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Action Capture

Record a workflow as pre-click screenshots with automatic titles, cursor overlays, and click markers.

Updated July 14, 2026

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Action Capture records a workflow without an interval. For every accepted click, Shotomatic saves the target's state immediately before the click, then adds click metadata that can become a page title, cursor, and marker in a Document.

Screen Recording and Accessibility permission are required. Open Action Capture from the sidebar or press Command + 3.

Choose a capture target

Select Start Action Capture, then choose one target.

TargetWhat each step captures
Active WindowThe app window used for that action. The window can change from step to step.
Full ScreenOne selected display.
Specific WindowOne selected app window for the whole run.
Capture AreaOne selected rectangular region.

For Full Screen or Specific Window, choose the display or window thumbnail. Selecting the thumbnail starts the run. For Capture Area, draw or resize the area and select Start Action Capture in the overlay.

Shotomatic Choose Capture Target dialog with Active Window, Full Screen, Specific Window, and Capture Area
Choose how Action Capture should frame every saved step.

Configure accepted clicks

Select Configure before a run when the defaults need to change.

  • Capture outside clicks is available for Specific Window and Capture Area. When enabled, a click outside the target still captures the selected target.
  • Shotomatic ignores clicks that occur too close together to avoid duplicate steps from one interaction.
  • Configuration is stored locally and reused for later Action Capture runs.
Configure Action Capture dialog showing capture behavior and automatic page-title settings
Automatic titles use Accessibility metadata when the clicked control exposes a readable name.

Build automatic page titles

Turn on Parse clicked elements to read the clicked control through macOS Accessibility.

  • Page title – parsed supports [[element-name]]; the default is Click "[[element-name]]".
  • Page title – not parsed is used when no readable element name is available; the default is Click here.

The target app determines how much accessibility metadata Shotomatic can read.

Add visual annotations

Visual Annotations are applied non-destructively when the captured work becomes a Document.

  • Show cursor: Mac Pointer, Minimal Arrow, Touch Dot, or Crosshair; Small, Medium, or Large.
  • Mark clicked area: Circle or Rectangle; Small, Medium, or Large; configurable border and background colors.
  • Reset restores the visual annotation defaults.
Shotomatic Action Capture visual annotation settings with cursor and click marker preview
Preview the cursor and click marker before recording the workflow.

Continue with recording controls, Free limits, and Recent work.

Action Capture | User Guide | Shotomatic