annotation
The ScreenHunter Image Editor works on several images at once and combines bitmap editing with vector objects on separate layers. Object tools add arrows, lines, rectangles, circles, text, callouts, stars, symbols, freehand lines and pictures. Bitmap tools cover cropping, resizing, rotation, borders, blur and sharpen, brightness and contrast, RGB and hue, gamma correction, threshold, background and transparency removal, and blending two images. The user can save work in the program’s SHF format, which keeps transparency like PNG, or export it to the common image formats and PDF.
Free, Plus and Pro editions
| Free | Plus | Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Program build | 32-bit | 32-bit | 64-bit |
| Recording length | 1 minute | 10 minutes | No limit |
| Recording across multiple monitors | No | No | Yes |
All editions capture images on multiple monitors. The 64-bit ScreenHunter Pro raises the editor’s maximum image from 10,000 to 25,000 pixels per side. This suits full-desktop captures on 8K or multi-monitor setups. It can also take screenshots during a recording.
