Pin basics
Learn to move and resize pins, adjust opacity, keep them on top, lock them, enable click-through, and show only part of a pin in thumbnail mode.
A pin is an image, text, or color floating on your screen, so you can refer to it while working in another app. Click “Pin” after taking a screenshot, or copy content and press Ctrl+2⌃ Control+2 to create a pin. This page covers the most common pin operations.
Right-click a pin to open its menu. Most of the operations on this page are available there.
Move and zoom
| Operation | Method |
|---|---|
| Move | Drag the pin. You can also select it and press the arrow keys to move it pixel by pixel. |
| Zoom | Scroll over the pin to change its size by 10% per step. |
| Fine zoom | Hold Alt⌥ Option and scroll to change its size by 1% per step for precise alignment. |
| Resize by dragging the border | Move the pointer to the edge of the pin and drag to resize it. |
| Restore original size | Click the pin with the middle mouse button. |
On the “Pin” settings page, you can change the zoom steps, the anchor used when zooming with the wheel (the top-left corner by default), and whether dragging the border resizes the pin.
Opacity
When tracing over a pin or aligning a design, make it translucent to see the content underneath:
- Hold Ctrl⌘ Command and scroll over the pin to adjust opacity by 5% per step.
- You can also adjust it under “Opacity” in the context menu.
New pins default to 100% opacity. Change “Default opacity of pin window” on the “Pin” settings page (10%–100%).
Keep on top and lock
Keep on top: Pins appear above all other windows by default. To temporarily let a pin sit behind other windows, press TT, or uncheck “Keep on top” in the context menu. Press it again to restore this setting. A pin that is no longer on top appears in the taskbar so you can find it again.
Lock: Locking prevents accidental dragging or closing by double-clicking or pressing a key, which helps keep a reference image in place. Press LL, or select “Lock” in the context menu. Clicking a locked pin shows “Locked, right-click to unlock.” Select “Lock” again in the context menu to unlock it.
Under “Operations disabled when locked” on the “Pin” settings page, choose which operations locking blocks: moving, closing by clicking, closing by keyboard, and accepting drops. All are blocked by default.
Click-through
With click-through enabled, the pin ignores the mouse: clicks and scrolling go directly to the window underneath. The pin remains a visual reference. For example, keep instructions on screen while following them in the app below.
- OpacityHold Ctrl (Command on macOS) and scroll to adjust.
- LockPrevent accidental moves and closing. Toggle with L.
- Click-throughClicks go to the window underneath.
Right-click the pin and select “Mouse Penetration.” The first time, PixPin explains how click-through works. Click “Enable.”
The pin becomes translucent (50% opacity by default), indicating that click-through is enabled.
To move the pin or exit click-through, hover over it to reveal a small toolbar. Drag the toolbar to move the pin, or click “Exit Mouse Penetration” to return to normal.
You can also assign a global shortcut to “Toggle Mouse Penetration” in settings to toggle it from any app.
On the “Pin” settings page, you can change click-through opacity and whether the small toolbar appears.
Thumbnail mode
If a pin is large but you only need a small part, such as a few rows of a large table, switch to thumbnail mode. It displays just one region and uses less screen space.
| Operation | Method |
|---|---|
| Enter or exit thumbnail mode | Hold Shift⇧ Shift and double-click the pin, press RR, or select “Thumbnail mode” in the context menu. |
| Select the visible region | Hold the right mouse button and drag over the pin to select the part to display. |
| Move the visible region | Hold Shift⇧ Shift and drag to pan the content inside the pin. |
| Zoom | Scroll the mouse wheel. |
Under “Thumbnail zoom mode” on the “Pin” settings page, choose “Zoom all” (window and content together, the default) or “Zoom content only.”
Common shortcuts
With a pin selected, use these shortcuts:
| Operation | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Keep on top | TT |
| Lock | LL |
| Thumbnail mode | RR |
| Move | Arrow keys |
| Close | Double-click the pin, or EscEsc |
| Restore the last closed pin | Ctrl+3⌃ Control+3 |
Change mouse operations for pins (zooming, opacity, closing, thumbnail mode, and more) on the “Mouse” settings page.
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