Picd is a basic screenshot tool with annotation options

Ashwin
Jan 31, 2021
Updated • Feb 2, 2021
Windows, Windows software
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4

Screenshots are an excellent way to save important data or content without too much effort. I tend to use screenshots extensively for work, and also for personal reference. But the thing is, everyone has different needs and Snipping tool isn't going to cut it for many users.

And the ones which have a lot of options tend to deviate away from being user-friendly. Picd is a basic screenshot tool that has some annotation options.

The program appears on the system tray and runs in the background. To use it, hit the Print Screen key. A message will say that you can click and drag, to select an area of the screen that you want to capture.

Hit Escape to cancel the action. Picd doesn't save the screenshot instantly when you select a region, so you can drag the edges of the box to move the selection area, which is useful.

The program displays two toolbars, the vertical bar has four options. The X button cancels the screenshot, the cloud button uploads the screenshot to the program's website (more on this at the end of the article), the boxes icon restarts the screen capture, while the downwards arrow button saves the screenshot on your PC.

Picd's other toolbar contains various tools that you can use to annotate your screen captures. The first icon selects the rectangle tool, which is handy for drawing boxes to mark something in the picture. The second rectangle button does a similar job, but fills the box in red. The next two tools allow you to draw a circle and filled circle respectively.

Next comes the highlighter tool, or the marker pen if you will, and this is useful for highlighting text. The 5th tool in the application lets you blur content. The last three tools are for drawing freehand, lines and arrows. Right-clicking while Picd is active takes you to the toolbar-view, which you can use when you want to restart the capture without hitting Escape and Print Screen again.

Warning: Picd has an option that uploads your screenshot to its cloud service. The only way to delete an image is by contacting Picd's customer support via email. So, for the sake of convenience and more importantly, your privacy, I do not recommend uploading images to the service.

To disable the upload behavior, right-click on the Picd tray icon and uncheck the option that says "automatically upload to picd.in using command line". There is another way to upload images, and that happens when you click on the "Cloud button".

Picd has 2 more options, one which opens the link to the uploaded image in your default browser, while the other one copies the link to your clipboard. I had all three options enabled, and only used the manual upload a few times, and those were the only times I had the link open up in Firefox and also saved to my clipboard. I also monitored the program in Glasswire and found no evidence that the program uploads the images automatically, so I'm a little confused as to why the option has the words "automatically upload".

On the other hand, if the screenshot that you're saving doesn't contain any personal information, and you're okay with not being able to delete it, you may find the sharing option useful.

Picd is an open source application, it is available for Windows and Linux. It is not a portable software. The main drawback in my opinion, is that Picd saves screenshots in a single format: PNG.  If I were to nitpick, I'd say the lack of options to capture a screenshot instantly, or to save a window or the full screen, are a bit disappointing. The service needs a proper image deletion option in place, which without a user account system would be impossible. You can't change the color of the annotations. I also think that the tray icon looks terrible with the Light theme in Windows.

Overall, Picd is a decent screenshot program, and it does offer a couple of nice features, but at the end of the day, it ends up as being too basic. If you want a proper alternative for Snipping tool, ShareX is the best screenshot program that I've used, and it does support cloud sharing (via Imgur, Google Drive, Flickr and tons of other services), though this is optional.

If you're looking for another option to share screenshots, I'd also suggest taking a look at ScreenCloud, which is also open source and simpler than ShareX, but also allows you to save your screenshots to your Dropbox, Google Drive accounts. You may also want to share out PicPick, which is Martin's favorite.

Picd

For Windows

Summary
Author Rating
1star1star1stargraygray
3.5 based on 3 votes
Software Name
Picd
Operating System
Windows
Software Category
Multimedia
Price
Free
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Comments

  1. Anonymous said on March 9, 2023 at 1:52 pm
    Reply

    Does it come back after every “moment” update?

  2. Baloney said on March 9, 2023 at 2:23 pm
    Reply

    Yeah right.. Like this is going to stop defender from running =) This is comedy gold right here.

  3. Anonymous said on March 9, 2023 at 3:25 pm
    Reply

    no ‘about the author’ paragraph?

  4. Gregory said on March 9, 2023 at 4:19 pm
    Reply

    For permanent disable defender is if removed complete from system no just change permission folder.

    Just this is joke.

  5. moi said on March 9, 2023 at 5:57 pm
    Reply

    simpler, load Autoruns (SysInternals)
    – filter “Defender”
    – untag all entries
    – reboot
    nothing has changed since my 1st modification years ago

  6. John G. said on March 9, 2023 at 6:32 pm
    Reply

    I wouldn’t disable Defender imho, it has too many hidden roots inside Windows itself. One time I tried to uninstall it using brute force scripts and then the Onedrive feature stopped working definitely. A reinstallation was needed and since those times I prefer to maintain Defender untouched. It’s a better method to install another antivirus and it will disable Defender in a safer and easier mode (e.g., Avast is the best in this way, and also Panda Cloud Free is good too).

    1. Tweakmaster said on September 29, 2023 at 9:57 am
      Reply

      U are just * [Editor: removed] thats the problem ;p first of all u shall always debloat windows u shall have max 65 services with your drivers for pc and windows own servs. You didnt know what that script did

  7. boris said on March 10, 2023 at 12:19 am
    Reply

    You can not stop defender from running in background or remove it without some penalty. All you can do is to limit telemetry.

    1. TelV said on March 10, 2023 at 4:52 pm
      Reply

      @borts,

      It’s probably Smartscreen which is preventing WD from being disabled. Get rid of that and the problem should be solved: https://thegeekpage.com/disable-windows-defender-smartscreen/#How_to_disable_the_Windows_Defender_SmartScreen_via_Local_Group_Policy_Editor

  8. hoho said on March 10, 2023 at 1:47 pm
    Reply

    Remove Windows and go for Linux.

    1. basingstoke said on March 10, 2023 at 2:51 pm
      Reply

      Linux sucks dude. Besides it’s not comparable to Windows, these OSes are in different classes entirely.

      1. Derp said on March 10, 2023 at 4:36 pm
        Reply

        I use Linux as my daily driver. It’s far more stable than Windows. When’s the last time you used Linux, 2010?

      2. Bromosexual said on March 11, 2023 at 2:04 am
        Reply

        @basingstoke

        You’re right, dude. Bro, linux is just a bunch of code that starts before the OS, dude. Brobrodude, that shit ain’t even got emojis, dudebrodudeman! Dudebro, it’s no way near as cool as Windows with its hardcoded abilities to make money off the user, bro. Yo brodude man, you’re the coolest dude ever man, bro. Dude.

      3. basingstoke said on August 16, 2023 at 7:20 pm
        Reply

        Lol what? Windows 7 doesn’t come with any Emojis

  9. TelV said on March 10, 2023 at 4:46 pm
    Reply

    Download Autoruns and remove the checkmark from Windows Defender. It doesn’t remove it, but it will never run. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns

  10. Simon said on March 10, 2023 at 8:37 pm
    Reply

    Just use “Defender Control”:
    https://www.sordum.org/9480/defender-control-v2-1/comment-page-1/#comments

    Per this video,
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLIjr7FyxZ8
    it also works on Windows 11 too…

  11. Someone said on March 10, 2023 at 9:26 pm
    Reply

    Win Defender, is completly the most succesful free-built in antivirus of Microsoft. Really nice product. Saved my ass a lot of times. Has updated malware database, completly strong defence
    from whatever smart screen disables. Or if you want better and more upgrated (paid) program,
    you can go further. But defender is always on your side.

  12. CalixtoWVR1 said on March 10, 2023 at 10:03 pm
    Reply

    Why would one disable Windows (or Microsoft) Defender in the first place?. I consider this to be playing with fire big time. Everybody knows that if one is using another A-V, Defender will be disabled on its own and won’t be in one’s way.

  13. Ed D said on March 10, 2023 at 11:09 pm
    Reply

    Why would I want to disable Windows Defender in the first place? It’s a great anti virus in my opinion. Been using it since Windows 8 and and never had a problem or a virus. Why mess with a good thing, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

  14. owl said on August 17, 2023 at 1:57 am
    Reply

    How a ridiculous article!
    I am thoroughly stunned.

    Why Should You Disable First-Party Windows Defender?
    I can only think that it is “malice or perversely intention (want you to buy a third-party AV where you can expect a back margin)” to guide invalidation without showing the premise.
    No sane company will use third-party closed source programs (such as AV).

    As I thought, “Ghacks Technology News” seems to be coming to downfall.

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