CreditCard Processing- Difference between Authorize and Capture

When you are processing payment through Authorize.net gateway there are 2 buttons. 1 says AUTHORIZE and the other says CAPTURE. What is the difference in these two buttons?

Answer: Authorize transactions are submitted to Authorize.Net, they send the transaction to your processor for authorization. If approved, the transaction is placed in your Unsettled Transactions with a status of Authorized/Pending Capture. The authorization places the funds on hold with the customer's bank. When the transaction is Captured, the funds transfer process will occur. This can be useful in situations where you need to make a sale, but won't be able to ship merchandise for several days. You can authorize the transaction to ensure funds availability, then capture the transaction to obtain the funds upon shipment.