--- title: "Capture modes" description: "Bigshot has five capture modes: Display, Window, Area, Smart and Frame. One of them is the selected mode, the one the camera button and ⌃⌥C fire. Each mode also has its own shortcut, which captures with that mode whatever is selected." url: https://www.bigshot.pics/docs/capture-modes --- # Capture modes Bigshot has five capture modes: **Display**, **Window**, **Area**, **Smart** and **Frame**. One of them is the *selected mode*, the one the camera button and `⌃⌥C` fire. Each mode also has its own shortcut, which captures with that mode whatever is selected. | Mode | Shortcut | Takes | Licence | |---|---|---|---| | Display | ⌃⌥D | The whole screen the pointer is on, at once. | Free | | Window | ⌃⌥W | The frontmost window of another app, at once. | Free | | Area | ⌃⌥A | A rectangle you drag out. | Free | | Smart | ⌃⌥S | The window, panel or card under the pointer, or a drag that snaps to edges. | Licence | | Frame | ⌃⌥F | A box you place on screen and fire on a timer. | Free | | Selected mode | ⌃⌥C | Whichever mode is selected. | — | Every shortcut can be changed in Settings › Shortcuts. See [Shortcuts](https://www.bigshot.pics/docs/shortcuts). ## Choosing a mode - **Capture, on the island.** Hover the notch and the white Capture pod is in the stack at the strip's end; click it, or press **C**, to capture with the selected mode. Press and hold it for about a third of a second and the modes pop out in a line beside it as droplets; release over one, or click one, to capture with it. That mode becomes the selected mode. Click the pod again to close the fan without capturing. - **Expanded View.** The Capture button shows the selected mode's glyph after its name. Click the glyph, or press **M**, for the mode picker: choosing a mode selects it without capturing. - **Menu bar.** The Bigshot menu lists **Capture (Selected Mode)** and each mode by name, with its current shortcut. - **Shortcuts.** Each mode's own shortcut, or `⌃⌥C` for the selected one. The selected mode is remembered across launches. A fresh install starts on Area. ### Is the island in the picture? A capture started from the island moves the island out of the way first and shows *Capturing…* until it is done. A capture started from a shortcut or the menu bar leaves the island where it is, so if the island is open it is in the shot. Collapse it first, or start from the island. ## Display Captures the whole display the pointer is on, immediately. There is nothing to pick. The pointer is not in the image. With several displays, move the pointer onto the one you want before pressing `⌃⌥D`. ## Window Captures the frontmost ordinary window that belongs to another app, immediately. Bigshot's own windows are never chosen. The image is the window's content at full resolution, without its drop shadow and without the pointer. To capture a particular window, click it first so it is frontmost, then press `⌃⌥W`. If no window qualifies, Bigshot says *No capturable window was found.* ## Area Draws a selection overlay on every display, like the system's ⇧⌘4, with the crosshair pointer. The screen is not dimmed. - **Drag** a rectangle. Releasing the mouse takes it. - **Esc** cancels, even mid-drag. - A drag smaller than 2 × 2 points is treated as a cancel. - A selection stays on the display it started on. To capture across two displays, capture each one. - Connecting, disconnecting or rearranging a display while the overlay is up cancels it. There is no size readout, magnifier or keyboard nudging in Area mode. For pixel sizes, take the shot and use the editor's Measure tool, or use Frame, which shows its size as you resize it. ## Smart Smart is Area mode that reads the screen first. It needs a Licence; without one, choosing it opens Settings › Licence. - **Hover** to highlight the window, panel or card under the pointer. The smallest region that fits is offered first. - **Click** to capture the highlighted region. - **Scroll** to step out to the region around it, and back in. - **Drag** to draw your own box. Its edges snap onto window edges and edges found in the image within a short distance. - **Hold ⌥** to turn highlighting and snapping off and drag freely. - **Esc** cancels. Smart re-reads the screen a couple of times a second, so a window that opens or moves while the overlay is up is picked up. Very small regions are ignored. Use Smart for a single sidebar, dialog, card or button with tidy edges and no manual cropping afterwards. ## Frame Frame puts a box on screen that you move and resize over what you want, then fires after a timer. It is meant for shots you cannot take with the mouse busy: an open menu, a hover state, a tooltip, a drag in progress. **Opening it.** Press `⌃⌥F`, or choose Frame from the fan, band or menu bar. The first time, the box is centred and half the width of the screen. After that it opens where you last left it, at the same size, with the same timer. **Placing it.** - Drag an edge or corner to resize. The smallest size is 80 × 60 points. - Drag the bar under the box to move it. The bar moves above the box when there is no room below. - The bar shows the size in pixels, for example `1280 × 800`. - Clicks inside the box go through to the app underneath, so you can set up the state you want while the frame is up. The frame stays on top of every window and on every Space. **The timer.** The bar has a timer menu with **No timer**, **3 s**, **5 s** and **10 s**, and − / + buttons that step one second at a time up to 60 seconds. The default is 3 seconds and the choice is remembered. **Taking the shot.** 1. Click the shutter on the bar, press Return or Space while the frame has focus, or press `⌃⌥F` again. 2. The frame's outline turns red and the shutter counts down. 3. Use the time to open the menu or hover the element you want. 4. The shot is taken. The frame itself is left out of the image. To call off a countdown, click the shutter again, press Esc, or press `⌃⌥F`. The frame stays up. After the shot the frame closes and remembers its place. Press `⌃⌥F` to open it in the same place for the next shot. Close it without capturing with the × on its bar. A frame that straddles two displays captures from the display holding its centre, cut at that display's edge. ## After a capture Every capture, in every mode: - **Is saved as a PNG** named `Screenshot 2026-10-05 at 14.03.27.png`. A clash adds ` 2`, ` 3` and so on. - **Goes to the Desktop,** or, with an Active Project (licensed), to that Project's `.screenshots/` folder. See [Projects](https://www.bigshot.pics/docs/projects). - **Is copied to the clipboard,** as both the file and the image, so you can paste it into a chat, an issue or a Finder window. - **Lands in the island.** It drops into Peek View, which closes after four seconds. If Expanded View is open it stays, and closes two seconds later unless the pointer is on it or it is pinned. - **Shows a preview** in the bottom-right corner of the screen it was taken on, unless turned off in Settings › General. Up to three previews stack, the newest at the bottom. Each disappears after eight seconds, or the time set under Preview duration; hovering holds them. Drag a preview into any app to drop the file, click it to open it in the editor, or hover it and click the trash button to move it to the Trash. There is no shutter sound. Errors are shown in the island for a few seconds. ## Screen Recording permission Every mode needs macOS Screen Recording permission. Without it, the island opens a band reading **Allow screenshot access**: - **Open System Settings** asks macOS for the permission and opens Privacy & Security › Screen Recording. Turn Bigshot on, then come back. Bigshot notices and briefly opens Expanded View to show it is ready. - **Maybe Later** closes the band and stops it appearing at launch. It returns the next time you try to capture. If captures fail with *macOS did not return a screenshot* while System Settings shows Bigshot as allowed, see [Troubleshooting](https://www.bigshot.pics/docs/troubleshooting). ## Taking over the system shortcuts Settings › Shortcuts has a switch that lets Bigshot answer ⇧⌘3 (Display) and ⇧⌘4 or ⌃⇧⌘4 (Area). ⇧⌘5 stays with macOS. Turn those macOS screenshot shortcuts off first, in System Settings › Keyboard › Keyboard Shortcuts › Screenshots. Bigshot warns while they are still on. Turning the switch on turns off Bigshot's own `⌃⌥D` and `⌃⌥A`; turn either on again in the same pane.