Screenshots is an important part of the daily work of many bloggers, web designers and other creative Internet workers. There are many online services that can help you with screenshot capturing – such as WebShotsPro, Thumbalizr and Bounce to mention a few. The problem is that they don’t always work, or it is queue, or it is God knows what. I think a browser based screenshot capturing solution is far more convenient and effective.

So, in this post Cashrevelations presents 4 useful screenshot capturing tools – effective Firefox and Google Chrome extensions that will make screenshot capturing a lot easier.

Firefox Webpage Screenshot Extensions

Screengrab – Firefox Extension
The Screengrab easy to use tool saves web pages as images either to a file, or to the clipboard – and it will capture what you can see in the window, the entire page, just a selection, a particular frame, and it can capture any Java or Flash embedded in a page.

LightShot Screenshot Tool – Firefox Extension
LightShot is a handy tool allowing you to easily make screenshots of any selected area in a browser tab. Just hit the Lightshot icon on the toolbar or status bar, then select area you want to make a screenshot from and click “Save”. You can also make some edits.

Google Chrome Webpage Screenshot Extensions

WebPage ScreenShot – Google Chrome Extension
With this tool you can take snapshots of any Internet site you are viewing. The snapshot can be saved to your computer and you can also make some basic editing like change the resolution, draw or cut. User friendly – one click to take the picture and then just save.

imgur – Google Chrome Extension
With this practical browser tool you can take a screenshot and upload it to imgur – it will save place on your computer and make your screenshot more accessible, and you can always download images from the imgur service when you need them in your work.

The browser extensions presented here in this article are not in any particular order – and Cashrevelations is not by any means whatsoever affiliated with any of the authors.

Opera released today (April 12, 2011) the Opera 11.10 web browser for Windows, Mac and Linux with a faster Turbo, an expanded Speed Dial and plug-in tweaks. The press release was made in a typical Opera effort to be humoristic, but left much to be desired.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Opera 11.10, aka Barracuda, has the new and more flexible Speed Dial in an effort to make favorite sites better looking. Speed Dial automatically uses website logos and lets Web developers make content tailored for speed dial – and in this version of the browser you can add as many sites to Speed Dial as you like.

[View with PicLens]

The new Opera browser use the dynamic rendering engine Presto 2.8.131, with support for WebP, CSS and gradient and other enhancements – and the well known Turbo feature loads faster than ever and has better image quality, according to Opera company.

Opera Software ASA

Opera Software is a Norwegian software company, primarily known for its family of web browsers. The company is also involved in promoting Web standards through participation in the W3C. It was founded as an independent company on August 30 in the year of 1995 by Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner and Geir Ivarsøy. A famous or well known Opera person is Håkon Wium Lie – often called the Father of CSS.

• Opera 11.10 Web Browser Features
• Download Opera 11.10 Web Browser

Lightworks beta by EditShare is a lightweight and free video editing software that offers the same features as softwares that costs a fortune – Lightworks can do everything a professional product can do. In fact, it IS a professional tool – and accordingly, this video editing tool has a features list that is far more impressive than other common editors.

Advanced trimming and media management, stereoscopic support and realtime effects including multiple secondary color correctors, audio correction and third-party support are some of the practical features that are standard on this video editing software.

• Lightworks Features – Full List

This video editor is presented by the developers as an Emmy and Academy award winning professional editor, with over 20 years of history in the film industry, and as an open source software – the source code is scheduled to be released in the Summer of 2011.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Lightworks is advanced and professional and it might appear as confusing if you are used to simple video editors – but the user interface is logical, very functional and quite easy to learn if you have dedication and some basic knowledge of the terms in video editing.

If you are an eager video amateur (or experienced professional) with video editing as a frequent favorite task – then this is a “must have” software for you. By the way, did I mention that Pulp Fiction and The Departed was cut with Lightworks?

The free Lightworks video editing software is currently available as a public beta – if you want to download this competent software, you need to register an account.

• Download Lightworks Public Beta Video Editing Software

Image: Lightworks Devs

For all those who think Photshop is a splendid and amazingly competent graphics editing software, but far too expensive for one’s tormented economy – there is GIMP. GIMP is a free graphics editor – primarily used as an image retouching and editing tool, but it is also an easy accessible path into the amazing and magic world of graphics.

The development of GIMP began in the mid of 1995 by Peter Mattis and Spencer Kimball at the University of California, and the first release of GIMP saw its light in January 1996.

But more important for us, it is free and it is competent – and you can with a bit practice and relevant guidance create stunning image effects, apart from usual tasks like resizing, editing and cropping photos, converting between different image formats and more.

Cashrevelations.com presents a short introduction into the free GIMP multi-platform photo manipulation tool – suitable for a wide range of image manipulation tasks, including photo retouching, image composition, and image construction.

The Downloads – The Official Channel

GIMP software can be downloaded for free (and without any type of irksome registration) from the official GIMP web site, and it is also available for most usual operating systems (including MS Windows, Apple’s Mac OS X and Linux) and in most major languages.

If you use Windows you are recommended to download an installer – there are installers by Jernej Simončič and you can download them from Installers for GIMP for Windows.

The GIMP Basics – How To Use GIMP

Before getting into advanced image effects, you need to learn the basics of GIMP. You can find a lot of GIMP tutorials of various quality on Internet. One such tutorial is Really basic photo editing with GIMP by Matt McIrvin, it has a few years on the neck but most of the information is still relevant – a similar resource is the Gimp User’s Manual which is orientated towards Linux users. And last but not least the basic tutorials on Gimp.org.

But the most outstanding resource to learn mastering GIMP is of course the Official GIMP User Manual, and there is a great possibility that it also exists in your own language. A great complementary resource is Gimper.net – it is a GIMP community with almost seven thousand members, and they have a nice support section where you can get help and ask about almost everything related to GIMP.

YouTube offers an incredibly wide range of GIMP video tutorials in many languages, both for advanced users and beginners. Personally I think it feels like a bit easier to study a video tutorial than to read a tutorial and many with me prefer video tutorials. The optimal GIMP tutorial has both text, images and a pedagogical high resolution video.

There are two channels on YouTube we would like to recommend if you are interested of how to use GIMP. GIMPtricks have the aim to cover most of the GIMP basics while also making some hopefully cool tutorials for more advanced users, and GimpKnowHow with some interesting GIMP tutorials. These channels are inspiring and good examples on what type of helpful GIMP tutorials you can expect to find on YouTube.

GIMP Resources – Brushes, Extensions & More

The greatest resources you can have when using GIMP (or any image editing software) are your imagination and entire devotion, but apart from that, some additional resources like brushes and extensions can make your digital art creation so much easier.

The GIMP Plugin Registry is a repository of entirely optional extensions for the GIMP photo manipulation software. This registry allows you to browse through the available content and download practical source codes. Some examples of extensions you can find there are Shadow Recovery, Shadow Glow and EZ Perspective. See more popular plugins.

deviantART is the largest online social network for artists and art enthusiasts. They have a lot of free GIMP resources created by highly motivated and skillful community members.

One site worth visiting is Gimpology with a large collection of GIMP resources and tutorials – and above that, many web development and design sites (for example Creative Nerds or HullDO) have excellent articles with GIMP related resources. There is really not a problem to find resources to the GIMP, and most of the resources have the good characteristic to be entirely free of charge, or in some cases, very cheap.

Summary – Why You Should Use GIMP

Photshop is a wonderful software. But if you don’t have the money to pay the price and still have vivid dreams to be able to work with graphics or even digital art, then GIMP is a free, potent and highly motivated community supported alternative for you.

With a bit practice you can create amazing image effects, apart from usual tasks like resizing, editing and cropping photos and much more only limited by your own fantasy.

And there is a lot of tutorials, brushes and other resources you can download for free and even without registration – and almost most important of all, you will never be alone with your creative ideas. There is always a community behind you to support you through all stages of your creative development. Those are a few good reasons to use GIMP.

RockMelt is a new social media web browser developed by Tim Howes and Eric Vishria – backed by Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen. It is based on Chromium – the open source web browser project behind the successful Google’s Chrome browser. This is a browser made for people who frequently use social sites like Twitter and Facebook.

With a start on last Sunday (November 7), RockMelt Inc is offering access to an early Beta version of RockMelt social media browser. Access to the software is by invitation and for the moment you need a Facebook account to sign up.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The American blogger Robert Scoble on Scobleizer made an interview last Friday with the founders of RockMelt, Eric Vishria and Tim Howes. You can see the video interview above.

• Visit & Download RockMelt

I am amazed how it is still possible to meet people that think virus protection is not necessary. There is no way to point out much enough the huge importance of using some kind of anti-virus software. It will save you a lot of time and trouble.

More above that, it also gives you some basic protection against very serious personal consequences. Identity theft, phishing and other types of cybercrime are a growing problem on Internet and Internet security softwares help you to not get victimized.

We here on Cashrevelations.com have made a short list of anti-virus softwares which you can try for free. Together this anti-virus software trials represent a half year of free quality protection. Take advantage of these offers if you don’t have any protection.

Free Anti-Virus Software Trials

Kaspersky Internet Security 2010
Kaspersky Lab is a computer security company offering anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam, and anti-intrusion products. We use Kaspersky Internet Security for our computers and it works well for us. It does its work in the background in a discrete and non-intrusive way and does not disturb you with a lot of unnecessary messages. Kaspersky offers a free 30 day trial period.

Norton Internet Security 2010
Norton Anti-Virus, developed and distributed by Symantec Corporation, provides malware prevention and removal during a subscription period. It uses signatures and heuristics to identify viruses. Other features include e-mail spam filtering and phishing protection. Symantec offers a free 30 day trial period.

Panda Global Protection 2010
Panda Security SL is a computer security company founded in 1990. Initially centered on the production of anti-virus software, the company has expanded its line of applications to include firewall applications, spam and spyware detection applications, cybercrime prevention technology, and other system security tools for businesses and home users. Panda offers a free 30 day trial period.

Note: The expression Malware is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code.

Norman Security Suite
Norman ASA founded in 1984, is active within the field of data security, with products for anti-virus (virus control), personal firewall, anti-spam, encryption, anti-spyware, and parental control. Norman’s head office is based in Norway, but the company has several offices in other countries. Norman offers a free 30 day trial period.

McAfee Total Protection
McAfee Inc is an anti-virus software and computer security company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It markets McAfee VirusScan and related security products and services, including the IntruShield, Entercept, and Foundstone brands. McAfee offers a free 30 day trial period.

F-Secure Internet Security 2010
F-Secure plc is an anti-virus and computer security software company based in Helsinki, Finland. The company has large branch offices in the USA and Japan, where some anti-virus analysis and software development work are also being undertaken. F-Secure offers a free 30 day trial period.

There are more security softwares on Internet that you can try free, but be careful – some of them are well disguised malicious softwares (Malware). Download only software from companies you know well (or recommended by someone you trust) and with a good Internet reputation.

And let us remind you again: use an Internet security software to your computer.
It might ending up saving your social life and economical future.

Below you can see screenshots from the new Opera Unite.

Opera Unite Screenshots

[View with PicLens]

Opera Software

Wikipedia; Opera Software is a Norwegian corporation, primarily known for its Opera family of web browsers. Opera Software is also involved in promoting Web standards through participation in the W3C. The company has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway, and is listed on Oslo Stock Exchange. The company also has offices in Sweden, China, India, Japan, Korea, Poland, Czech Republic and the USA.

Related: Opera Unite Reinvents The Web

Opera.com, Oslo in Norway, June 16 2009. [Press Release] Opera today unveiled Opera Unite, a new technology that shakes up the old client-server computing model of the Web. Opera Unite turns any computer into both a client and a server, allowing it to interact with and serve content to other computers directly across the Web, without the need for third-party servers.

Opera Unite makes serving data as simple and easy as browsing the Web. For consumers, Opera Unite services give greater control of private data and make it easy to share data with any device equipped with a modern Web browser.

• Opera Unite Screenshots…

For Web developers, Opera Unite services are based on the same open Web standards as Web sites today. This dramatically simplifies the complexity of authoring cutting-edge Web services. With Opera Unite, creating a full Web service is now as easy as coding a Web page.

Opera Unite is available in a special version of the Opera 10 desktop browser from Opera Labs. Opera Unite services run directly in the browser.

“Today, we are opening the full potential of the Web for everyone,” said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera. “Technology moves in distinct cycles. PCs decentralized computing away from large mainframes. Opera Unite now decentralizes and democratizes the cloud.”

• Download Opera Unite…
• Read the full Press Release…

Kaspersky Lab have regional offices in Germany, France, the Netherlands, the UK, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Japan, China, Korea and the USA.

In 2005, Red Herring magazine listed Kaspersky among “Red Herring 100 Europe”, a selection of the 100 private companies in Europe and Israel that play a leading role in innovation and technology.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus engine also powers products or solutions by other security vendors, such as Check Point, Bluecoat, Juniper Networks, Sybari (now acquired by Microsoft), Netintelligence, GFI Software, F-Secure, Borderware, FrontBridge, G-Data, Netasq, and others. Altogether, more than 120 companies are licensing technology from Kaspersky, which makes it one of the most widely used antivirus engines in the industry.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Kaspersky products are widely used in Eastern Europe and Asia, but have not been strongly marketed in North America and Western Europe. However, US-based magazine PC World recently awarded Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6 the Editor’s Choice in its 2007 anti-virus comparative (partnered with AV-Test.org), a move which will likely result in more widespread use in the Western Hemisphere.

Kaspersky´s latest products for home users offer the latest reactive and proactive protections against viruses, and protects against threats from email and Internet traffic. Kaspersky also offer a wide range of solutions for corporate clients.
[Sources: Wikipedia.org, Kaspersky.com]

Related:

• Kaspersky Lab – From Wikipedia
• Kaspersky Free Antivirus Trial Versions
• Eugene Kaspersky And Natalia Kasperskaya On Spock
• Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 Prevention Review
• Kelly Jackson Higgins Speaks With Eugene Kaspersky
• Kaspersky – The Tsar Of Russian IT Business

Firefox includes tabbed browsing, a spell checker, incremental find, live bookmarking, a download manager, and an integrated search system that uses the user’s desired search engine. Functions can be added through add-ons created by third-party developers, the most popular of which include the NoScript JavaScript disabling utility, Tab Mix Plus customizer, Adblock Plus ad blocking utility, Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer (bookmark synchronizer), DownThemAll! download enhancer, and Web Developer toolbar.

Firefox uses a sandbox security model, and limits scripts from accessing data from other web sites based on the same origin policy. It uses SSL/TLS to protect communications with web servers using strong cryptography when using the https protocol. It also provides support for web applications to use smartcards for authentication purposes.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Mozilla Foundation offers a “bug bounty” to researchers who discover severe security holes in Firefox. Official guidelines for handling security vulnerabilities discourage early disclosure of vulnerabilities so as not to give potential attackers an advantage in creating exploits.

The reality on Internet is that there are people out there who want to steal your personal information. That’s why Firefox constantly refining the browser with security updates every 6-8 weeks to stay one step ahead.

Firefox security features include anti-phishing and anti-malware protection, one click site ID, protection from spyware, automatic security updates and more.

Because Firefox has fewer and less severe publicly known security vulnerabilities than Internet Explorer, improved security is often cited as a reason to switch from Internet Explorer to Firefox. [Sources: Wikipedia.org, Mozilla.com, YouTube.com]

Visit Firefox…