Screenshot Individual UI Elements In Windows
Taking screenshots is one basic need that operating systems add a basic tool for it by default. For anyone that needs a screenshot tool to be able to do more than just to capture what’s on the screen, there are many free screenshot apps out there to choose from. The screenshot niche is a little cluttered and you might think there isn’t any new feature to add to a screenshot tool that has not been added yet. Here’s a tool called Snipaste, it’s a free windows app that let you screenshot individual UI elements. Just like the way screenshots tool are able to detect the current active window, this app is also able to detect and expertly screenshot UI elements like the taskbar or the individual icons in the system tray or the taskbar.
Now, download and launch Snipaste. It will automatically add an icon to the system tray. The app also has a very excellent hotkey support and it will be a good idea for you to visit the preferences section before you start using the app. To do so, Right-click the Snipaste’s system tray icon and choose the “Preferences” from the context menu.
The General tab section allows you to select your preferred language and a theme color for the app, and also set it to start on system startup.
The Snip tab section allows you to customize the app’s interface when it enters the screen capture mode. You can also select what color all elements excluded from a screenshot will be masked with, you also have the option to enable/disable window and the UI elements detection. The UI element detection option must be enabled or it defeats the purpose of the app. Snipaste can also be set to ignore the left Windows key; this is useful for when you’re using an external keyboard.
The Paste tab allows you choose whether or not a screenshot should have a shadow, If the given area is to be zoomed in, and whether or not smooth scaling option should be enabled. Snipaste comes with an image recovery feature that will help recover the last images you took. You can also customize how many images it should be able to recover for your history.
The Hotkey tab is where you can choose to customize the hotkeys to suit your style. Snipaste will allow you switch to the next UI element using the shortcuts on the keyboard. It uses unconventional hotkeys for snipping and pasting like F1 and F2.
To start the snipping process, opening an app e.g. the File Explorer and press the F1 key to activate Snipaste. As you start moving your mouse over different UI elements, they will be automatically be highlighted and included in the screenshot. Snipaste will allow you capture the entire window or just a portion of your screen as well.
Once the screenshot is successfully captured, you can save it, draw on it, paste it to your screen as a movable UI element, and also add a text to it. Snipaste is just an excellent app for detecting UI elements on your screen.
Note: Snipaste can’t detect HTML elements like forms fields and buttons on a web page. It can detect other buttons and individual tabs in a browser but it can’t really differentiate between elements inside a web page.
Snipaste is only available for Windows for now but will soon be made available for both Linux and macOS.
