Area capture
Capture any region of your screen by dragging a selection.
How to use
Section titled “How to use”- Press the region capture shortcut — ⌘⇧2 on macOS or Ctrl+Shift+3 on Windows (the default; you can change it in Settings → Shortcuts)
- Click and drag to select the area
- Release to capture and open the editor
Reticle styles
Section titled “Reticle styles”Customize the selection appearance in Settings → Appearance:
| Style | Look |
|---|---|
| Simple (default) | Clean white border |
| Rainbow | Animated gradient glow |
| Glass | Frosted blur effect (may impact capture performance) |
| Intelligence | Soft animated glow that follows your selection — fluid, alive, a little futuristic |
Multi-frame capture
Section titled “Multi-frame capture”Area capture automatically records a short burst of frames while you select — 1 s by default. Change the length with Settings → Captures → Capture window (0–5 s; 0 captures a single frame). After capture, use the timeline to pick the perfect moment.
Why it’s useful
Section titled “Why it’s useful”- Capture hover states and tooltips
- Grab animations mid-motion
- Never miss the right moment
Using the timeline
Section titled “Using the timeline”- Scrub — Drag the playhead
- Arrow keys — Step through frames (with the Timeline tool, F, selected)
- Annotations — Annotations appear on every frame, so you can switch frames without redoing them
See Frame Timeline for the details.
Freezing the screen
Section titled “Freezing the screen”Sometimes what you’re capturing won’t sit still long enough for you to aim.
- Freeze the screen — While selecting a region (or an OCR region), press Space to freeze the screen. The frame stays put while you refine your selection; press Space again to return to the live desktop.
- Start frozen — Use the Region capture (frozen) shortcut to open the selection overlay with the screen already frozen. The default is ⌘⇧X on macOS or Ctrl+Shift+X on Windows (the default shortcut — you can change it in Settings → Shortcuts).
A hint pill shows the freeze toggle whenever the overlay opens. Freezing is perfect for hover states, tooltips, and dropdowns that close the moment you breathe.
- Cancel — Press Escape before releasing
- Multiple monitors — Move mouse to switch screens
- Precise selection — Dimensions shown while selecting
See also: Window Capture | Screen Capture