The Windows PrtSc function is a simple and effective way to take screen grabs, but it's not exactly versatile: press PrtSc to get the full screen, Alt+PrtSc to get the active application window only, and that's about it. You can get by with this if you're willing to edit the image later, but that's tedious, and time-consuming. And we have a much better idea.

Launch Ashampoo Magical Snap and it adds a small panel to the top of your screen. When you're ready to take a grab, move your mouse to the panel so it drops down, then click "Start the capture". You may then draw a box around the area you want to capture, choose a full screen or application window, then capture it with a click.

If you've told Magical Snap you'll be taking multiple snapshots, then just carry on using your application, taking new grabs as required. There's no need to work on each grab as you take it, which will save you plenty of time.

Once you have finished your captures, Magical Snap takes you into an Edit mode. Toolbars tucked away at the left, right and top of the screen let you resize an image, rotate it, crop or cut a selection and more. There are annotation tools (highlight, erase, draw, add a caption or arrow), and when done you can save an image, print it, copy it to the clipboard, and more. It's a surprisingly innovative and powerful tool, and if you rely on screen grabs a lot then we think you're going to love it.

The very latest version of Magical Snap adds the ability to grab off-screen content, for example a complete spreadsheet that otherwise you'd have to scroll around to view. There's full support for multiple monitors, lots of new editing and annotation tools (Flip, Mirror, Drop Shadow, Pencil, more), radically improved print support, and it's now fully Vista-compatible, too. Already very reasonably priced at £6.99, you can Magical Snap 2 for the decidedly bargain price of £4.99: click Configure the Capture > Internet Menu > Upgrade to Ashampoo Magical Snap 2 to find out more.