Record a Video with Snagit

When a screenshot isn’t enough, record video to quickly and clearly get your point across. Use Snagit videos to demonstrate a process, record a quick information shareout to your team, or provide design feedback.

Record a Video

1. In the Capture window, select the Video tab. To learn about the settings on this tab, see Video Capture Settings.
   
2. Click the Capture button or press Print Screen (Windows) or Control+Shift+C (Mac).
   
3. The orange crosshairs appear. Click and drag to select the area to record on the screen or click the Fullscreen button to select the entire screen. For more information about selecting the recording area, see Recording Dimensions (Resolution).
   
4. To edit the selected area, complete any of the following:
   • Drag the handles to adjust the selection.
   • Type custom dimensions in pixels in the Width and Height fields.
   • Click within the highlighted area and drag the selection to the desired screen location.
5. A preview of your recording area, the Ready to Record window, and recording toolbar appear.
   
6. Review your settings in the Ready to Record window, and make any changes in the Video Recording toolbar:
   • Capture Cursor: Record your cursor while screen recording. Click the button to turn the option on or off.
     
   • Cursor Effects: Click the dropdown to turn cursor highlighting and click animations on and off.
     
   • System Audio: Record the sound from your computer such as application alerts or the audio playing from your computer speakers.
     
   • Webcam: Record from a built-in or connected camera device. Click the button to turn the option on or off before or during recording.
     
   • Webcam Options: Click the dropdown to select webcam options. See Record a Picture-in-Picture Video.
     
   • Microphone Audio: Record the audio from your computer’s built-in microphone or from a connected USB microphone.
     
   • Microphone Options: Click the dropdown to select a device or other options (Mac only).
     
7. To begin recording, click the Record button or press Shift+F9 (Windows) or Control+Shift+Space (Mac).
   

   Note: The Video Recording toolbar will be hidden in the final video if the capture preference to hide Snagit is selected. See Snagit Preferences – Windows or Snagit Preferences – Mac.

8. To highlight important information as you record, click the Screen Draw button and select the desired drawing tool. To learn more see Screen Draw.
   
9. To pause recording, click the Pause button or press Shift+F9 (Windows) or Control+Shift+Space (Mac).
   
10. To stop the recording, click the Stop button or press Shift+F10 (Windows) or Control+Shift+V (Mac).
    

The video opens in Snagit Editor where you can:

• Preview and edit the video.
• Combine with other videos.
• Share to a specific app or save the mp4 file.

Need a link to email your video?

Click Share Link to upload your video to Screencast – free with your TechSmith account.
Snagit copies a link to your clipboard to quickly share your video with anyone!

About Screencast

Recording Tips

• The recording toolbar may be hidden or minimized when recording in full screen:
  • If you have one display, use hotkeys to pause, stop, or restart the recording. See Snagit Hotkeys Guide.
  • If you have two displays, drag the recording toolbar to the screen you are not recording.
• For videos with frequent screen interactions, enable Capture Cursor in the Video Capture Settings and consider turning on Highlight Cursor and Click Animation.
• Recording longer than one hour can lead to problems with the video or a failed video capture. Consider recording short clips and then combine the videos.

Video Capture Settings

The following settings are available in the Capture Window.

Screen Draw

Highlight important information on your screen as you record a video. To learn more, see Screen Draw.

1. Toggle Screen Draw on or off.
2. Click the arrow to set a fade time in seconds for Screen Draw objects. This determines how long drawn objects remain on-screen.

• Toggle the cursor capture on or off.
• Click arrow to select cursor effects:
  
  • Turn Highlight Cursor on or off and select highlight color.
  • Turn Click Animation on or off and select animation color.

Recording Dimensions (Resolution)

To create quality videos, consider the recording dimensions before you start recording. It is important to select the appropriate dimensions for where you plan to share the video with your audience. Snagit provides several ways to select the appropriate dimensions.

Select the Video Recording Area

Snagit offers the flexibility to record various dimensions. Frame the screen content by selecting a recording area that only includes the relevant screen content.

Option	Description
Fullscreen	Click the Fullscreen button.
Window	Hover the cursor over the window to record. An orange border appears around the window. Click to select.
Region	Click and drag to select an area on the screen. To lock the selection to a specific aspect ratio: 16:9: Hold Control (Windows) or Shift (Mac) and drag. 4:3 (Windows only): Hold Shift and drag.
Custom Dimensions	Click and drag to select an area on the screen. The toolbar appears. Enter the custom dimensions into the Width and Height fields. Click and drag to move the selected recording area to the desired location on the screen.
Standard Dimensions	Snagit’s video guides show standard or recommended dimensions (up to 1920×1080) for common video sharing destinations such as YouTube, websites, and mobile devices. Available video guides are: 1080p: 1920×1080 720p: 1280×720 640×480 320×240 If you plan to share your video to a location that requires specific video dimensions, it is recommended to record at these dimensions or at the same aspect ratio as the recommended dimensions. When selecting an area to record, press G to turn the video selection guides on or off. Click and drag to select the recording area. As you drag the cursor near one of the standard dimensions, the guide dimly appears. Continue to drag the cursor until the selection border highlights to match the guide.

Up Next

Edit a Video