Automatically Create a Step-by-Step Guide (Step Capture)

Learn how Snagit can automatically create a step-by-step guide of your process or workflow.

With Step Capture, Snagit automatically grabs screenshots as you click through a process on the screen. Snagit then quickly turns the screenshots into an editable visual guide with numbered steps for you. For example:

Help your staff get started with a new process or software.
Show a customer how to submit a claim or make a change to their account.
Provide informal training to address repeated questions.
Document a software bug for developers to reproduce.

Example of a guide created with Step Capture

1. Capture Your Onscreen Steps

In the Capture window, click Presets.
In the Presets menu, click the capture button next to Step Capture. A message indicates that Snagit is now capturing your steps.
Complete the onscreen actions you want to document. As you click, the Step Capture toolbar shows the number of steps recorded.
Tip: Reposition the Step Capture toolbar.
By default, the Step Capture toolbar appears in the lower-left corner of your screen. Drag the toolbar to reposition it elsewhere. Snagit does not capture clicks on the toolbar.
When you are finished with the actions, click the Stop button.

The resulting step-by-step guide opens in Snagit Editor. Adjust the Editor zoom options to zoom in or out on the guide.
Zoom options in Snagit Editor

2. Edit the Step-by-Step Guide

Snagit automatically creates a basic guide with the following elements which can be edited:

Title and header
Numbered step for each click and, where possible, the name of the item clicked.
Screenshot of each click, including the highlighted cursor.

Edit Text

Edit text in the header or step descriptions.

View Details

Click to select a text field.
Complete any of the following:
- Edit text: Enter desired text in the text field.
- Edit text properties: In the sidebar, select a Quick Style or edit the tool properties.
- Edit text field size or position:
  Consider changing the size or position of the text field if you need to add more descriptive text to the step.
  Note: On Mac, click the icon in the upper-right corner of the field to allow editing.
  - Reposition: Click and drag the text field to the new position.
  - Resize: Click and drag handles.
- Delete text: Drag to highlight text, then press the Delete key.
- Delete the text field: Press the Delete key.
When you are finished editing, click another location in the guide to deselect the text field.

Change the Step Color

To change the color of the numbered steps.

View Details

Shift+click to select the steps to change.
In the sidebar, select a Quick Style or edit the tool properties.

Adjust Screenshots

Snagit automatically zooms in and centers the screenshots within the image frames, also called drop zones, based on where you clicked. You can resize and reposition the screenshot within the image frame, such as to provide more context for where you clicked.

Zoom In or Out Incrementally

Hover over the image to show and buttons in the bottom-right corner of the image frame.
Click to zoom out.
Click to zoom in.

Manually Adjust Zoom Level and Position

Double-click a screenshot to select it within the image frame. The entire capture appears, including areas outside of the frame.
Complete any of the following:
- Zoom in or out: Click and drag a corner handle of the screenshot to increase or decrease the size of the capture within the image frame.
- Reposition: Click and drag on the screenshot to reposition it within the image frame.
When you are finished editing, click another location in the guide to deselect the screenshot.

Replace a Screenshot

You may want to replace a screenshot, for example if you clicked the wrong on-screen element or need to replace an old image with a newer version.

Drag a New Image onto the Guide

Click and drag an image from the recent captures tray or your computer’s file browser onto the drop zone or image frame. Snagit replaces the old image with the new one.
Adjust the new image within the image frame. See Adjust Screenshots.
Optional: Add a cursor to the new image. See Add a Cursor to a Replacement Image below.
When you are finished editing the new image, click another location in the guide to deselect the image.
Click the Move tool in the toolbar to continue editing the guide.

Replace with a New Capture (Mac only)

Click the Section options icon and select the Capture option.
The orange crosshairs appear. Select the area to capture. See Capture an Image.
Adjust the new image within the image frame. See Adjust Screenshots.
Optional: Add a cursor to the new image. See Add a Cursor to a Replacement Image below.
When you are finished editing the new image, click another location in the guide to deselect the image.
Click the Move tool in the toolbar to continue editing the guide.

Add a Cursor to a Replacement Image

If the new image does not include a cursor to show where to click, add a cursor with the Stamp tool.

Select the Stamp tool from the Editor toolbar or More dropdown.
Search for “cursor” to view all cursor stamps.
Click to select a stamp.
Click on the image to add the cursor stamp.
Click and drag the stamp to reposition it.
Click and drag a corner handle to resize the stamp.

Edit the Image Frame

You can edit the image frame, for example to add a border or resize to make space for more descriptive text.

View Details

Click to select the image.
Complete any of the following:
- Edit properties: In the sidebar, select a Quick Style or edit the properties.
- Edit size: Drag handles on the corners or sides of the frame to resize it.
  Note: On Mac, click the icon in the upper-right corner of the image frame to allow editing.
- Edit position: Click and drag the image to reposition it on the guide.
  Note: On Mac, click the icon in the upper-right corner of the image frame to allow editing.
When you are finished editing, click another location in the guide to deselect the image.

Delete a Step or Section

To remove a step or section, click the Delete Section icon .

Tip: Snagit automatically updates step numbers.

When you delete, add, or reorder steps in the guide, Snagit automatically renumbers the steps for you and updates the total step count at the top of the guide.

Add a Step or Section

View Details

Add a header, image section with a numbered step, text section, or footer to the guide. Click the Add Section icon and select the type of section.

To duplicate an existing section, click the Section options icon and select Duplicate.
Duplicate option in Section menu

Change the Step Order

Move a Step Up or Down in the Guide

To change the order of a step in the guide, click the Section options icon and select the Move Up or Move Down option.
Move section up or down to reorder steps

Swap Steps

Swap one step with another.

Select the Move tool from the toolbar or the More dropdown.
Hover over an image to show the Drag to swap message and handle.
Drag the handle onto a different drop zone.

Snagit swaps the images and text in the steps.

Resize a Step or Section

To increase or decrease the size of a step or section, click and drag the blue section divider up or down.
Drag the divider to resize the section

When you are finished with the guide, complete any of the following to share it with your audience:

Get a link to share: Click Share Link to copy a link to your clipboard to paste in an email or message. Recipients can view your guide on Screencast, ask questions, and give feedback even without a TechSmith account. See Get a Shareable Link.
Save as a PDF: Select File > Save As and select the PDF file type.
Print: Select File > Print to print the guide.
Send to an app or cloud location: Click the Share Link dropdown and select a destination. See Share Captures.

Tips

You can also access Step Capture from the Image tab of the Capture window. In the Selection dropdown, select Steps and then click the Capture button.
If using a 4K monitor, consider scaling down the images to reduce capture and file size. In the Effects dropdown, select Scale Image (Windows only).
When you launch Step Capture, wait for the “Capturing steps” message to disappear to ensure your first click is captured.
Click the Pause button in the Step Capture toolbar to prepare for the next step. Click Record to restart the capture.
There is no limit to the number of steps that can be captured. However, captures over 50 steps on Windows or 100 steps on Mac may impact performance.
In the resulting guide, consider removing steps that seem redundant or obvious. Keep in mind your audience and their familiarity with the context.
When you delete, add, or reorder steps in the guide, Snagit automatically renumbers the steps for you and updates the total step count at the top of the guide.

Note: This tutorial is for Snagit version 2025. Previous versions may look or function differently.

To check your version, select Help menu (Windows) or Snagit menu (Mac) > About Snagit.
If you have a previous version of Snagit, see tutorials for previous versions.
For unexpected behavior with Snagit, visit the TechSmith Help Center.

All Snagit Tutorials

Automatically Create a Step-by-Step Guide (Step Capture)

1. Capture Your Onscreen Steps