Screenshots are an important way to quickly share what’s on your screen and communicate information to coworkers and customers. However, sometimes you need to annotate screenshots before sharing them. For example, you may need to add text to explain your screenshot or blur out sensitive information. In these circumstances, it is important to have access to a screenshot editor app.
Fortunately, many screenshot tools come with markup tools built-in. Others include integrations with professional-level image editors. Let’s go over how you can edit a screenshot with a variety of different screenshot editor apps.
Here’s How You Edit a Screenshot:
Most screenshot apps include basic annotation tools that let you make simple edits. For example, native snipping tools on both Windows and Mac include basic tools like a highlighter, pen, and cropping tool. After you take a screenshot on either system, you will be taken to an editing screen with the provided tools. You can also edit screenshots on Mac and Windows later by opening them in-app. Then, you can save your edited screenshot to your local drive.
Free downloadable screenshot apps tend to include similar tools, with a few extras. Greenshot and Nimbus provide the best features among free apps. Greenshot includes arrows, text, drawing, paint, shapes, blurring, and cropping. Text and blurring are very important tools for employees who use screenshots to share important or sensitive information. Nimbus likewise includes the ability to add text to screenshots along with arrows, blurring, and cropping, in addition to a highlighter and stickers. Greenshot is available for free download on Windows (or for $1.99 on the Mac app store), while Nimbus is available as a browser extension on Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.
The screenshot app with the very best built-in markup options is a Windows-exclusive tool–PicPick. PicPick is much more than just an app to write on screenshots. It includes image effects (drop shadows, frames, watermarks, mosaic, motion blur, and brightness control), graphic accessories (color picker, color palette, pixel ruler, protractor, crosshair, magnifier, and whiteboard), and annotation tools (text, arrows, and shapes). A single license costs $29.99 for two devices. Team licenses begin at $29.99 per user, but decrease in price per user as the number of users goes up. Finally, you can get a site license that lets you install PicPick on unlimited machines at the same site for $1,950. All licenses come with unlimited free upgrades to new versions of PicPick.
Integrate Your Screenshot App with an Image Editor
If you need more access to professional photo effects and vector graphics for editing your screenshots, you need a screenshot tool that integrates with an enterprise-level image editor. The best screenshot app that integrates with several high-level editing tools is Droplr.
Droplr is a cloud-based screenshot tool, which means that it automatically saves all of your screenshots to the cloud. Sharing these screenshots is as easy as copying and pasting a short link that Droplr generates for your file. Droplr also includes basic editing tools such as a color picker, highlighter, pen, text, arrows, shapes, blurring, and emojis. However, what truly makes Droplr’s image editing special is its integrations with Photoshop, Illustrator, and Sketch. These integrations let users import screenshots into apps with advanced photo editing tools and vector graphics, thus letting you use screenshots to make professional logos, posters, and designs. You can also import your Photoshop, Illustrator, and Sketch images into Droplr for easy cloud sharing of your latest designs.
Droplr’s pricing starts at $6/month/user. Integrations and markup tools come with each plan, but team and enterprise plans are necessary for features such as custom branding, SSO, and auto redaction of sensitive information.
The Best Screenshot Editor Apps
The ability to edit a screenshot is very important for various professionals who use screenshots to communicate with clients and collaborate with coworkers. Most computers come with basic markup tools on their native screenshot apps. However, if you need access to higher-level markup tools, then you need to either download a better screenshot tool or purchase one that includes integrations with advanced image editing tools. We recommend PicPick and Droplr as the best options for businesses who frequently edit screenshots, though Greenshot and Nimbus are solid free options.
Need to go back to the basics? If you would like more information on how to take a screenshot on any platform, then be sure to check out our article 4 Simple Ways to Take a Screenshot.