Documentation

Screention User Guide

Everything you need to get the most out of Screention — from your first capture to advanced workflows.

Getting Started

Screention is a free, lightweight desktop screenshot tool for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Installation takes under a minute and requires no account or internet connection.

Windows.exe installerWindows 10 / 11 · x64 & ARM

macOS.dmg disk imageIntel & Apple Silicon (M1–M4)

Linux.deb / .rpm / .AppImageUbuntu, Fedora, Arch & more

Download the installer

Visit the Download page and pick the package for your operating system.

Install the application

Windows: Run the .exe installer and follow the setup wizard. Screention installs to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Screention.
macOS: Open the .dmg, drag Screention to your Applications folder, then launch it. On first run, allow it in System Settings → Privacy & Security if Gatekeeper prompts you.
Linux (.deb — Ubuntu / Debian):
bash
```
sudo dpkg -i Screention-x.x.x.deb
```
Linux (.rpm — Fedora / RHEL):
bash
```
sudo rpm -i Screention-x.x.x.rpm
```

Linux (.AppImage — universal):

bash

chmod +x Screention-x.x.x.AppImage
./Screention-x.x.x.AppImage

Launch & find it in the tray

After installation Screention starts automatically and adds an icon to your system tray. Click the tray icon to start a capture instantly, or right-click it to open the main window or settings.

Tip

Enable Auto-start on login in Settings so Screention is always ready when you need it — without keeping any windows open.

Note

On Linux, Screention automatically applies the --no-sandbox flag internally to avoid chrome-sandbox permission errors. No manual chmod is required.

Capturing Screenshots

Screention's capture engine lets you select any region of your screen with pixel-perfect precision. The live dimension indicator tells you exactly how large your selection is as you drag.

Starting a Capture

Press the global hotkey (default: Ctrl+Alt+A on Windows/Linux, Cmd+Alt+A on macOS), or click the tray icon directly. Your screen will dim and a crosshair cursor will appear.

Selecting a Region

Click and drag to draw your selection. As you drag:

A dashed selection border appears immediately
A dimension badge (e.g. 1304 × 849) floats near the selection corner
The badge auto-repositions so it never clips off-screen

Keyboard Fine-Tuning

Key	Action
↑ ↓ ← →	Move selection border by 1px
Shift + ↑ ↓ ← →	Expand or contract selection by 1px
Enter / Space	Confirm capture and open annotation toolbar
Escape	Cancel capture and return to normal view

Note

After confirming the selection, the annotation toolbar appears at the bottom of your screen. You can annotate before saving, or save immediately with Ctrl+S.

Annotation Tools

Once you've captured a region, a floating, draggable toolbar appears at the bottom of the screen. Every tool works on top of the live screenshot before it's saved.

Toolbar Tools

ArrowA

Draw directional arrows pointing at specific elements.

Square / RectangleS

Draw outline rectangles to frame and highlight regions.

Circle / EllipseC

Draw circles or ovals over elements to call attention.

BlurB

Redact sensitive data — passwords, emails, personal info.

HighlightH

Semi-transparent color brush to emphasize areas of text.

Color Picker

12 preset colors + custom hex input + recently used history.

Background Styler

Add a padded, colored or gradient background behind the screenshot.

UndoCtrl+Z

Step backward through annotation history.

RedoCtrl+Y

Step forward through annotation history.

Clear AllDel

Remove all annotations at once.

CopyCtrl+C

Copy the annotated screenshot to clipboard.

SaveCtrl+S

Save to the screenshot gallery.

Annotation Colors

Click the stacked color circles in the toolbar to open the color picker. Choose from 12 preset swatches or enter a custom hex value. Recently used colors appear below the presets for quick re-selection.

Default color: Bright blue (#18dcff). Color applies immediately to the active tool.

Tip

The toolbar is draggable — click and drag the empty space between tools to reposition it anywhere on screen. This is useful when the toolbar overlaps your selection.

Tip

Use the Blur tool (B) to redact passwords, emails, or sensitive data before sharing. Blurred regions cannot be reversed once saved.

Background Styler

The background styler wraps your screenshot in a beautiful padded container with customizable colors, gradients, border radius, and shadows. Perfect for social media posts, presentations, and portfolios.

Open the Background panel

After a capture, click the Background Styler icon (grid icon) in the toolbar. A popup panel slides up from the bar.

Choose a solid color or gradient

Click any of the 12 solid color swatches, or one of the 6 built-in gradient presets. Use the Solid / Gradient tabs at the bottom to switch modes. For gradients, two color pickers let you define the start and end colors independently.

Adjust padding, border radius, and shadow

Use the three sliders:

Padding — space between screenshot edge and background (0–100px).
Border Radius — rounds the corners of the screenshot container (0–50px).
Shadow — drop shadow depth behind the screenshot (0–100px).

Save or copy

Press Ctrl+S to save to your gallery, or Ctrl+C to copy the stylized image to your clipboard.

Tip

The Recently Used Configs section inside the panel remembers your last background combinations (color + padding + radius + shadow) for instant re-use.

OCR Text Extraction

Screention includes a built-in OCR engine (Tesseract.js) that can extract readable text from any screenshot — completely offline with no API key required.

Using OCR

Capture and select the area containing text

Use the normal region capture. Make sure the text is within your selection. OCR works best on high-contrast text at readable font sizes.

Press the OCR shortcut

Press Ctrl+E (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+E (macOS). A scanning indicator appears briefly as Tesseract processes the image.

Review and copy the extracted text

The extracted text appears in an overlay panel. Copy it to clipboard or select specific text manually.

Tips for Best Results

Capture at 100% screen zoom for the sharpest text.
High-contrast text (dark on white, white on dark) gives the most accurate results.
Avoid very small fonts below ~12px on screen — accuracy drops significantly.
OCR works on code, terminal output, UI labels, and printed documents.
Press Escape to dismiss the OCR result panel without saving.

Screenshot Gallery

Every screenshot you capture is automatically saved and indexed in Screention's built-in gallery. You can search, preview, annotate, and manage all your screenshots without leaving the app.

Opening the Gallery

Right-click the tray icon → Open Screention. The main window opens to the gallery view showing all your captures.

Gallery Features

Automatic date sortingScreenshots are sorted by capture date, newest first.

Filename searchType in the search bar to filter screenshots in real time.

Instant previewClick any thumbnail to open a full-size preview.

Notes & descriptionsAdd alt text/notes to any screenshot for future reference.

Open in folderReveal the file in your system file manager.

Copy to clipboardQuickly copy any gallery image to your clipboard.

Storage Location

Screenshots are stored in a hidden .screention folder in your home directory:

C:\Users\<You>\.screention\screenshots\

~/.screention/screenshots/

Screenshot filenames use the format: DD-MMM-YYYY HH-MM-SS am/pm.png (e.g. 30-mar-2026 09-15-42 am.png)

Note

You can open the screenshots folder directly from the gallery by clicking Open Folder. Use your OS file manager to move or back up files.

Hotkeys & Shortcuts

Screention's global capture hotkey works even when the app is minimized to the tray. The annotation shortcuts are active while the capture window is open.

Global Shortcuts

Action	Windows / Linux	macOS
Start region capture	Ctrl + Alt + A	Cmd + Alt + A

In-Capture Shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
Select Arrow tool	A
Select Square / Rectangle tool	S
Select Circle / Ellipse tool	C
Select Blur tool	B
Select Highlight tool	H
Undo annotation	Ctrl / Cmd + Z
Redo annotation	Ctrl / Cmd + Shift + Z or Ctrl + Y
Extract text (OCR)	Ctrl / Cmd + E
Copy to clipboard	Ctrl / Cmd + C
Save screenshot	Ctrl / Cmd + S
Delete selected annotation	Delete
Cancel / close	Escape

Changing the Global Hotkey

Open Settings

Right-click the tray icon → Open Screention, then click Settings in the sidebar.

Find the Shortcut field

Scroll to the Global Shortcut section. The current shortcut is displayed.

Record a new shortcut

Click in the shortcut field and press your desired key combination. Screention records it automatically and warns you if it conflicts with another app.

Confirm

Click Set Shortcut. The new shortcut becomes active immediately.

Settings

Access Settings by right-clicking the tray icon → Open Screention, then clicking Settings in the left sidebar.

Auto-Launch

Auto-start on login

Launch Screention silently at system startup. The app goes straight to the tray.

Global Shortcut

Capture shortcut

The keyboard combination that triggers region capture from anywhere. Default: Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+A.

Updates

Check for Updates

Manually query the update server for a newer version.

Auto-install on quit

Automatically apply a downloaded update the next time the app exits. Enabled by default.

Updates

Screention uses an integrated auto-updater (electron-updater). When a new version is available, it downloads in the background without interrupting your work.

How Updates Work

10 seconds after startup, Screention silently checks the GitHub releases page for a new version. If one is found, it begins downloading automatically in the background. A notification appears in the main window when ready.

By default, the update installs automatically the next time you quit the app (Auto-install on quit is enabled). You can also click Install Now to restart immediately.

Manual Update Check

Go to Settings and click Check for Updates. Screention will query the server and show you the result in a dialog.

Note

In production, updates are code-signed and delivered via GitHub Releases. Screention will never install an update from an untrusted source.

Troubleshooting

Most issues can be resolved quickly. Here are the most common problems and their solutions.

Global hotkey doesn't trigger a capture

Another application may have registered the same shortcut. Open Settings → change the Global Shortcut to something unique. On macOS, check System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility and ensure Screention is listed and enabled.

macOS: 'Screention cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified'

Right-click the app → Open → Open (confirm in the Gatekeeper dialog). This is a one-time step for apps distributed outside the Mac App Store.

Linux: App crashes or shows a blank window

Screention automatically applies --no-sandbox internally on Linux to prevent chrome-sandbox errors. If you still see issues, try launching with no-sandbox explicitly: ./Screention-x.x.x.AppImage --no-sandbox

Linux (.deb): 'dpkg: dependency problems'

Run: sudo apt --fix-broken install after the dpkg command. This resolves missing library dependencies automatically.

Screenshots not appearing in the gallery

Check that ~/.screention/screenshots/ exists and is writable. Restart Screention after verifying permissions.

OCR text output is inaccurate

Capture at 100% zoom with high-contrast source material. OCR accuracy is highest on dark text on a white background at standard font sizes (14px+).

Still having issues?

Open a GitHub issue with your OS version, Screention version, and steps to reproduce.

Report a Bug on GitHub