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If the two criteria for Mac-ness are “it just works” and being “insanely great,” then Skitch has to be the most Mac-like program I’ve seen in quite some time.

Skitch is a screenshot program, and while there’s nothing wrong with the screenshot capabilities built into OS X (other than it’s deliberately disabled when DVD Player is running), Skitch does everything Grab does, does it better, then adds labeling features you’ll wonder how you ever lived without, along with built-in sharing features that “just work” to allow you pass your pictures on via e-mail, web, and chat.

Currently a free beta from the mad geniuses at Plasq (best known to Mac users as the creators of Comic Life, a program I admire but haven’t found much practical use for), Skitch is a small program that waits in the background until you need to take a screenshot and/or do simple editing to a photo.

To take a screenshot, just click on a button in the Skitch floating panel, or use the shortcut. You can also use Skitch to take a webcam photo (much like Photo Booth). Once you’ve got your pic, you can add text, lines, arrows, boxes, or whatever you like. Now, the neat thing is that Skitch keeps these marks in layers, allowing you manipulate (or remove) them at any point. Skitch also allows you to crop and edit the photos using a simple process; if you pull the outside of the Skitch window, you can resize the photo; dragging the inside part of the window (the edges of the picture) crops the photo.

From there, you can save the photo (as a Skitch file), export it as a JPG, PNG, PDF, SVG, or TIF to your desktop, or upload it using the built-in Webpost feature to your (currently free) webspace on Skitch.com or .Mac (or MobileMe or whatever the hell they’re calling it this week). From the Skitch page, you get a series of links for a variety or purposes: embedding in a web page, sharing via e-mail or chat, or directing people to your Skitch page. You can also set the privacy options for the photo.

For simple screenshots and photo editing, Skitch might be the most intuitive program around. You can register and download the free beta, and watch a video that further explains how the program works.

Product [Skitch]