The PCHand Screen Capture Recorder Suite consists of the screenshot software PCHand Screen Capture and the screen recorder PCHand Screen Recorder.
Both are provided in a suite but can be installed and started separately. PCHand Screen Capture is a sophisticated screenshot taking software that uses profiles for different jobs.
The software displays a list of already configured profiles after startup ranging from taking a screenshot of windows, the full screen, a scrolling window, freehand or rectangle.
Each profile consists of an input method, output setting and effect. Input methods define how and where the screenshot is being taken, output methods where it will be send to our saved and effects can be used to add additional information to the screenshot automatically.
It is possible to add new profiles to the program or remove existing ones in case they are not needed. The different profiles can be activated directly from within the software program or by configuring hotkeys to use the computer keyboard to trigger them.
Most of the preconfigured profiles use the editor that is shipped with the screen capture software. This editor comes with basic image editing options that include adding text, forms or arrows to the screenshot.
Additional options are provided in the file menu on top. There the user can select filters and other image manipulation effects like rotating or resizing the image.
PCHand Screen Capture is a sophisticated screenshot taking software that’s easy to work with and expandable thanks to the profiles that can be edited or created.
PCHand Screen Recorder is the second program in the software suite. It can record video and audio of a select region of the computer desktop. The program did not work correctly on our Windows 7 Professional test system.
When it was set to manual saving it seemed to record just fine but there was not an option at the end to save the video. If it was set to automatically save it stopped responding and had to be closed.
We will therefor only evaluate the screenshot taking software and not the screen recorder below.
Installation
The PCHand Screen Capture Recorder Suite comes with two setup files that need to be executed separately giving users the chance to only install one of the programs if that is desired. The programs can be registered by clicking on activate.exe after the installation of one or both programs have been finished.
Positive
- Uses customizable profiles
- Hotkey support
- Supports scrolling windows and freehand
Negative
- Some spelling errors in the application
- Effects cannot be configured when creating new profiles
- No option to send to another image editor
PCHand Screen Capture Recorder Suite can be downloaded from the Giveaway of the Day website. The program can be freely registered today only and is available for $49.99 regularly on the developer’s website.
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FYI – they have taken down this software now, as one of the components was erroniously being flagged as a virus. The software is totally safe, but they they took the giveaway down just to be sure.
Plus, any software with spelling errors is a non-starter for me, I am too much of a grammer snob ;)
Glad that you take it more lightly when it comes to blogs ;)
lol, it’s the content that is king when it comes to a blog and, in my eyes, gHacks is the best tech blog out there – it blows Lifehacker out of the water now. I especially like Jack’s Linux contributions, give him a pat on the back from me – they are always very useful and informative.
I think if you added a few more “how-to” articles, telling people how to use software in creative and clever ways (like how to root an Android phone, flash custom firmware on a router, that kinda thing) this blog would fab.
Hi Martin,
thanks for your review.
Not working on Windows 7 pro ? Too bad for you since program installs, activates and works fine for me on Windows 7 Pro 64 bit. I have no problem with automatic save : any captured video (under the form Recorder-02-25_232717.avi, Recorder-02-25_232819.mp4, Recorder-02-25_234043.mpg, Recorder-02-25_234410.wmv…) is then played by VLC.
Video codec used (as reported by GSpot 270a) is CRAM in avi (even at 100% quality), MS Mpeg4 v3 in wmv (alias MP43) and Mpeg4 v1 (alias mp41 ISO 14496-1) in mp4 (audio for that format : MPEG-4 AAC LC).
Program also sees installed codecs but only for audio, you cannot use any of your installed video codecs (though it installed xvidcore.dll in its folder – reserved to PRO versions ?).
As for spelling errors, you can edit CaptureENG.xml and/or ENG.xml (thanks to Total Uninstall with which I monitor all softwares !)
Hope this helped !
i like to add that the software is somewhat buggy. Most of the time the image editor doesn’t load up, the taskbar icon freezes up, the scrolloing window suddenly stops, etc. =(
I sent an email to PCHand about Kaspersky reporting the Trojan issue. They kindly sent me a link to a new version with the issue corrected, and an activation code that’s valid for 24 hours (again).
If you have this problem, you might want to contact them and ask for the fix. Or you can pony up $20 for the retail version of the suite (available to Give Away of the Day users only), complete with 1 year of tech support and upgrades. If this program does everything it claims to, I’ll be sending them $20, no problem.
Or, you can read this: http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-screen-session-recorder.htm
And then read the discussion at the end and install http://www.bbsoftware.co.uk/BBFlashBack_FreePlayer.aspx?cc=true
It was really good, I was very impressed, worked well for me.
I have a technical problem with PcHand Screen Recorder. During playback there is no sound. I wrote to their helpdesk/support and their reply was,…”here is a tutorial and beyond that I don’t know”
I am not able to find a phone number to talk to someone.
Any suggestion what am I to do next?
Many thanks
Alex
This program has too much useless functions for me. Take SnapaShot: it’s free, it’s small, it’s easy!
http://nicekit.com/screen-capture/best-free-snapshot.htm