Unlike other applications, Snap does not immediately show a program window after launch. Instead, you can access its features by moving the mouse pointer over the bar at the top-center of your screen to expand it. Alternatively, you can also right-click the program icon in the system tray next to the clock to access most features. Depending on your Windows settings, you may have to click the arrow first to reveal the icon.

In case of display issues, please disable GPU optimization in the program settings.

Capture

There are three ways to activate the capture process: through the capture bar, through the program symbol in the system tray, or through keyboard shortcuts.

Capture bar

Once Snap is launched, the capture bar will be automatically displayed as a marker at the top of your screen by default. Move your mouse over the marker to expand the capture bar. Move it outside the bar to hide it.

You can also have the toolbar use a rectangular shape through the program settigs.

Functions

1: Capture screen region

2: Settings

3: Open editor

4: Capture all displays as screenshot

5: Open the current screenshot output directory in Windows Explorer

6: Exit program

Context menu (system tray)

Once launched, you can access many capturing tools through Snap's context menu. Simply right-click the program icon in the system tray next to the clock.

The context menu also allows you to reopen the video editor, e.g., to make additional changes to existing videos. This option is only available, when the output folder you specified contains at least a single valid video file.

Capture screen region

1: Create selection

2: Select target

3: Capture pointer

4: Fast screenshotting

5: Switch color scheme

6: OCR texts

7: OCR language

8: Palette

The toolbar always appears at the top of the screen that currently has the mouse.

Create selection

Use the cursor keys to move the crosshair in 1-pixel increments for added precision. Click the X or hit Esc to stop capturing.

The toolbars are auto-hidden during drag operations so they don't obstruct your view. Hit Space to temporarily hide the toolbars before drag operations. They will then reappear once you release the mouse button.

Selection mode

Automatic (window detection)

In this mode, the progam auto-highlights windows below the mouse pointer and creates a rectangular selection on clicking.

Hold down the left mouse button and drag to instantly create a rectangular selection, ignoring any detected window.

Rectangle

Hold down the left mouse button and drag to create a rectangular selection. Drag the edge markers to adjust its size. Drag inside the rectangle to reposition it.

Ellipse

Hold down the left mouse button and drag to create an elliptical selection. Drag the edge markers to adjust its size. Drag inside the ellipse to reposition it.

Hold down shift while dragging the edge markers to equalize the height of a rectangular/elliptical selection to its width. Hit Shift without dragging to instantly set the height of the selection to its current width.

Freeform

Hold down the left mouse button and drag to draw a freeform shape. The shape is always closed automatically.

If you've already created a selection, switching modes will auto-apply the position and dimensions to your new selection, whenever possible. For example, when you switch from a freeform shape to "Rectangle", the new shape will reuse the existing size and position properties.

Eye dropper (Color recognition)

Move the pointer over a pixel and left-click to extract and copy its color value to the palette.

Create selection (presets)

Current display
Creates a rectangular selection around the display area that currently has the mouse pointer.

All displays
Creates a rectangular selection across all connected displays.

Custom
Allows you to input width/height manually to create a value-based rectangular selection. See Custom selection

Repeat last
Recreates the most recently confirmed rectangular/elliptical/freeform selection.

The label reflects the most recently confirmed selection. If you confirmed a rectangular selection at the location 100,100 with a size of 320x240, the new label will be "100,100 320x240".

Select target

Select the desired output target for your captures here.

Editor: Shots are automatically opened in Snap's built-in editor upon creation.

Folder: Shots are only stored a image files in the output folder.

Clipboard: Shots are immediatly copied to the system clipboard.

Other application: Shots are sent to custom application. You can specify the application in the program settings.

Ashampoo Web: Shots are uploaded to Ashampoo Web. The affected link will open automatically in your default web browser once the upload is complete.

The icon of the button changes depending on the selected target so you can always see what will happen with your shots.

Finished video captures are always open in the built-in video editor.

Capture pointer

Enable this feature to capture the mouse pointer as part of your screenshots.

The pointer is captured the moment you confirm your selection, ideally by clicking into the selection at the position you want the pointer to appear.

Fast screenshotting

If enabled, the selected area will be captured as soon as you release the mouse button without the need for manual confirmationn and without the ability to readjust the position/size of the selection.

Switch color scheme

You can toggle the color of the crosshair and guidelines here to adjust their display for best readability.

You can also use the mouse wheel to switch between colors.

The selected color will initially be used for the selection rectangle and live annotations during video capturing. You can always change it there later.

OCR texts

Extracted texts are stored here. Move the pointer over an entry and use the buttons to delete or copy its content to the system clipboard. Click a text entry to edit it.

More (…)

Clear
Deletes all text entries.

Export TXT
Exports all texts as a single text file.

The most recently recognized text gets always copied to the system clipboard automatically.

OCR language

Use this menu to quickly switch between OCR languages. Click "Add language" to add additional OCR languages.

Ashampoo Snap relies on language packs provided by your Windows installation. Adding new OCR languages therefore means installing the associated display languages through Windows' display language settings.

Palette

Colors that have been extracted using the eye dropper tool are collected here. Move the pointer over a color and use the buttons to delete or copy its value in different notations to the system clipboard.

More (…)

Clear
Deletes all color entries from the palette.

Export CSS (Photoshop
Exports the current hex values as CSS file prepared for Photoshop. Use "Import swatches" via the "Swatches" tab in the palette tool to add the colors to your Photoshop project.

Export PNG (Affinity)
This function exports all colors as single pixels to a PNG file. Use Affinity's "Create Palette From Image" to import the colors into a project.

Confirm selection

Use the context menu (…) to confirm your selection and apply an operation. Alternatively, right-click the selection to access the menu. The most frequently used operations are also accessible through dedicated buttons below the selection.

If all you need is a simple screenshot, you can also left-click into the selection or hit Enter to confirm it.

Scroll-capturing

If you use window detection, e.g., to capture a website, make sure to adjust the selection rectangle to only include the content you wish to capture. Titel bars, tool bars, and scroll bars must not be included in your selection!

Snap can capture scrolling content vertically or horizontally. This is achieved by taking multiple screenshots between scrolling and assembling them into a coherent image at the end of the process.

During capturing, the mouse pointer will snap into a predefined location and should not be moved.

Here's a few pointers for a successful scroll capture:

Your selection must not contain window elements, like scrollbars, because these will interfere with the assembling of the screenshots.
Make sure your selection does not contain sticky elements. These are elements that move with the content to stay in a fixed position, like web banners.
If you need to capture a website that dynamically fetches new content during scrolling, make sure to manually scroll the bottom of the page before you start capturing from the bottom. This will ensure the content is instantly available.

Example

A browser window was detected and selected in the image above (red box). The selection contains multiple window elements (title bar, top/right toolbar, right scrollbar, window border). In addition, the website contains a navigation element at the bottom right that stays fixed during scrolling (white upward arrow on dark circle). For a successful scroll-capture, the selection has to be adjusted to only surround website content without window and navigation elements (green box).

Hit Alt+Esc to stop a running scroll-capture operation. The operation terminates automatically when the content stays unchanged for a predefined time.

Websites in particular can be long, and scroll-capturing can lead to massive images in these instances that push even modern PCs to their limits. The maximum supported width/height is therefore internally limited, with content that exceeds the limit being ignored in the assembled image.

Timer-based capturing

This function allows you to capture one or multiple shots after a custom time period specified in seconds. Use the buttons to adjust the time span or use your keyboard.

Hit Alt+Esc to stop a running operation.

Capture video

See Capture video

Customize selection

This dialog allows you to create or modify a selection based on the specified width/height. Use the buttons or your keyboard to adjust the values individually.

Custom presets

Click "Add preset" to create a preset based on the current width/height. Click an existing preset to apply its values to the current selection. Click the trashcan to delete a preset.

Clear selection

Aside from the menu item you can also hit Backspace to delete an existing selection.

Capture video

To record audio and webcam feeds, you first need to select the corresponding devices in Snap's program settings.

1: Reposition toolbar

2: Start/Pause recording

3: Stop/Cancel recording

4: Recording time/Time after which recording stops

5: Show/Hide mouse clicks

6: Enable/Disable drawing mode

7: Switch color scheme

8: Show/Hide webcam

9: Open video settings

10: Minimize controls

11: Cancel recording

Reposition toolbar

Drag the grabber to reposition the toolbar.

Any part of the toolbar that is inside the selection will also be recorded.

Start/Pause recording

Click the button to start or pause a recording. The icon changes depending on the recording status.

The current recording status is also shown as a separate icon in the Windows taskbar:

Stop/Cancel recording

Hit the button to end a recording in progress or cancel recording altogether.

You can always end a recording with Alt+Esc.

Timer

1: Select the desired recording time here (hours:minutes:seconds).

2: Enable/Disable the timer here.

3: Closes the timer settings. If enabled, the timer icon will appear next to the time display: .

Show/Hide mouse clicks

Enable this setting to visualize mouse clicks via animations. Their color is based on the currently selected color scheme.

Enable/Disable drawing mode

This mode allows you to draw arrow via left and rectangle via right mouse clicks. Their color is based on the currently selected color scheme.

While the mode is active, mouse clicks are not visualized and you cannot interact with program windows.

Use the mouse wheel to switch the color scheme while in drawing mode.

Draw arrow

Left-click the selection area to auto-create an arrow pointing in the direction of the click. The starting position is based on the previous mouse pointer position.
Left-click and drag to manually draw an arrow from start to end. The arrow will appear once you release the mouse button.

Draw rectangle

Right-click and drag to draw a rectangle around an area. The rectangle will appear once you release the mouse button.

Switch color scheme

You can select the color of the selection, arrows, and rectangles here.

While in drawing mode, use the mouse wheel to quickly switch between colors.

Show/Hide webcam

Hit the button to show or hide a live feed from your webcam inside the selection area.

This button is only visible when you have selected a video device in Snap's program settings.

Open video settings

This button leaves the video capturing mode and opens the video-related program settings. The video caturing mode will resume automatically once you apply your changes.

You can only adjust video settings for captures that have not yet been started/paused.

Minimize controls

This button hides the toolbar.

Minimizing the toolbar disables the drawing mode.

Click the status icon in the taskbar to unhide the toolbar.

Custom file names

You can adjust the file naming scheme that will be used for exported images/videos in the program settings. Simply place the cursor at the desired position under "Output file name" and click the below buttons to add the associated placeholders.

Example

Input	Output
Screenshot$sc_$ds_$t_$wn	Screenshot72_2022.02.03_9h26m27s_Document1 - Word.png

Supported placeholders

Type	Input	Output
Date (short)	$ds	2022.02.03
Date (long)	$dl	Thursday, February 3, 2022
Time	$t	9h15m52s
Session counter	#	1
Sceenshot counter	$sc	1
Window name	$wn	Document1 - Word

Edit image

Ashampoo Snap differs between project and image files. Project files contain both image and object data (arrows, shapes, ...). They are stored in a separate "projects" subfolder that lives in the output folder you selected and show up as thumbnails in the preview bar.

When you manually delete image files (e.g. MyImage.png) in your output folder, this will not affect the associated project files so the associated images will still show up in the preview bar.

Only project files from the current output folder appear in the preview bar. Any time you select a new output folder, only projects files inside the new folder will be visible the next time you open the editor.

1: Toolbar

2: Quick access bar

3: Workspace

4: Tool/Object properties

5: Status bar

6: Preview bar

Use the arrow buttons near the edge of a pane to expand/collapse it. You can also expand/collapse individual categories in the tool/object properties pane.

Context menu

Right-click into the screenshot to open the context menu.

Copy to clipboard
Copes the current screenshot and all objects to the system clipboard.

Insert image from clipboard
Pastes the clipboard image into the screenshot as an object at the current mouse position.

Insert object from clipboard
Pastes the most recently copied object into the screenshot at the current mouse position.

Insert image from hard drive
Inserts an existing image file into the screenshot as an object at the current mouse position.

Select next/previous object
This entry is available, when there's already an object selected and moves the selection to the next/previous object.

With object

The functions in this submenu affect the object that belongs to the given index.

Select object
Selects the current object.

Move object to front/back
Moves the object to the first or last position in the object hierarchy so that is either visually sits above or below all other objects.

Move object one level up/down
Moves the object one level up/down in the object hierarchy.

Copy project
Copies the object to the system clipboard.

Cut object
Copies the object to the system clipboard and deletes it from the project.

Delete object
Deletes the object from the project.

Working with objects

Left-click objects to select them. There are three types of objects:

Type 1

Objects of this type display a selection rectangle around them. Drag the icon to reposition them. Drag the icon to rotate the objects freely, e.g. to display text at a 45° angle. Drag the edge markers () to resize the objects.

Type 2

These objects also display a selection rectangle around them, once selected. Unlike type 1, type 2 objects can be dragged directly for repositioning but support neither resizing nor rotation.

Type 3

Type 3 objects do not display a selection rectangle when selected but can also be dragged directly for repositioning. Drag the edge markers () to resize or realign them.

Hold Shift during object resizing to adjust width and height proportionally. For example, this allows you to scale down a clipart without distortions.

Toolbar

Select

Left-click an object to select it.

Frequently used

Frequently used tools are automatically added to this category for quick access.

Transformations

These functions allow you to adjust the size of the screenshot/canvas to your needs.

Crop

Resize screenshot

Hold down shift during dragging to preserve the current aspect ratio.

Resize workspace

Combine layers

This function merges the current objects into the image, rendering them uneditable afterwards.

Frame

Watermark

Enable "Use as default" in the right properties pane to add a watermark to all future shots automatically. This is especially useful in tandem with the "File name" option, that always includes the name of the image file.

Pencils and markers

Highlighter / Pencil

Simply drag to highlight or draw over an area in your image.

Highlight area

Arrows

Straight arrow

Curved arrow

Blur/Pixelate

Blur pencil

Use this tool to obfuscate sensitive areas in your screenshot. This will only affect the screenshot and not added objects.

Blur area

Drag to create a selection that will automatically blur/pixelate the underlying area. This will only affect the screenshot and not added objects.

Documentation

Text

Left-click the workspace to add a text object. Once added, start typing to modify its text content. To edit an existing text object, select it and left-click its content.

Note

Note objects are created and edited the same way as text objects but additionally display a background clipart, e.g. a speech bubble. You can pick the clipart from the properties pane on the right and even modify its transparency. You can also pick a new clipart for an existing note object to modify it.

Numbering

This tools helps you visualize consecutive steps, e.g. when you're creating a tutorial. Each time you left-click the workspace, a new object will be created with its index automatically incremented sequentially. You can either use numeric (1, 2, 3, ...) or alphanumeric (A, B, C, ...) characters. See "Current number" in the properties pane on the right to adjust the initial value. This way, you can also alter the value, and the background clipart, of existing objects.

Shapes

Left-click and drag to create a shape with the desired size. Use the edge markers to readjust its size. Drag the centered arrow icon, if available, to readjust the shape's position. If the icon is not available, drag the shape itself. Drag the arrow icon above the shape, if available, to rotate it.

Curved line

Handling is identical to that of curved arrows except without arrowheads.

Multi-point line

This tool allows you to insert multiple connected lines. Click to create a start point. Afterwards, each click adds a line from the last to the current mouse position. Hit Esc to finish the drawing process.

Erase

The eraser replaces pixels in your original screenshot with either transparent or colored pixels. This allows you to quickly remove unwanted elements from your screenshot. This will only affect the screenshot and not added objects.

Erase / Erase area

Fill area

You can fill regions in your screenshot with a solid color or color gradient using this tool. This will only affect the screenshot and not added objects.

Clipart

Left-click a clipart in the right properties pane to add it as a centered object to your project. While you can move and resize the object, you cannot alter the clipart design of an existing object. Click "Add graphics" to add existing images to the clipart library. Click the folder button to open the location for custom cliparts in Windows Explorer, e.g. to delete custom images. You can also copy and paste images to the folder directly to add them to Snap's clipart library.

Hold down Shift during resizing to preserve the clipart's aspect ratio.

Share / Export

Use these features to share your image with others. Use the "…" button next to "Open with app" to select a target application (.exe) for the "send to" feature. If no application is specified, you'll be prompted to select an application when you first use this feature.

Print

Use this dialog to print your current image and to individually customize settings such as scale and margins.

If you prefer the system-default dialog, click "Open System Print Dialog". Your current settings will be ineffective in this case.

Quick access bar

Use the quick access bar to swiftly access frequently used functions.

Object-related functions (1)

These functions generally apply to the currently selected object. You can, for example, copy and existing text field and paste it into the same or another project.

If no object is currently selected, the functions apply to the entire image. This allows you to easily copy your image and paste it into another project.

Status bar

1: Resolution of the current image

2: Displays the current image in its original size

3: Zooms in/out to show all of the current image

4: Drag the slider for seamless zooming

5: Opens the folder that contains the image in Windows Explorer

You can also hold down Ctrl and use the mouse wheel to zoom into/out of the current mouse position within the canvas.

Preview bar

The preview bar displays a miniature preview of your projects. A yellow marker indicates that the affected project contains unsaved changes. Click the trashcan button to permanently delete the affected project.

To delete more than one project, hold Ctrl and left-click the affected thumbnails to (de)select them. Then, click either the delete button in the toolbar or one of the delete buttons associated with a thumbnail to delete the selected projects.

To rename a project, hit F2.

Combining projects

Use the plus symbol to combine several projects into one. This will append the selected project to the currently open project, expanding its workspace as needed. Objects contained in the added project remain fully editable.

Edit video

You can use the video editor to cut/export not only video but also audio files.

1: Preview

2: Toolbar

3: Timeline

Preview

The playback range currently visible in the timeline is displayed a colored rectangle (1). Drag the circle (2) to adjust the playback position. Existing cut marks are also displayed (3).

Cut marks are automatically skipped during playback.

Toolbar

General

1: Here are you most recently used files.

2: Opens an existing audio/video file and closes the current one. Unsupported file formats are auto-converted into supported formats.

3: Zooms out of the timeline.

4: Zooms into the timeline.

Cut marks

5: Extends the cut mark left of the playback marker to the playback position.

6: Sets the start of the cut mark to the playback position.

7: Adds a cut mark at the playback position. Drag its edges to resize it.

8: Deletes the cut mark at the playback position.

9: Sets the end of the cut mark to the playback position.

10: Extends the cut mark right of the playback marker to the playback position.

Export

You can export your current audio/video file without the cut marks or turn each cut mark into a separate file e.g., to extract parts from a video as separate videos.

11: Opens the program settings. You can select the output folders for audio/image/video files and their respective output formats here.

12: Exports the current video frame as an image file.

13: Creates either an audio file without the marked regions or a separate audio file for each region marked.

14: Creates either a video file without the marked regions or a separate video file for each region marked.

Timeline

The current playback position is displayed as an arrow (1). Drag it to quickly adjust the playback position.

Depending on the playback position, different functions become available in the toolbar.

Added cut marks are also displayed as colored bars (2). Drag the start/end of a mark to adjust its length or the the toolbar.

Keyboard shortcuts

Apart from the capture bar and the context menu, you may also use various keyboard shortcuts to access different capturing tools, some of which you can customize in the program settings.

Capture

You can customize these shortcuts in the programm settings.

Capture	Alt + Ctrl + S
Capture rectangular selection	Alt + Ctrl + N
Capture fixed-size region	Ctrl + Win + Shift + F
Capture everything	Ctrl + Win + Shift + A
Capture current screen	Ctrl + Win + Shift + S
Capture active window	Ctrl + Win + Shift + W
Repeat last screenshot	Ctrl + Win + Shift + R
Open image editor	Ctrl + Win + Shift + E

Image editor

Deselect tool	V
Hand tool (move workspace)	Space + Drag with mouse
Undo	Ctrl + Z
Redo	Ctrl + Shift + Z
Cut (object)	Ctrl + X
Copy (object)	Ctrl + C
Paste (object)	Ctrl + V
Delete object	Del
Open/Load	Ctrl + Shift + O
Close	Alt + F4
Save	Ctrl + S
Export	Ctrl + Shift + S
Copy image to clipboard	Ctrl + Shift + C
Zoom in	Ctrl + Plus or Ctrl + Mouse wheel
Zoom out	Ctrl + Minus or Ctrl + Mouse wheel
Clear selection/Cancel	Esc
Rename project	F2

When resizing objects by dragging their edge markers, hold Shift to resize their width and height proportionally. For example, this allows you to scale down a clipart while maintaining its aspect ratio.