When comparing FastStone Capture vs Spectacle, the Slant community recommends FastStone Capture for most people. In the question“What are the best screen capture tools for Windows?” FastStone Capture is ranked 6th while Spectacle is ranked 10th. The most important reason people chose FastStone Capture is:
Such as saving images in BMP, GIF, JPEG, PCX, PNG, TGA, TIFF and PDF formats as well as the screen recorder saving videos in the WMV (Windows Media Video) format.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Output to clipboard or any of a dozen formats
Such as saving images in BMP, GIF, JPEG, PCX, PNG, TGA, TIFF and PDF formats as well as the screen recorder saving videos in the WMV (Windows Media Video) format.
Pro Great capture flexibility, from full screen to freehand region
Pro The most lightweight, full featured snapshot for Windows.
This responsive, lightweight screenshot will probably be your favorite if you really run it through the test, A scrolling window capture that works, integrated image joining, scanner support, good magnified preview when setting boundaries, support for video capture and editing. Free upgrades for paid version with option for portable. Closest alternatives to feature set are Snagit and Shared, but this one feels much snappier with just the right features for the majority of people. Try it, you will not regret.
Pro Onboard editing, or output to external programs
Pro Hotkeys
You can assign hotkeys for everything. Current setup is:
F5 - Fixed rectangle capture
F6 - Custom (drag a square) rectangle capture
F7 - Video capture 30fps
F8 - Fullscreen capture
F9 - Scroll fullscreen capture
F10 - Summon FS to appear if hidden.
Pro You can capture disappearing items
When capture hotkey pressed - FSC will pause all functions going on in your screen so you can capture website dropdown menu for example, which would disappear otherwise when you leave the website window to press the capture tool.
Pro Unobtrusive
Always available via hotkey, doesn't interfere with any programs or operations.
Pro Free and open source
Spectacle is licensed under MIT with source code available on GitHub.
Pro Simple hotkeys
Spectacle offers easy-to-remember preset hotkeys.
Pro Mouseless
All windows in Spectacle can be controlled with keyboard shortcuts, so no mouse is needed. This makes for a fast way to control windows.
Pro Great UX
Spectacle is easy to use and configure. It's plug and play.
Pro Low footprint
Spectacle only uses up 18-19 MB of RAM, which means there is not much overhead by using this app.
Pro Multi-monitor support
Pro 7+ years of use
Using it for 7 years
Cons
Con It has no feature to trim edges after scrolling capture
Con Not maintained
The software is free, but no longer seems to be maintained.
Con Impossible to add new functions
While keyboard shortcuts can be changed for the available actions, there is no way to add custom actions which in turn limits the functionality of the app.
Con Limited window sizing capabilities
You can use 1/2 of the screen vertically and horizontally (divide into 4 parts). You can also use the screen in thirds too, but only the left and right third: you can't use the 1/3 in the center. There is no way to do a more granular distribution.
Con Breaks on macOS High Sierra / Chrome or Firefox
Doesn't support side by side windows.
Con Doesn't work with any Adobe products
There are some apps like Adobe Reader that do not work with Spectacle. Basically, any app with a heavily customized UI that breaks OS X accessibility will not work correctly under Spectacle.