Gearhead

Gear that helps 21st-century custom builders get ahead.

1 MIN READ

Alan Banks
Evans Coghill Homes, Charlotte, N.C.

Until recently, whenever custom builder Alan Banks needed to point out a feature in building plans or share comments and notes with a client or architect he had to print out or copy the plans, enlarge the area under discussion, write his notes on the page, and fax it over to the recipient. But with TechSmith’s SnagIt screen-capture software, he can simply select anything on his computer desktop—an image, text, video, Web page, or drop-down menu—and turn it into a file that can be e-mailed.

“We use it to send sections of plans from PDF files to highlight areas or share notes,” Banks says. “It’s taken screen captures to a whole new level. It’s a very clever little thing, especially when dealing with PDF plans.” Banks adds that he keeps finding new uses for the software. He recently used SnagIt to zero in on an area of a clients’ laundry room plan to show them exactly where the sink would be located.

SnagIt automatically adds a toolbar to Microsoft Office applications, Internet Explorer, and Adobe Framemaker, allowing easier access to its screen-capturing tools. Capture-editing tools allow the user to highlight important points of the image, note changes, apply artistic effects and borders, create quick graphics and designs, substitute and alter colors in the captured image, and give a group of captures the same look for uniformity. TechSmith. 888.750.0685. www.techsmith.com. Circle 415.

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