These are some great tools for online fun but they also can save you a lot of time and frustration. They make it very easy to show someone exactly what you mean. And did I mention that they’re free? (Jing has an optional paid version if you want extra features.)

Skitch (Mac only)

Skitch is my favorite screenshot software. I use it to show draft sketches and designs to clients. It’s easy to upload to their server (or put in an email or IM or blog, should I want to) and I can either point to the item directly or I can choose to allow comments.

There are several easy-to-do, intuitive editing features built in like resizing and annotating.

Jing (Windows or Mac)

Jing comes from the people who make Camtasia and SnagIt, two well-known commercial softwares for Windows PCs. But Jing is free and allows for both screenshots and screen video capture. You can upload your screenshots easily to their server and (with the paid version) your videos can be sent to Vimeo, Facebook, or YouTube.

Watch the movies

Both are downloaded softwares that you install on your machine. As with all software, be sure to follow good practices when trying something out; just because it works well for us (and lots of others) doesn’t mean it’s a good choice for you.

But take a moment and watch the movies on both sites. It might be just the productivity kick (and frustration reducer) you’ve been looking for.