Skitch vs. Jing

For the past week I’ve been focusing on FREE image sharing through Skitch. In my initial post I mentioned Jing and briefly mentioned how they were similar and different. Both my co-worker and I have Skitch and Jing and just this past week we were deciding which one to use to create directions for our staff. This is what sparked this post. Hopefully by listing the pros and cons you will be able to use the one that works best for your needs.

Similarities: Both Skitch and Jing…
- Are FREE!
- Allow the user to snap a picture of anything on your computer
- Allow the user to share the images through email, IM, blogs, etc.
- Offer video tutorials
- Allow the user to add arrows, circle text, and add text to the images to highlight important information
- Automatically gives you a place to host your files to share them
- Both have blogs- Jing blog and Skitch blog

Differences:
Jing
- For both PC and Mac
- You are able to record video of what you do or what you see
- Can upload your image or movie to a variety of places like Flikr and share from there
- Has a highlight tool

Skitch
- Only for Mac

For most of you this is a no-brainer. You don’t have a Mac so you would obviously choose Jing. However, if you are in a position to have both, you have to figure out what you want to share and who your audience is. Personal preference does come in to play as well.

For me, most of the time using Skitch is all I need to point out something on an image for the reader. I think Skitch is more user friendly and easier to share what you have created, embed, etc. If only it had the video feature!

Here is an example Jing video that I would use with students.