Save web page pictures automatically with SavePictureAs

If you're browsing the web and find an image you'd like to keep, then the procedure is almost always the same: right-click, select "Save image as", and choose your preferred destination. That's simple enough, too, but if you’re saving lots of pictures in the same session then it can get a little tedious.

SavePictureAs is an open-source tool which speeds up the image saving process (in all the main browsers, and most of the minor ones) by automating most of its steps. All you have to do is move the mouse cursor over a picture, press a customisable hotkey, and watch as the program simulates a right-click, selects "Save image as", points the browser at your favorite folder, and saves the picture with its default file name.

If that file name already exists, a "Duplicates" dialog offers various options. You can choose to delete one of the pictures, add the current date and time to one name, or just enter your preferred file name.

Alternatively, SavePictureAs can be set up to automatically save images with custom names, perhaps using sequential numbers (pic1.jpg, pic2.jpg), or maybe adding the date and time. Set up your own rules to deal with duplicates -- "always overwrite", "add date and time" and so on -- and you won't be hassled with any more alerts.

A built-in Favorites system gives you additional control over where pictures are saved. Assign a few favourites to other folders, and clicking any of these later will change the save location.

As a bonus, SavePictureAs can also capture and save the entire screen, active window or a custom rectangular area. It can't compete with a specialist screen capture tool -- there's no way to annotate your images, it won't automatically upload them anywhere -- but this is still a useful extra.

SavePictureAs real strength is in its configurability, though. Once you’ve set up your preferred folders, file name format, overwrite rules and more, saving images becomes almost automatic, and if this is something you do regularly then the program should save you a great deal of time.