Bill Myers - November 24, 2007

Camtasia Studio is my choice for product developer tool of the year. In this tip, I'll show you how to get it for free.

Update - Sadly, the offer of a free version of Camtasia 3 has expired. You can still download a 30 day free trial though - find it at http://www.camtasia.com .

Of all the software tools I use to develop products, the one I rely on the most is Camtasia Studio.

With Camtasia Studio, I can quickly create computer screen capture movies which I upload to the web, place on CD, or create full length training DVDs to sell.

Camtasia is a powerful, yet easy to use tool, allowing anyone with a computer and microphone to instantly be in the product creation business.

But it is somewhat pricey - with the latest version costing $299 US (and well worth it).

For those who want the power of Camtasia, but don't want to spend $299, I'll show you how to get it for free.

That's right. Free.

See, Techsmith (the developers of Camtasia) are offering an older version of Camtasia for free.

That version still gives you the power to quickly create great looking screen capture movies - but doesn't have all the latest features found in the current version.

Techsmith knows that many who get the older version, may love Camtasia so much they will want to upgrade to the latest version. And when they do, they will be able to do so at a significant discount.

But even if they don't upgrade, they still get to use Camtasia 3 for free - forever.

To get Camtasia 3 for free, download version 3 from http://download.techsmith.com/camtasiastudio/enu/312/camtasiaf.exe

then get the free license key from http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia/pcpls.asp

Update - Sadly, the offer of a free version of Camtasia 3 has expired. You can still download a 30 day free trial though - find it at http://www.camtasia.com .