Free Online Trading Tools

Free Online Trading Tools
By Andrew Fleming

Published by: GreatInfoProducts.com © 2006
Sponsored link: www.lazymansmoney.com

The serious bit…
This is not a free ebook and you do not have rights to resell it. Resale or distribution without the publishers consent is not permitted. However, if you would like to earn an income by promoting this ebook, please visit: http://www.greatinfoproducts.com/affiliate_signup.html
Trading any financial market involves risk. This ebook and the website www.freeonlinetradingtools.com and its contents is neither a solicitation nor an offer to Buy/Sell any financial market. The contents of this ebook are for general information purposes only. The author and publisher of this book are not responsible for the content found on the sites contained within.


Free Online Trading Tools

The playing field has now been levelled!!
What do I mean?
You may not realise it, but we’re so lucky to now live in a day and age when a list of resources like this can actually be compiled. It wasn’t so long ago that these programs and data sources, which are now all freely available on the Internet, cost thousands and thousands of Dollars.
In many cases these tools previously weren’t even available to private individuals – just large institutional investors and banks. In reality, people just like you and I can now trade with a level of sophistication that was unheard of, even in the 90’s!

And that’s exciting news. There are programs listed below, which you can download direct to your computer desktop, that will crunch their way through years of data and spit out identifiable patterns that you can use to make profitable trades. All you need to do is plug in one of the numerous sources of free price-data from below.

If you’re into Technical Analysis then you really are spoilt for choice. But don’t worry if you’re a Warren Buffet-style investor and are more interested in the Fundamentals, there’s plenty for you too in the ‘General Trading / Investing Info’ and ‘Market Data’ sections.

My aim in putting together this Directory is to save you both money and time. To make life even easier though, I’ve categorized the listings into specific groups and ordered the sites by popularity (using the Alexa® rankings tool). This may not be a definitive gauge as to a sites’ usefulness for our purposes, but presumably those sites ranking highest are popular for a good reason.

All links have been checked and worked at the time of publishing this guide, but obviously sites and individual pages, change from time to time. In these cases, you might want to try stripping back everything after the ‘.com’ or’.co.uk’ and starting from the sites’ homepage.

In researching this Directory I’ve found, as you will too, that many of the sites listed provide a variety of different services e.g. market news, price data, charts, ‘virtual’ trading accounts and more. Just because a site is listed in a particular section here, doesn’t mean it won’t offer a wealth of other valuable tools and content – so please, go explore… (and remember to bookmark your favorites).

Contents

• Trading Software/Systems
• General Trading / Investing Info
• Education / Training
• Charting Sites
• Stock Quotes / Market Data
• Stock Picks
• Trading Simulators
• Stock Exchange Sites
• Forums/Community
• Trading Blogs
• Trading Newsletters
• BONUS Section I – FOREX Sites
• BONUS Section II – Expert recommendations


Trading Software/Systems
At time of writing, this (rather long) link will take you to the download page for 13 free-to-use trading software programs, including MetaTrader:
http://www.download.com/3120-20_4-0-1-0.html?qt=trading+software&author=&titlename=&desc=&dlcount=&daysback=&swlink=&gfiletype=&os=&li=49&dlsize=&ca

Various free stock software programs:
http://www.softplatz.com/software/free-stock-software/

6 different free-to-download stock pick software programs:
http://www.newfreedownloads.com/find/stock-trading.html

Free software (TeleChart 2007) & free 30 day trial, then pay for quote updates:
http://www.worden.com/

‘FCharts SE’ is a free stock charting program which will import price data from a wide range of sources, displaying it as OHLC, Candlestick and Line charts. Comes with built-in indicators:
http://www.spacejock.com/FreechartsSE.html

Look under ‘Stock Trading Systems’ heading. System parameters are given in the descriptions – then input them into your software:
http://www.arbtrading.com/

‘StockWiz’ can help you find profitable opportunities in the stock market by mathematically analyzing historical end-of-day stock prices for all US publicly traded stocks:
http://www.stockwiz.com/

Extensive list of free trading software:
http://www.forexcapital.com/download.htm

If you really must spend money on trading software, then check out this free review site which lists literally hundreds of pay-for systems. Ranked by cost, style, platform, risk:
http://www.attainaccess.com/systemrank.php

General Trading / Investing Info
Covers pretty much everything to do with money and investing:
http://finance.yahoo.com

Comprehensive site from Microsoft offering similar to Yahoo:
http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/home.asp

…and here’s AOL’s version:
http://money.aol.com/

Latest financial headlines and market commentary:
http://investor.news.com/

Stock quotes and general financial info:
www.reuters.com

News and commentary, tools and research, market overview and lots more:
http://www.marketwatch.com/

Very comprehensive site from the people that bring you the Bloomberg TV channel:
www.bloomberg.com

Market analysis and comment:
http://www.thestreet.com/

Global political and financial analysis from the Financial Times:
www.ft.com

Very busy site – both visually and traffic-wise. Spend time getting to know it…:
http://www.advfn.com/

Check ‘Investor Information’ link for advice on choosing a broker and more:
http://www.sec.gov/

All you ever wanted to know about investing – almost!
http://www.investopedia.com/

Charts, quotes, news, comment:
http://www.ino.com/

Bernie Schaeffer’s quotes, tools, sectors, commentary and analysis site:
http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/

Check out their ‘Market Snapshot’ and ‘Stock of the Day’:
http://www.investorguide.com/

Commodity Futures Trading Commission
http://www.cftc.gov/cftc/cftchome.htm

Check here if you trade NASDAQ, NYSE or AMEX stocks:
http://www.wallstreettape.com/

Another one of those great sites with so much info and resources it’ll take you days to look though it all:
http://www.tulipsandbears.com/index.htm

Interesting site for those interested in China’s impact on global finances:
http://www.chinarevaluation.com/index.shtml

Education / Training
Just follow the many links available – a huge resource:
http://beginnersinvest.about.com/

Teach yourself technical analysis:
http://www.stockcharts.com/education/

If you’re new to trading and investing in general, I can’t think of a better place to start your education – don’t buy any expensive courses until you’ve gone through this site:
http://www.investopedia.com/university/

Good overview of fundamental and technical analysis for Commodities traders:
http://futures.tradingcharts.com/learning/index.html

If you want to trade Options, then this site is a great start - basic and advanced concepts covered and suggested trading strategies:
http://www.optionetics.com/education/trading.asp

This site offers quality streaming audio/video tuition for free. They also offer paid-for courses, but there is no obligation to purchase these:
http://www.tradingacademy.com/index.htm

Great site for FOREX fans. Look for the “Free Forex” section on the left hand navigation bar. Free forex tutorials, tools and resources:
http://www.forextips.com/

Chart Patterns - look at ‘Tutorials’ and ‘Indicators’ sections. Also free 5 part Stock Trading Course near bottom of page:
http://trader.snowseed.com/patterns.htm

Free online trading lessons and daily stock-pick service:
http://www.superbtrade.com/

Short stock trading tutorial from Mark Crisp:
http://www.stressfreetrading.com/Article-on-Stock-Market/Stock-Trading-Tutorial.html

Quite a lot of adverts on this site, but a fair amount of good content nonetheless:
http://www.profittrading.com/commodity-trading-education.htm

Archive of trading tuition articles going back to 2002:
http://www.esignallearning.com/education/marketmaster/archive/2006/default.asp

Don’t ignore this site just because it’s at the end of this list. Lots of useful free information, plus market and contract data:
http://www.investorsdepot.com/

Charting Sites
Now part of Marketwatch. Popular and user friendly charting site:
www.bigcharts.com

Clear, simple-to-use chart service – offers line and OHLC views:
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/cbuilder

Excellent charting resource site with “Chart School”:
http://stockcharts.com/charts/

Offers Moving Averages and comparison against Index:
http://www.globeinvestor.com/static/hubs/charts.html

Java real-time streaming charts:
http://www.quote.com/qc/livecharts/default.aspx?

Covers all US markets and foreign exchange, mutual funds, options, and futures:
http://quotes.ino.com/chart/

Over 30,000 stock market, forex & commodity futures price charts & quotations:
http://www.tradingcharts.com/

‘Basic’ subscription is free:
http://www.prophet.net/analyze/javacharts.jsp

Good technical analysis site with informative ‘Tutorials’ section:
http://www.stockta.com/

You don’t have to trade with them to use their charting service and there’s a useful chart user manual available:
http://www.cbfx.com/charts/chartsdemo.htm

Indexes and FOREX currency pairs only:
http://www.tradingsimulation.com/charts/

You need to register to use their service – but it’s free:
http://www.askchart.com/

Stock Quotes / Market Data
Free historical stock quotes:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=GE

Quotes for all companies within the world’s major indexes and more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/stocks/movers_index_ibov.html

Free services are marked with a ‘*’:
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/en-gb/Global/H/productselector/

Enter symbol and then select ‘chart’, ‘quote’ or ‘news’ (news section useful for historic fundamental research):
http://www.quote.com/qc/default.aspx

Realtime Forex quotes:
http://quotes.ino.com/exchanges/?e=FOREX

Provides technical and fundamental data:
http://www.quotemedia.com/

Award winning investment writing:
http://www.citywire.co.uk/home/Home.aspx

Software to download Intraday and End of Day Stock data, FOREX data and more, from free Internet sources.
http://trader.snowseed.com/

Enter symbol then use drop-down box for multiple options, including technical buy/sell signals:
http://quote.dailystocks.com/market.asp?code=xdaily

UK stock market and share price info:
www.sharepages.com

Forex historical prices database:
http://www.fx-forex-trading.com/database.htm

Historic weekly commodities charts/prices 1996-2006:
http://www.softwarenorth.com/trading/commitmentscurrent/

Historical FOREX data:
http://www.forexcapital.com/database.htm

Stock market historical quote downloader and trading simulator:
http://www.geocities.com/day_trade_soft/

Stock Picks
CNBC’s ‘Top Pickers’ stock picks:
http://moneycentral.msn.com/cnbc/tv/stockpicks/CNBCToppickers.asp

Get Mr. Schaeffer’s Mid Year Market Forecast free:
http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/signup/SignUp_2006Mid-YearForecast.aspx?CODE=GOOG8A

Popular stock pick message board showing some very healthy recent results:
http://www.hotstockmarket.com/

“The best free stock picks on Wall Street”, so they say:
http://www.thegreenbaron.com/

Let the market gurus do the work for you by following the successful picks of experienced traders:
http://www.tradebyte.com/

Morning and Daily stock picks:
http://www.oextrader.com/

Daily picks – free lifetime membership:
http://www.stockpicks.com/

Trading Simulators
Chicago Mercantile Exchange simulators:
http://www.cme.com/edu/equity/simtrd/tradesimulate15904.html

Chicago Board of Trade. 6 different trading simulators to hone your skills:
http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/page/0,3181,1169,00.html

Not quite a trading simulator, but useful to check how market volatility affects your holdings:
http://www.moneychimp.com/articles/risk/risksimulator.htm

Infinity Pro Level II state-of-art electronic futures market simulator:
http://www.traderslog.com/tradingsimulator.htm

More ‘fun’ than serious simulator, but worth a try if you trade FOREX:
www.FXplayer.com

Day trading simulator:
http://www.tradingsimulation.com/tsimlite/

Level II simulator:
http://www.realfasttrader.com/simulator.html

Daytrading tick-by-tick simulator - 21 day free trial:
http://www.tradingsimulatorsoftware.com/

E-Mini S&P and E-Mini NASDAQ futures day trading simulator free trial:
http://pfgca.com/

More of a trading ‘game’ than serious trading simulator but it looks good fun:
http://www.iwebtradeplaygame.co.uk

Stock Exchange Sites
NASDAQ:
www.nasdaq.com

Australian Stock Exchange:
www.asx.com.au

London Stock Exchange:
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/en-gb/

London Metal Exchange:
www.lme.co.uk

Chicago Mercantile Exchange:
www.cme.com

New York Stock Exchange:
www.nyse.com

Chicago Board of Trade:
www.cbot.com

New York Mercantile Exchange:
www.nymex.com

Euronext – cross border European exchange:
www.euronext.com

Chicago Board Options Exchange:
www.cboe.com

American Stock Exchange:
www.amex.com

Comprehensive listing of global exchanges:
http://www.rba.co.uk/sources/stocks.htm

Forums/Community
Comprehensive listing of some of the most active investing/trading forums on the Internet:
http://daytrading.about.com/od/chatroomsforum/
http://dmoz.org/Business/Investing/Chats_and_Forums/
http://fxtrade.oanda.com/resources/forums.shtml
http://www.iii.co.uk/community/

Various forums each dedicated to a different topic e.g. technical trading, strategy trading, trading psychology, etc.:
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/

Includes useful FOREX Calendar:
http://www.forexfactory.com/
http://www.trade2win.com/

Stock picks:
http://www.allstocks.com/stockmessageboard/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi

Useful site for ‘Meta Trader’ users and those interested in system development:
http://strategybuilderfx.com/home.php
http://www.forex-markets.com/forex-chat.htm
http://www.superiorinvestor.net/

If you’re into Japanese Candlesticks as a form of technical analysis, you’ll appreciate this site:
http://www.candlestickforum.com/Forum/
http://forum.mabico.com/
http://www.piptrader.com/forum/default.asp
http://www.reedfloren.com/forums/
http://www.pennystockpile.com/forum/
http://www.bnsit.com

Talk with other traders about stock investing, options trading, forex trading, futures options trading, swing trading, day trading
http://www.optrading.com/index.php
http://www.forex-books.com/forum/
http://www.forexforums.com/forums/

Trading Blogs
Lengthy and informative stock-pick blog entries most days:
http://bobsadviceforstocks.tripod.com/bobsadviceforstocks/

Huge amount of content! Numerous money related blogs listed:
http://themoneyblogs.tradingmarkets.com/

Finance blog directory, listing many different blogs covering most areas of money and finance:
http://www.blogtopsites.com/business/

Stock picks blog:
http://internet.seekingalpha.com/

Another financial blog directory:
http://www.blogrankings.com/Finance_Investment.html

Day trading help and advice with specific market analysis and charts:
http://www.daytradeteam.com/dtt/day-trading-strategy/tip-of-the-day.html

Stock picks, with good commentary, charts and tech. analysis:
http://tradermike.net/

Specifically geared towards Australian traders/markets:
http://www.mysharetrading.com/
http://www.systemtradingblog.com/
http://www.thestockbandit.net/

Euro/USD FOREX blog
http://euro2usd.blogspot.com/

Trading Newsletters
The Motley Fool is such a useful site for all things money related it would be foolish not to sign up for their free newsletter:
http://www.fool.com/Landing/TMF/Welcome.aspx?ref=topnav

Sign up here for the UK Fool site:
http://www.fool.co.uk/signup/5kmar2006/LandingPage.htm

Sign up here for “About.com’s” Day Trading newsletter:
http://daytrading.about.com/b/a/079311.htm

Choose from a choice of five Forex and Futures newsletters:
http://www.xpresstrade.com/free_futures_newsletters.html

Commodity and Futures:
http://www.lind-waldock.com/edu/ed_newsletter_register.cgi

FREE newsletter covering Stocks, Futures, Forex, Options, Weather, Trader Psychology, and other important topics:
http://www.tradingeducation.com/newsletter.asp

Tharp’s weekly thoughts from Dr K Van Tharp
http://www.iitm.com/regform.asp

Daily newsletter with expert market analysis and chart of the day:
http://www.signalwatch.com/

Focuses on Dow, NASDAQ and S&P500:
http://www.amateur-investor.net/market_newsletter_signup.htm

Commodity traders newsletter:
http://www.acommodity.com/subscribe.htm

Articles about trading system design, market indicators, money management methods, and technical methods for trading:
http://www.breakoutfutures.com/Newsletters/

BONUS SECTION I

FOREX Sites
http://www.forextrading.com/
http://www.advfn.com/p.php?pid=forex
http://www.fxstreet.com/
http://www.forexfactory.com/
http://www.forexnews.com/

Excellent beginners guide to FOREX trading:
http://www.babypips.com/
http://www.forexdirectory.net/
http://www.forex-markets.com/

Includes useful ‘Forex Guru’ research tool (look under Tools & Calculators):
http://www.ozforex.com.au/
http://www.actionforex.com/
http://www.goforex.net/
http://www.forex.labuan.net/
http://www.global-view.com/

Free daily, weekly High/Low forecasts:
http://www.forexpredictions.com/

Keep up-to-date with this daily FOREX blog:
http://www.forexblog.org/
http://www.openforex.com/

Forex questions & answers:
http://www.forexquestions.com/

Offers free FOREX practice account:
http://www.fxcm.co.uk/

As their site says, their aim is to provide as much free currency trading information as possible on one site:
http://www.forexrate.co.uk/

Interested in FOREX Wave Analysis? Look here:
http://www.fibogroup.com/pages/505
http://www.forexcapital.com/

Forex portal site:
http://www.capital-forex-market.com/

Forex terminology explained:
http://www.forexglossary.com/

Free Forex market analysis:
http://www.forexcycle.com/

Very comprehensive site with tools, tutorials – and even Forex radio!:
www.forexdesktop.com

BONUS SECTION II

In compiling this Bonus Section, I’ve sought the opinion of some of the Trading Community’s most respected traders, commentators and analysts. Some recommend free sections of their own sites and others have offered resources which they use themselves to assist with their trading and research.

Larry Williams – one of the most highly regarded and consistently successful traders in the world. Author of several best-selling books on trading and developer of the famous ‘Williams %R’ market timing tool:
www.ireallytrade.com

Good site for those wanting the ‘big picture’ – offers market and economic forecasts:
http://www.kiplinger.com/

Check here for free resources from Larry’s own site:
http://www.ireallytrade.com/freestuff.htm

Martin Pring – Technical Analysis expert and author of “Martin Pring’s Introduction to Technical Analysis”.
www.pring.com

ETF (Exchange Traded Funds) screener:
http://www.marketwatch.com/tools/etfs/html-screener-quick.asp

Mark Crisp – Author and trading system creator
www.stressfreetrading.com

Desktop stock ticker:
http://www.stressfreetrading.com/free-desktop-stock-ticker.php

Joe Ross – Author of multiple bestselling trading books, and coach to thousands of students worldwide.
http://www.tradingeducators.com

See this page for various free resources including a trading Glossary, Calendar and free trading ebooks:
http://www.tradingeducators.com/resources.htm

Marshall J Jones – Trading trainer, system creator and active Emini trader
http://www.simple-as-123.net

Many useful links, including calculators, charts, articles, forums and blogs:
http://www.simple-as-123.net/downloads.html

Marshalls own, unique, “Simple as 123” trading manual (it’s temporarily free – so be quick)
http://www.tradershelpingtraders.com/marshmanual.htm

Ken “Woodie” Wood – seasoned trader, coach and system creator
http://www.woodiescciclub.com

Free info on CCI (Commodity Channel Index) chart patterns, Options (multimedia tutorials) and more. Very active community on this site:
http://www.woodiescciclub.com/start.htm

Larry Swing – Swing and Day-Trading expert
www.mrswing.com

MrSwing messenger:
http://messenger.mrswing.com

Free articles:
http://www.mrswing.com/artman/publish/index.shtml

Free online stock charts:
http://www.mrswing.com/artman/publish/index.shtml

MrSwing Forum:
http://forum.mrswing.com

Tony Oz – Successful trader and author of the bestselling books, “How to Take Money from Wall Street” and “The Stock Trader”
www.tonyoz.com

Learn from some of the profitable market plays that Tony has used:
http://www.ozscanner.com/tutorials.htm

Get exclusive market calls, stock picks, screen captures videos, and more straight to your mailbox. Published 8 times per year.
http://www.tonyoz.com/letter.htm

The Tony Oz Stock Market Calculator has eight tabs to help you configure initial trade plan, price target forecasting, position sizing, stop loss placement and trailing stops.
http://www.tonyoz.com/ozcalc.htm

*****************************************************************
Please help to keep “Free Online Trading Tools” current and up-to-date. If you notice any links that have gone bad (as some invariably will), please contact me at:
badlink@freeonlinetradingtools.com
so I can update the directory. Of course, I’ll then send you a new revised copy with any changes that have been made so far.
Also, if you feel that there’s a fantastic free resource out there which for some unknown reason I’ve managed to miss then, again, please let me know. Send your recommendations to:
newlink@freeonlinetradingtools.com
(Please make sure these links are genuinely free and not just ‘free trials’, thank you).
A GreatInfoProducts publication © 2006 www.FreeOnlineTradingTools.com 23

Just PUSH!

PUSH

A man was sleeping one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light, and God appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might. So, this the man did, day after day.

For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all of his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.

Since the man was showing discouragement, the adversary (Satan) decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the weary mind: "You have been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn't moved." Thus, he gave the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man.

Satan said, "Why kill yourself over this? Just put in your time, giving just the minimum effort; and that will be good enough." So that's what the weary man planned to do, but decided to make it a Matter of Prayer and to take his troubled thoughts to the Lord.

"Lord," he said, "I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing? The Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all of your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to Me with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is that really so?

"Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back sinewy and brown; your hands are callused from constant pressure, your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much, and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have.

"True, you haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. That you have done. Now I, my friend, will move the rock."

**At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what He wants, when actually what God wants is just a simple obedience and faith in Him. By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still God who moves the mountains.**

When everything seems to go wrong .... just P.U.S.H.!

When the job gets you down ... just P.U.S.H.!

When people don't react the way you think they should.... just P.U.S.H.

When your money is "gone" and the bills are due.... just P.U.S.H.!

When people just don't understand you .... just... P.U.S.H.!

P= Pray

U= Until

S= Something

H= Happens

(Unknown author. Thanks to Ervina Pandoh)

Uproarious and Comical

Liar:
A man is dying of Cancer.
His son asked him, "Dad, why do u keep telling people u're dying of AIDS?"
Answer: "So when I'm dead no one will dare touch ur mom!"

Three Feelings:
What's the difference between stress, tension and
panic?
Stress is when wife is pregnant, Tension is when
girlfriend is pregnant,and
Panic is when both are pregnant.

Chinese Adam & Eve:
If Adam and Eve were Chinese, we would still be in
paradise because they
would have ignored the apple and eaten the snake !

Screen-capture Program

June 10, 2008 4:00 AM PDT

5 reasons to love the new SnagIt 9

Posted by Jessica Dolcourt 3 comments

Whatever you might envision of Tuesday's release of the redesigned SnagIt 9, it probably wouldn't be as a Microsoft Office clone.

Before you Microsoft naysayers begin your shuddering and muttering (you know who you are), have a little faith in TechSmith, the publisher that also brought to market the top-rated Camtasia Studio. Thanks to the new features and look, SnagIt 9 is a familiar, intuitive, and much more varnished capture utility whose image editor has finally come of age. Here are five ways SnagIt 9 has caught our attention. Check out the video below for a snapshot, or skip it to go straight into the count.

1: Tinted good looks
Dark skins and themes are all the rage, so why not a darker SnagIt? The new program interface and editor is organized much like version 8's, but swaps out blue for blackened gray. The image editor has been painted with the same brush, but underneath is a dramatically different layout from version 8 that elevates visual selection over text menus.

2: Microsoft-like menus
As part of the new visual design, SnagIt 9 borrows heavily from Microsoft Office 2007 to arrange tools and effects in a horizontal ribbon. This layout makes use of large images and icon-driven drop-down menus and goes easy on the text, under which useful tools were previously buried and ignored. According to SnagIt's product manager, Tony Dunckel, the average user accessed only two percent of the product.

SnagIt 9's Start button and menu structure is modeled on Microsoft Office 2007.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

The decision to follow Microsoft's lead is twofold, Dunckel said. First, replicating the menu brings SnagIt closer to earning Microsoft certification. Second, piggybacking on Microsoft's design makes use of the software giant's extensive consumer testing. If users responded best to the ribbon workflow in Office 2007, why not apply it to SnagIt?

Looking at the spacious version 9 and cramped version 8 side-by-side, it's hard to argue that version 9 isn't substantially improved by the menus, which rescues those editing effects from obscurity and migrates them to eye-catching menu blocks a user can explore.

SnagIt9's Editor is larger, darker, and easier to use.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

3: A well-stocked catalog
No longer must you recapture images you didn't perfectly edit the first time around. With the new Open Captures tray, a ribbon along the screen bottom, SnagIt matures from a screen grabber that callously dumps any capture you didn't save into a helpful tool keeping track of all your images, including those unsaved files. You'll be able to jump from one open image to another, an illegal action with previous SnagIt versions, to interact with images at any time for editing, saving in a new file-type, and exporting.

Annotation and drawing tools are easy to access with the horizontal, icon-driven menu system.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

4: Tagging
Like e-mails, images contain information, relevance, and nuance. SnagIt 9 introduces tagging in the library pane and the menu navigation that uses a combination of flagging, autotagging, and keyword entry to assign searchable tags to an image. Flag categories include important, follow-up, personal, finance, and funny. Captures are also tagged by URL if they're taken from a Web site, by the name of the application you may have grabbed it from, and by a manually entered keyword.

5: Search
SnagIt's user scenario is to store every capture you've taken in the application's lifespan. After a couple hundred captures, browsing through tags gets old and inefficient. A search engine integrated into the library pane pulls up relevant tags and dates. Clicking the folder icon at the bottom right of the screen helps organize the findings with more granularity--you'll be able to sort by name, size, dimension, flags, and keyword and display image clips instead of the usual text-chunky file names.

The search field pulls up captures by tag, flag, keyword, and source.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

There are still more features to love in future versions that aren't so lovable now, like the functionality of the text capture profile to name one. Still, the application has come so far in usability that it remains the most sophisticated capture technology around, and a must-have tool for screen-grabbers interested in more advanced editing.

SnagIt 9 is available with no restrictions for a 30-day trial period and costs $49.95 to purchase in full. Current customers can upgrade for $19.95 in the next 60 days.