Documenting applications - automation / semi-automation for screenshots?

Question

For me one of the biggest bores of being a developer is writing user documentation. (I am referring to the stuff that gets exported into PDF files files that ship with the product, not comments in code here).

The task off adding or updating new bits of text to the existing documentation is OK. However having to take screenshots of select screens can be quite a tedious process.

Is there a way to automate or even semi-automate the process of taking screenshots? The main requirement is the ability to crop images such that they contain only the window, including window manager areas (such as the title bar). The secondary requirement is that any format is OK, so long as it can be exported to PDF.

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EDIT: Just to clarify - I am after a tool that can automate (or at least semi-automate) the task of taking screenshots of an application - not an unautomated, take each screenshot individually, type of tool - no matter how much advanced functionality the tool may have.

Thanks.

Answer 1

I like this one

http://www.faststone.org/FSCaptureDetail.htm

most convenient screenshot capture/edit combo which I have ever used

we used it on a massive integration test with stacks of testers and it made life so much easier for them and meant that they were giving us good quality, standardised output also.

Answer 2

You don't specify the OS, but if you are referring to Windows I'd like to recommend TNT screen capture.

If you use their Help and Manual package you'll get a built in, cut down version of TNT, but I'd recommend purchasing TNT even if you already have Help and Manual.

TNT is cheap, creates drop shadows, will capture just the window you want (you get to choose), or just the area you want (you specify the corners) or a fixed area (you choose the size) and can scale the captured image.

I've been using TNT (and Help and Manual) for years. Works really well.