Jing Retirement and TechSmith Capture FAQ
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Jing Retirement and TechSmith Capture FAQs
With last year’s announcement that Jing would be retiring and a new solution provided, we wanted to provide answers to some of the questions we have heard. We will continue to add to this page as additional questions come up. We appreciate your continued support and we are excited to continue to offer you the best screen capture and recording tool we can.
Why is Jing being replaced?
Jing is being retired due to Adobe’s plans to retire Flash at the end of this year (2020). This means that the current video format .swf will no longer be supported by web browsers.
We also want to modernize the behind the scenes code base that Jing is built on. Since Jing has been around for more than a decade, it made more sense for TechSmith to build a new replacement for Jing rather than try to update an old, outdated product. This will allow us to meet modern security needs and file types. That replacement tool is TechSmith Capture, which can be downloaded here: TechSmith Capture
What is replacing Jing?
TechSmith Capture is our new replacement for Jing. Capture has been built from scratch to meet modern security needs and file types. You can read more and download TechSmith Capture here
Why can’t I keep using Jing?
Due to the aging code base of Jing, keeping the API involved with Jing could have created security issues which is not an option, as security for our users is a top priority. Instead, we focused on building the new replacement tool TechSmith Capture to address any potential security issues in the new tool’s API code.
What can’t I do in TechSmith Capture that I could do in Jing?
We are releasing TechSmith Capture in phases, and this first release has some differences compared to Jing, which has many more years of development behind it. Here are the main differences in work flows for this first version of Capture:
- Capture does not have a history, so you will need to share each capture before taking another
- For new users, Capture might upload your content to a default folder in Screencast,, which is public. Jing previously saved to a folder that was hidden. Here’s where you can find your Jing Captures. We plan to provide a feature to address this in future releases.
- MP4 files can not be saved locally.
- The Jing API will no longer work. If you are getting error messages, please read this
Jing’s workflow was easier. Will you make Capture’s workflow easier too?
Yes. Jing is over 10 years old, where TechSmith Capture is brand new. We released this basic, first version to get a basic replacement out before Flash is retired.
We are continuously working on next phases of Capture to roll out as we complete them, so watch for product version updates.
I had Jing deployed across my organization or team from an MSI file, but Capture doesn’t have one. Will one be available in the near future?
At this time, we do not have a TechSmith Capture deployment tool in our plans for the free version of this solution. Instead, our development is focused towards enterprise deployment tools for Snagit and TechSmith Knowmia for Enterprise. This will allow us to build a better deployment experience for the solutions that offer a richer set of features for enterprise customers.
If you are interested in an enterprise-wide solution, we would highly recommend considering a Snagit site license to deploy across teams or organizations. Snagit has a more robust feature set and streamlined workflow for larger deployments and various departmental use cases across an organization. To learn more about Snagit site licenses, please see this licensing page for licensing options
We also have TechSmith Knowmia for Enterprise, which is our enterprise-wide video learning platform. Knowmia is largely cloud based, and therefore easier for enterprise-wide deployments. You can learn more about Knowmia for Enterprise here
Where is the Jing Sun and can I get it back with TechSmith Capture?
The Jing sun is also retiring- for now. We are working on a feature to make it easy to always find and launch TechSmith Capture. Stay tuned for future updates. To keep TechSmith Capture easy to find, we suggest pinning it to your taskbar if you are on a Windows machine.
Feel free to reach out to us at this link if you have any questions regarding Jing or at this link for questions regarding TechSmith Capture.
-Team TechSmith
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Official comment
An Update from the Capture Team...
What have we been doing?
It looks like our Version History article for Capture has not been updated lately. (Note to self: fix that) Therefore some reasonably ask: What have we been working on lately...?
The biggest recent change in Capture is the addition of Picture-In-Picture while recording video. This help article about recording mentions PiP. Basically, instead of a full screen web cam you can include a "PiP" in the corner of videos you record. You can choose which corner its displayed in. You can resize it. It was a lot of work... and our customers who record a lot of videos seem quite happy with it. (and they pay the bills, so...)
What's in Progress, Right now?
Technical Debt. If you know what that is, you understand why it must be kept to a minimum. Without going into detail, we're specifically focusing on reducing/eliminating impediments that keep the team from iterating as fast as we'd like. Further, it's not secret the Mac part of our team is working to support macOS 11.
What's on deck?
Normally, we won't tell you what's up next nor provide road maps/timelines because, well... things change. We're making an exception here. Early in the new year, we plan to begin development of what many refer to as "history". It is an "expected" feature which benefits those who capture images as well as those who capture video.
Early design work is underway. As we approach "history" please keep these things in mind:
- It will not be the same as what Jing had
- It may roll out a little at a time (expect minimalism at first)
- We will listen to feedback
- Based on feedback, we'll do more, or not...
Thanks for reading. We hope you appreciate the transparency. We are listening.
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The restriction that a preview must be saved or pasted prior to another being taken makes Capture unusable for me.
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- SnagIt has too much "stuff" to do a basic quick capture.
- Capture has no "sun" or similar to make quick mouse captures
- Can't capture and view multiple temporary grabs at once and move around screen
Geesh. Developers these days... Do you actually ask the users what they like and want? Seriously. Do you actually ask the users what they like and want? I see it everyday with every company with a new release. Your product is now useless to many, just like everyone else's. Sooo disappointing. I would have actually PAID to keep these features. Now, you've lost customers. Your product is now no better than the free open-source versions out there.
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was using jing for almost 10 years, jing was very simple and to the point, just press a shortcut > capture area > upload automatically with out doing dozens of clilcks > link automatically gets in clip board with out doing dozens of clicks.
Now the process have become more complex and difficult to use. Need to see some other simple alternatives. previously i had to just press one key and one click and I keep my focus on actual work. Now i have to pass through tons of screens and tons of clicks to do a simple screenshot uploaded.8 -
JIng was much much better than the new upgrade. so simple to use. captured screenshot was stored in history clicks so useful to go back to view earlier clicked screenshot.
in Jing, we were able to take multiple screenshots at a time. but this capture allows only 1 unless the earlier taken screenshot is closed
what was the need to upgrade to capture tool? Jing was really so useful and easy to use. TechSmith has totally goofed up the tool not sure whose idea was it to upgrade. sometimes old is gold. please restore back JING
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JING was much better than the new upgrade.
Capture:- too few colors- Text only in the middle- Text field without frame and color selection- No quick start at the edge of the screen8 -
Have not yet been able to get Jing's replacement to work. This is really hampering my ability to work efficiently.
Used Jing for many years, was super simple and did the job.
As far as i can tell, it was replaced with ... nothing.
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I am so sad for this Change which no longer is user friendly If anyone finds alternative please advise. Looking for Jing replacement.
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why change from the UI when only switching from SWF to MP4?! this "upgrade" ui sucks!
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Tweeted @techsmith @snagit regarding this post. Maybe they will care.
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This is the an awful upgrade. I am searching for alternatives and found that there is actually a site that offers Jing alternatives which are similar to the old Jing tool. I used this daily and would pay to have the old version back. Everything I used it for now takes longer and I MISS THE SUN on the top of the screen. I am so disappointed.
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I'm a Software Tester. JING was by far the most efficient screenshot tool for taking hundreds of screenshots a day (<500). Just 3-4 clicks per screenshot (with an arrow to show user actions). Most other tools are either slow to open/close the editor or require more clicks per screenshot to do the same thing.
Key Features that Capture Needs:
- Local Image History
- Capture and view multiple temporary grabs at once and move around screen (Thanks BDugan)
- Add a preference in settings: "Close Editor after Copy".
I have Snagit Pro. This is excellent at capturing parameterisation with Panoramic screenshots and capturing detailed information.
Edit: Spent some time editing/customising SnagIt Pro. I now use this for the bulk of my screenshots, plus the detailed organisation of the Image Library is a bonus.4 -
Hello everyone,
I wanted to thank you for your feedback both in this thread and multiple others in these user forums. We do see it, and we are listening.
I know some of these choices seem strange- as renderman21 put it, why change the UI? But that's because this is a completely different application that began in our Knowmia service, and has none of the (extremely old) Jing code in it. It is by no means a simple matter to just plop in Jing code in another app. I assure you that it would be more work than what we are doing which is:
We are continuing to iterate on and improve TechSmith Capture. It has extremely advanced video recording capabilities, and has grown to include basic screen capture and annotations, like Jing.
Having access to your recent captures is near the top of our todo list. It is also the main reason there are so many prompts- we didn't want anyone to lose their work. Once there is a way to get back to your capture, we will not need the confirmation prompts about closing, or going back to your capture after a Copy.
We really are doing our best to provide you all with a great, free tool to replace Jing, which had stopped working well on modern OS's, used a video format that Adobe retired, and no longer lived up to modern security standards.
That said, if you really take screenshots often, and it's a core part of your workday, then a free tool like Capture may not be for you. Snagit is born and bred to do this well. It's far more powerful, yet quick to use. I think that the Snagit team would be interested in your feedback, Radams91, and also we may have some good suggestions for how you can get Snagit to work the way you want (like by turning on OneClick).
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i paid for snagit. it is hot garbage. Jing was great.
snagit has made me never want to buy another techsmith item. Snagit is everything i don't want. i used Jing nearly everyday. what a waste of money. Techsmith should be embarrassed at this horrible item.
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Hi there
Just as a SnagIt fan, I'm sad to see you dislike it.
I'd strongly encourage you to take some time and articulate exactly what it is you dislike about the way SnagIt works. I'm sure that would be vastly more helpful to the development team than simply hearing it's "hot garbage". Of course, personally I disagree with that assessment. I use it perhaps 100 times each day and it does what I need quite nicely. But I am not you so I'm sure for your own workflow it may not seem to fit.
But only by advising what you perceive is wrong will the development team have a clue as to what could be made better.
Cheers... Rick :)
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I appreciate the lightweight simple design Jing has afforded for so many years.
A great recipe doesn't require altering.
I have a functional version of Jing running on my Windows 10 computer today. No hacks or hocus pocus required.
I prevent Jing from connecting to the internet through my firewall. McAfee internet security that is.
Thats all thats required to continue using it. I learned this trick in the previous forum. :)
If you want to upload images to Screencast. Uploading manually should work.
For anyone that may be skeptical. My desktop. Note the date and time in the taskbar.
Enjoy the day. I'm entering a long leave of absence from work. I'm enjoying the day very much.
Ginger
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@GingerBread Thank you for the idea. I tried registry fixes, hosts list edits, etc. I will try reinstalling and blocking via firewall.
@Magus75 If you read through this thread, you will see several of us have explained EXACTLY what we miss from Jing. I appreciate you defending a product you use and works well for you. We shouldn't "bash" SnagIt. It is a good tool for many people. However, this thread is meant to express to TechSmith our displeasure with them doing away with what was a "perfect" tool for many of us----one we would have gladly PAID for. It is obvious from your comment you don't use SnagIt the way we used Jing---it is impossible. OneClick is a weak attempt to replicate Jing.
I emailed several TechSmith executives and their response (I believe) was through/from Paul Middlin above. Unless they decide to rename and re-release Jing as a trial-to-purchase revenue producing product, I afraid it's back to looking for another option and firewall blocking.
- Brent
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Hi Brent
Indeed I'm aware that many have expressed exactly what they dislike about the replacement as well as what they liked about Jing. Kudos to those folks. That's a helpful thing to do.
My comments weren't generically aimed at the thread in general, but were specifically targeted toward the user venomousduck. It's something to ponder when reporting issues in nearly any forum about any product.
While it may help the frustrated user to vent their frustrations, it doesn't help anyone responsible for the maintenance of any product in the least. Other than to know that someone, somewhere, isn't happy about it.
But that's the nature of life. You could produce the most amazing product ever seen, but someone, somewhere, will have issues with it and dislike it.
I've used both Jing as well as SnagIt for years. And because I'm accustomed to the way SnagIt works, Jing always made me feel "boxed in" or "hamstrung" with wanting to do this or that and being unable to because it was so easy to do in SnagIt, I am fully aware that many folks loved Jing. And I watch the outcry because it's gone. I feel badly for those folks. But I also realize that times change and things "progress" and that often means leaving things that seemed extremely useful behind.
A personal case in point is Windows paintbrush. I loved that little app. But it disappeared and doesn't seem to be returning. Another case in point is the Windows Snipping Tool. I use it instead of SnagIt. Mostly to capture pesky SnagIt dialogs that can't be captured by SnagIt itself. And every time I open it up, I'm seeing a warning that it's going away and will be replaced by something else.
Cheers... Rick :)
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What else is there to add than what everyone has already said about the Jing replacement Capture other than it is pure crap. Once again the replacement of an excellent model with something that is useless and monumentally less user friendly. Begs the question... was this made in China. Btw is it even compatible with Windows 7. Time to find a replacement.
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@Magus75 could you be any more condescending....?>> "But that's the nature of life. You could produce the most amazing product ever seen, but someone, somewhere, will have issues with it and dislike it."
Have yo read the comments? It is not just ONE person. There is a search bar too just look for the bad reviews on Capture.
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I've read the explanation for replacing JING. Unfortunately, technology moves on, but not always better. But that said, the modern world with ever-changing ways to do things is necessitated largely by security issues; as such, we don't have a choice. For me, I've played with SNAGIT and find it's more whistles and bells that requires purchase. The free version of CAPTURE suits me fine.
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Not being able to grab another capture without saving the 1st one is a major downer, as are many other things with this new version. It takes so long to open that by the time it is open, what I want to capture is gone.
Please being back the sun! I'll gladly pay for it!
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Are there any other good products to consider out there? I would like to explore another product that does what I need (what Jing used to do). With the launch of an inferior product as techsmith capture - there's got to be other companies with products that are better.
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Hi,
I have problems when record my screen with TechSmith Capture.
Can somebody help me?
Here a example of a problem: https://www.screencast.com/t/siyMuaASQp1u
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How much to get the old Jing? It was so quick and easy, plus it saved all my old screen grabs, so I could find them again. How much do you want?
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As GingerBread noted a month ago, just block Jing in your PC firewall (Google it). This keeps Jing from checking-in with TechSmith and then shutting-down. This may be a security risk, because Jing is no longer updated, but I don't use the video feature anyway. Working great!
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This is a great example of the worst upgrade ever.
Jing was the perfect tool product:
1. easy to manage History
2. can capture several images and keep several captures open in the same time.
> Today you must finish works on the print screen you took and only then create a new one.
3. After capturing an image there is an additional frustrating question "Your Capture is ready to be pasted" (Close Preview // Close Editing)It was better to update the older version of Jing and ask for your clients to pay for the update rather than upgrade to TechSmith and to lose customers.
Look how many topics and questions are pointing to the great old product Jing and how many explanations why you move to TechSmith.
Great JOB of your Product Manager.
From my organization, 70 employees stopped using your products
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I hope you guys manage to upgrade this new thing .... i miss that option with library and easy access to my images.
Please work on that! Thanks!
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We didn't use Jing as much as some here did, but we also miss it and it sounds as if the replacement is less robust and more clunky. Although by no means a Jing replacement, we've been using Fireshot for screen and page captures and annotations. And thanks to GingerBread for the workaround shared. We're going to give that a try...
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It's been about 4 months months since Jing was sunsetted, and I have been struggling with trying to get Capture to work anywhere as usable for my needs as what I enjoyed about how Jing worked. I understand about having to go backward sometimes and unfortunately just throw something good away then take something else newer and build it back up to have the functionality and ease of use that the old application had.
I agree with what has been stated above with missing the docked sun, multiple captures at once, easy way to get to image history from within the tool, reduced key clicking.
I ask in a polite and understanding way to TechSmith Support, could you please provide an update on what is being worked on and when we might expect to see key features being requested being released to Capture? If you don't know now please let us know when you might have a better idea of knowing more about your release plan?
TechSmith mentions earlier on this page of version updates, do you plan to have any beta version public releases? How will we know when new versions are available? Will the Capture tool itself notify us updates are available?
Thanks for any updates you may provide, I am sure others on this thread would be interested in those answers as well.
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