BAGLO'S NOTES
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ShareX - What I like and my config

I had been using the built-in Snipping Tool for a long time since I found it so intuitive and easy to work with. However after looking at other screenshots, where steps were numbered, lots of arrows, and fancy blurring, I figured I should look for a better alternative and found ShareX.

Header

Installation

You can get ShareX from their site https://getsharex.com/. It is free, open source, and been around for over 10 years.

Download the installer and let's take a look at the first change I do:

Usually I grab screenshots for documentation or for attaching in e-mails or paste them directly in a chat (Teams/Slack/Discord), therefor I don't need the option to directly upload images from my drive. Call me paranoid but this also protect me from human error where I upload something by accident. If you trust yourself more then I trust myself, keep this option checked 😃

After a few nexts, ShareX should be installed!

Configuration

First thing I do is making sure I don't upload any images:

One thing I really like with ShareX is the easy way to implement a border and add the date on all screenshots. This is perhaps the simplest thing one can do, and you might see other uses here as well.

This is how I created the simple effect mentioned:

  1. Create a new preset
  2. Give it a fitting name that you can recognize
  3. Add your desired effects; I added a Border and Text
  4. Customize the properties of the effects (note you can also click the three ... for more info on each property):
    • Border
      • Size: 2(px)
    • Text
      • Text: "%d/%mo/%y"
      • Placement: Bottom right
      • Font: Cascadia Mono, 8.25pt
      • Shadow: True
      • ShadowOffset: 2,2

To add this effect to all screenshots you take:

  1. Hover "After capture tasks"
  2. Click and hover "Add image effects"
  3. Click the effect you would like to add to all screenshots
  4. While we are here click the "Open in image editor"

Next let's take a look at Image Editor we just enabled. This will appear right after every capture and is where we can add more value to our images!

From left to right:

  • Apply Changes & Continue; Apply what has been done in editor, and continue task (if there are more, example upload image)
  • Continue Task; without changes from editor
  • Cancel Task; jump out from editor and don't run more tasks
  • Save Image; Saves image to default location
  • Save Image As; Lets you control image location and name
  • Copy Image to Clipboard; Copies the current edited image to your clipboard
  • Upload Image; Upload it if configured
  • Print Image; Print the image
  • Select and Move; Select objects added, change and move them around
  • Rectangle; Draw a rectangle
  • Ellipse; Draw an ellipse
  • Freehand; Draw horrible like in paint
  • Line; Draw a line, hold Shift to lock it to 45 degree angles
  • Arrow; Draw an arrow, hold Shift to lock it to 45 degree angles
  • Text Outline; Add text with outline
  • Text Background; Add text with background
  • Speech Balloon; Add text in a speech balloon
  • Step; Auto increments steps to follow, drag to point more specific.
  • Magnifier; Magnify parts of the image
  • Image (File); No idea
  • Image (Screen); No idea
  • Sticker; Add stickers for best documentation
  • Cursor; Add copies of your cursor
  • Smart Erase; Erase parts of image, fill with surroundings
  • Blur; Blur parts of image
  • Pixelate; Pixelate parts of image
  • Highlight; Highlight parts of image
  • Crop; Crop the image. This will destroy your image effects if you use borders! I usually just cancel and take a new screenshot.
  • Edit; More editing features for the image
  • Image; More editing features for the image

Now I almost exclusively use Rectangles, Arrows, and Steps. After I've done my changes I always copy the image my clipboard, paste it where I want it, and come back and hit the red X, cancel task. Any additional info I write beside wherever I end up pasting the image. I seldom need to save the image itself to disk, since it will be saved in my documentation, an e-mail, or in a chat.

Last thing I do is change the hotkeys since 99% of my screenshots are parts of my screen. I switch the "Capture Region" and "Capture Entire Screen" hotkeys.

Other tips:

  • While doing a regional capture, use the scroll wheel to change the size of the magnifier
  • You can save image effects and share them
  • Inside the editor, size and colors can be change for almost every added object
  • Inside the editor, right click added objects to remove them

Hope you see why I enjoy ShareX. If you have more tips or sick effects, let me know!