---
title: "The island"
description: "Bigshot has no Dock icon and no main window. It lives in two places: the menu bar, and the island, a black shape that hangs from the camera housing at the top of the screen. The island has three presentations."
url: https://www.bigshot.pics/docs/island
---
# The island

Bigshot has no Dock icon and no main window. It lives in two places: the
menu bar, and the **island**, a black shape that hangs from the camera
housing at the top of the screen. The island has three presentations.

| Presentation | How you get there | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Notch View | Resting state | Nothing. It is the same size as the notch. |
| Peek View | Hover the notch | A strip of recent captures, and the three pods: Lens, Capture and Agent. |
| Expanded View | Click the notch or Peek View's tray, or press ⌃⌥I | Every recent capture, the three buttons, the Project and tag pickers. |

## Where it appears

The island always hangs from the built-in display's notch, whichever screen
the pointer or the capture is on. On a Mac without a notch it sits centred at
the top of the main screen, under the menu bar. It is on every Space and
re-lays itself out when displays are connected or rearranged.

## Notch View

The island at rest, the size of the camera housing, and invisible against
it. Hovering opens Peek View. Clicking opens Expanded View.

## Peek View

Hover the notch and it grows down into a tray:

- **The strip**, the most recent captures, newest first. It scrolls
  through all of them.
- **The stack**, three round pods at the strip's end: **Lens**, **Capture**
  (the white one) and **Agent**. With nothing captured yet, the three hang
  in a row under the notch.

What you can do:

- **Click a thumbnail** to open it in the [editor](https://www.bigshot.pics/docs/editor).
- **Drag a thumbnail** into any app that accepts images or files.
- **Scroll the strip** to see the rest. The stack slides out of the way
  while you scroll and comes back when you stop.
- **Click the handle**, the chevron along the tray's bottom edge, to open
  Expanded View. Clicking the tray anywhere that is not a thumbnail or a
  pod does the same, and so does the lip when nothing is captured.
- **Click Capture** to capture with the selected mode.
- **Hold Capture** to pop the capture modes out in a line beside it;
  release over one to use it. See [Capture modes](https://www.bigshot.pics/docs/capture-modes).
- **Click Lens** to see the code behind part of the screen, or **Agent** to
  select an area and hand it to an agent with your instructions.

Hover a pod to see its key: **C**, **L** or **A** does the same while the
pointer is on the island.

With an Active Project, its captures carry a small dot in the Project's
colour.

Peek View carries no Project controls, but the keys work here as they do in
Expanded View: with the pointer on the island, press **P** to switch the
Active Project, **T** to switch the tag or **M** to switch the capture mode. See [The keys](#the-keys).

Peek View closes a quarter of a second after the pointer leaves.

Peek thumbnails have no right-click menu or hover buttons. For those, open
Expanded View or the Library.

## Expanded View

### The band

Beside the notch, the band says where new captures go:

- **Project pill.** The Active Project's name and colour, or **No Project**.
  Its menu switches Project, or adds one. **P** does the same from the
  keyboard; see [The keys](#the-keys).
- **Tag pill** (with an Active Project). The active tag, or **Tag**. Its
  menu picks a tag, creates one (type a name in **New tag** and press
  Return), or opens **Edit tags…**. **T** does the same from the keyboard.
  A red dot means the Project's screenshot sharing needs attention. See
  [Projects](https://www.bigshot.pics/docs/projects).
- **Capture count**, on the right. A capture in progress or an error shows
  there instead.
- **Library** opens the [Library](https://www.bigshot.pics/docs/library) window. **O** does the same
  from the keyboard.
- **More (•••).** **Settings…**, **Keep Island Open** and
  **Trash All Captures…**. Right-clicking the island anywhere but on a
  thumbnail opens the same menu.
- **The pin**, only while the island is pinned. Click it to unpin.

### The captures card

The captures sit in a strip under the band, newest first, and the strip
scrolls through all of them. See [Thumbnails](#thumbnails).

### The stack

At the strip's end, three round buttons. Hover one and it grows into a
pill with its name and the key that does the same while the pointer is on
the island:

- **Lens (L)** shows the code behind an area of the screen. See
  [Code Lens](https://www.bigshot.pics/docs/code-lens).
- **Capture (C)**, the white one, captures with the selected mode. The
  glyph after it is the selected mode: click it, or press **M**, to pick
  Display, Window, Area, Smart or Frame.
- **Agent (A)** selects an area and hands it to an agent with your
  instructions.

Scrolling the strip slides the stack out of its way; it comes back when
you stop.

**Trash All Captures…** does not delete by itself: it puts a red button in
the band. Click that to move every capture shown to the Trash. It goes away
after five seconds, or when the pointer leaves it.

### The keys

With the pointer on the island, in Peek View or Expanded View, three keys open
the **Quick Picker**, a list that drops under the island:

| Key | Opens |
|---|---|
| P | The Projects: **No Project**, then each Project with its colour |
| T | The Active Project's tags: **No tag**, then each tag. With no Active Project, the Projects instead |
| M | The capture modes, each with its shortcut |

In the picker, typing narrows the list, **↑** and **↓** move, **Return**
takes the selection and **Esc** closes it. The current choice carries a
tick. A name typed into the tag list that no tag has is offered as
**Create**: Return makes the tag and makes it the one new captures carry.

Five more keys act straight away: **C** captures with the selected mode,
**L** starts [Code Lens](https://www.bigshot.pics/docs/code-lens), **A** selects an area for
an agent, **O** opens the Library and **H** pauses or resumes
[Hooks](https://www.bigshot.pics/docs/hooks).

What was picked is confirmed in a short notice where the picker was. The
keys are only Bigshot's while the pointer is on the island; everywhere else,
including the Library, P, T and M are typing. The picker takes the keyboard
only while it is up, and the app behind gets it back the moment it closes.

### Thumbnails

Expanded View shows the Active Project's captures, or the session's captures
when there is no Project.

- **Click** to open the editor.
- **Drag** into another app. The drag carries the file and the image.
- **Hover** to show **Copy**, **Edit** and **Move to Trash** over the middle
  of the image. Move to Trash does not ask.
- **The chip** in the bottom-left corner shows the capture's tags. Click it to
  move the capture to another Project or change its tags.
- **Badges** show the capture's age, whether it is kept, whether it is shared
  with agents, and Hook status.
- **A white ring** marks a capture taken in the last minute.

Right-click a thumbnail for:

- **Edit…**
- **Quick Look**
- **Copy**
- **Reveal in Finder**
- **Keep · prevent automatic deletion** / **Stop keeping**
- **Screenshot Context…** and **View Hook Runs…** (Project captures)
- **Move to Project** ▸ and **Tags** ▸
- **Move to Trash**

### When it closes

- The pointer leaving closes it after about half a second.
- After a capture taken from Expanded View it closes after about a second,
  unless the pointer is on it.
- An open menu or a drag in progress holds it open.
- **Keep Island Open**, in the More menu, holds it open for the session. A
  pin appears in the band while it is on; click it to unpin.

Opening the Library sends the island back to the notch unless it is pinned.

## The menu bar

The Bigshot menu-bar icon has:

- **Capture (Selected Mode)** and each mode by name, with shortcuts
- **Active Project** ▸ — **No Project**, each Project, **Add Project…**
- **Pause Hooks** / **Resume Hooks**
- **Download Bigshot x.y…** when an update is available
- **Show Bigshot**, **Library…**, **Settings…** (⌘,)
- **Enter Licence…** (Free tier)
- **Setup Guide…**, **About Bigshot**, **Quit Bigshot** (⌘Q)