Capture Screenshots, Upload Files & Share Them In A Flash With Puush

Capture Screenshots, Upload Files & Share Them In A Flash With Puush: "

Sometimes the quickest way to tell others about something is to show them visually. One screenshot might give a better explanation than a series of long sentences. Unfortunately, sharing screenshots with many people is not as simple as it should be. Other than taking the shots, you still have to attach the images to email, or upload them somewhere and share the URLs.

If you need a quicker way to share screenshots, you might want to try Puush. This combination of web service and desktop application will cut down on all the necessary steps to share screenshots to just one: taking the actual screenshots. Puush will then upload the shots to its server, shorten the URLs, and put the links on the clipboard, ready for you to share. You can also use Puush to upload and share other files, all in one quick step.

From The Virtual Perspective

To use Puush, you have to register for an account, then download and run the desktop client from your computer. The free account will grant you 200MB of storage space, while the desktop client is available in two flavors: Windows and Mac.

The web interface is simple. You have two folders to store your files – Public and Private. All of your uploaded files will be listed below the folders. You can view the files as a grid or a list, do basic search to find your files, and also move the files between two folders if you want to.

To move files, choose the “List” mode next to “View“, check the items that you want to move, then click the “Move” link.

Pick one of the folders as the location. Put files into your Private folder if you want them for your eyes only.

From The Desktop Perspective

Even though Puush works in the cloud, the real action takes place on your desktop via the desktop client. The first time you use the client, it will ask you to link your computer to your Puush account. Create an account if you haven’t done so, or log in using your credentials.

Below the login fields, you’ll see the default shortcut key combinations you can use. You can change these shortcuts later via the preferences window if you want. There’s also the option to launch Puush on startup to make sure that the app will always be available.

After installation, the Puush client will reside silently in the System Tray (Windows) or Menubar (Mac). Clicking on the icon will bring out access to the web interface, list of recent uploads, available actions, option to enable or disable Puush, and preferences.

There are two types of screenshot you can do using Puush – selected areas and full screenshots. All screenshots will be uploaded to the Puush server instantly after you take them. The System Tray/Menubar icon will be animated with an orange color as an indicator that the file is currently uploading.

If you have Growl installed on your computer, you will get a notification after the file is fully uploaded to the server. The file link will also be copied to the clipboard so you can easily share it via Twitter, Facebook, email, or other social services.

If you don’t have a clipboard manager in your system, you still can access the link to your previously uploaded files by clicking the icon, hovering your mouse over the file in the “Recent uploads” list, and clicking “Copy“.

The process of uploading files is also simple: hit Ctrl + Shift + U (Windows) or Command + Shift + U (Mac), browse for the file, and click “OK“. But since you only have 200 MB storage for free, Push might not be suitable to share large files.

Some Background Tweaks

If you feel that the default shortcut keys are not to your liking, you can customize them via the “Preferences – General” menu.

You can also tell Puush to always open the shortened links in the browser right after you uploaded the files.

The “Account” tab is useful if you want to log out and switch to another user.

With the lack of ability to edit the screenshot images, Puush might not be the most complete screenshot application, and with the limited storage space, it might also not be the best file sharing option. But if you need a fast way to take and share screenshots, and to share small files, then Puush is definitely for you.

Have you tried Puush? Do you know and/or use other similar alternatives? Please share your recommendations using the comments section below.

Image credit: meshmar2

Capture Screenshots, Upload Files & Share Them In A Flash With Puush is a post from: MakeUseOf

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