Screenshot
Set PixPin selection detection, magnifier, clipboard, history, polygon corners, long screenshots, and recording preferences on Windows and macOS.
The Screenshot page manages selection, magnifier, screenshot results, long screenshots, and recording preferences. Open the PixPin menu in the Windows tray or macOS menu bar and choose Configuration → Screenshot. It contains Screenshot, Polygon screenshot, Long Screenshot, and Dynamic Screenshot.
Use the headings below to find an option. Selection color, thickness, and anchors are configured in appearance settings.
Screenshot
Automatic selection, cursor, and alignment aids
| Option | Usage and default |
|---|---|
| UI Detection | Defaults to Detection Elements, locating buttons, panels, and other areas under the mouse. Only Window locates windows only; No Detection lets you select manually |
| Element detection padding | Default 0, range −50–999. Positive values add space outside the detected area; negative values shrink it. Set 8 to add 8 pixels on each side |
| Auto expand selection when clicking outside the selected area | On by default. Clicking outside a completed selection expands it to that point. Turn it off to reduce accidental changes |
| Display cursor | Defaults to Default Hidden, with Default Display also available, determining whether the mouse pointer is captured. Press `` during a screenshot to toggle temporarily |
| Show Auxiliary Lines | Defaults to Press Alt to display: hold Alt on Windows or Option on macOS. Also offers Do not show and Always show |
| Auxiliary lines | Select Mouse indicator line, Selection center line, Selection border line, Magnifier, and Rule of thirds grid. The first four are on by default; the grid is off. Keep the alignment aids you need |
| Show Info Bar | On by default, showing selection position, dimensions, and related actions |
The cursor option captures the actual screen pointer; mouse indicator lines are alignment guides. They serve different purposes.
Magnifier and color formats
These options configure the screenshot magnifier for inspecting pixels and picking colors. The magnifier annotation tool has separate settings.
| Option | Usage and default |
|---|---|
| Show Magnifying | On by default, allowing the magnifier when positioning inside or adjusting a selection. The magnifier choice among auxiliary lines also controls its appearance when those aids are active |
| Magnifying content | Select Grid lines, Cross lines, Center point line, Screenshot Border, Screenshot control point, Mark, Mark control line, and Mouse coordinate. All except screenshot control points are on by default. Reduce clutter or retain more positioning information |
| Magnifying power | Default 11, range 1–100. Higher values make individual pixels easier to see but show a smaller area in the same window |
| Magnifying glass showing shortCut tips | On by default, showing color-picking and other shortcut hints. Turn it off once familiar with them |
| Magnifying glass grid line color | Translucent gray by default. Click Change Color to distinguish the grid from the captured content |
| Magnifying color format | Click Manage Color Formats to select color picker formats. RGB and #HEX are enabled by default |
| Smooth zoom magnifier content | Off by default, preserving sharp pixel blocks. Turn it on for smoother enlarged content |
In Manage Color Formats, check formats to enable them and drag to reorder. Double-click to edit the name and format; right-click to enable, disable, or delete. You can also click Add Color Format, enter a name and format, inspect the preview, save, then click OK in the manager. See custom color formats for syntax.
Hints, QR codes, and history
| Option | Usage and default |
|---|---|
| Confirmation required when closing via key | Windows only, on by default. Asks before a close shortcut exits the screenshot, preventing accidental closing. Not shown on macOS |
| Show shortCut tips | On by default, controlling screenshot shortcut hints. Press F1F1 during capture to toggle them |
| QR code detection mode | Defaults to Auto Enable, detecting codes and showing an entry point. Manually Enable lets you start detection; Directly Show Content expands recognized content directly; Completely Disable turns detection off |
| Number of historical screenshot | Default 100, range 0–99999, limiting stored screenshot content. 0 means retain none, not unlimited |
| Number of historical screenshot areas | Default 100, range 0–99999, storing selection position and size for repeated capture. 0 stops recording and reading these regions |
| Sound effect playback timing | Select from starting a screenshot, pinning during capture, copying a screenshot, successful saving, and quick saving. All five are unchecked by default |
The two histories store screenshot content and selection bounds separately. After lowering limits, new records displace older ones according to the limit. Changing the count does not immediately clear all history.
Copying, mouse actions, and toolbar
| Option | Usage and default |
|---|---|
| Pin and copy to clipboard | Off by default. Also copies the image when a screenshot becomes a pin, ready for pasting |
| Paste screenshot to input focus after copying | Off by default. Copies the image, exits capture, then sends paste to the current input location. The receiving app must support image pasting |
| Left double-click action | Defaults to Copy, setting the action for a double-click inside the selection |
| Middle click action | Defaults to Pin, setting the action for a middle click inside the selection |
| Wheel function | Switching parent and child elements and Resize selection, both on by default. The first applies during automatic preselection; the second to a confirmed selection |
| Copy image at HDPI reduced to | Windows only, defaults to No reduction. Offers 100%, 150%, 200%, 250%, and 300%. Images shrink only when display scaling exceeds the chosen value. On a 200% display with 100% selected, copied width and height are each halved |
| Adjustment of function buttons | Click Edit Button, drag to reorder, select Always show, In More Menu, or Always Hide, then click Confirm to save |
| Display secondary button area | On by default, providing access to additional screenshot actions. Turn it off to hide these entries |
Both mouse actions offer no action, copy, detect text and copy, quick save, save, pin, and close screenshot. Text detection copies recognized text. Save opens a dialog; quick save uses existing save settings.
Windows capture mode and HDR
- Screenshot mode: defaults to Auto. High compatibility prioritizes compatibility; High performance (beta) uses performance-oriented capture. Try compatibility mode if capture behaves unexpectedly.
- HDR screenshot filter: shown only when an HDR-enabled display is detected. Choose Standard, the default, or Video to adjust the appearance of converted HDR screenshots.
Neither option appears on macOS. Windows capture mode is offered only on Windows 10 builds above 17134; builds below 19041 still use compatible capture in practice. The HDR filter also requires the HDR conditions above.
Polygon screenshot
Polygon corner radius adjusts polygon screenshot corners with a slider, range 0–10, default 5. Set 0 for sharp corners; increase it for smoother turns. It does not control rectangle screenshot corners or broken line annotations.
Long screenshot
| Option | Usage and default |
|---|---|
| After entering the long screenshot | Defaults to Vertical Screenshot, beginning vertical capture on entry. Horizontal Screenshot captures horizontally. Do Not Start Screenshot Automatically and Show Start/Stop Button both wait and provide a start/stop button |
| Auto crop when scrolling direction changes | Off by default. When stitching along the initial direction, scrolling back can automatically crop the retraced portion to control the end of the screenshot |
| Respond to shortcuts | On by default, enabling long screenshot shortcuts. Turn it off to reduce key conflicts when typing in the captured webpage or app, and use the toolbar |
Starting capture on entry does not mean automatically scrolling the page. Scrolling is still controlled through long screenshot operations; see long screenshots.
Dynamic screenshot
This group configures screen and animated recording, plus keyboard and mouse effects in playback.
| Option | Usage and default |
|---|---|
| Exit recording after encoding | Off by default. Closes the current recording window after export, without quitting PixPin |
| Don't show audio recording warning again | Off by default. Suppresses the warning when attempting to change audio switches during recording. You must still stop recording before changing audio settings |
| Enable hardware acceleration | Off by default on Windows, on by default on macOS. Uses available hardware encoding. Turning it on prompts a test; see below |
| Smooth mouse track | On by default, smoothing mouse movement in playback and export. Does not change system mouse speed |
| Toolbar display mode when recording | Defaults to Ask each time, asking when the toolbar overlaps the capture area. You can choose Always show or Always hide in capture. Hiding excludes it from the recording while leaving it usable on screen |
| Number of key history records | Default 5, range 1–10. Controls simultaneous key records, including the current key |
| Key display time in seconds | Default 2, range 1–10. How long keys remain visible after release |
| Maximum number of character keys to merge | Default 5, range 1–50. Combines consecutive character keys; reaching the limit starts a new entry |
| Simplify mouse animations | On by default. A new animation for the same mouse button ends the previous one, reducing stacked click effects |
To reenable hardware acceleration:
Check Enable hardware acceleration, then click Test in Hardware Acceleration Test.
It turns on after a successful test. If testing is unavailable, leave it off. Choosing Enable Anyway does not guarantee hardware encoding every time; software encoding is used when unavailable.
Choosing Skip Test asks again whether to enable it anyway. Confirm to turn it on; cancel to leave it off.
On macOS, hiding the toolbar during capture also hides its associated control panels. Choose always show if a remote viewer or presentation audience needs to see these controls.
Restore defaults
Restore Default at the bottom resets this page after confirmation; Restore All Default also affects other pages. Hardware acceleration returns to the default for your operating system.
Related articles
Appearance
Adjust PixPin appearance settings for themes, fonts, colors, tray icons, toolbar size, dialogs, and screenshot borders on Windows and macOS.
Pin
Set PixPin pin restoration, history limits, zoom, click-through, image display, and text preferences, with defaults and Windows and macOS differences.