Capso

What is Capso?

Capso is a free, open-source screenshot and screen recording app for macOS. It’s designed to replace a typical workflow of capturing your screen, annotating what you captured, recording video or GIFs, and extracting text—using a native macOS app built with Swift 6 and SwiftUI.

Instead of separating tools, Capso combines capture modes (area, window, fullscreen), an annotation editor, OCR text recognition, and recording/beautification features in one interface. The project is available as open source and free forever, with no trial and no subscription requirements.

Key Features

• Area, window, and fullscreen capture: Capture from the menu bar or a global shortcut, including quick window grabs and drag-to-select with a live dimension overlay.
• Screen recording to MP4 and GIF: Record video or GIFs with system audio and microphone, and optionally include a webcam picture-in-picture overlay.
• Webcam PiP overlay (4 shapes): Add a draggable webcam overlay during recording with circle/square/portrait/landscape shapes, plus snap-to-corner positioning and a click-to-expand fullscreen view.
• Annotation editor for markups: Annotate captured images with arrows, rectangles, ellipses, text, freehand drawing, pixelate/blur, numbered counters, and highlighters, with undo/redo and a color picker.
• OCR text recognition: Select an area to detect text and copy it; Capso can highlight detected text blocks to support selective copying.
• Screenshot beautification: Turn raw captures into styled visuals using background gradients, padding, rounded corners, and drop shadows, with selectable “Solid” or “Liquid Glass” style and real-time preview.
• Configurable preferences and keyboard shortcuts: Set screenshot/recording formats and quality, customize hotkeys, and control quick access behavior and export presets.
• Quick Access and post-capture actions: Use a floating preview after capture to copy, save, annotate, OCR, pin, and drag-and-drop.
• Pin to screen: Keep captures as always-on-top reference overlays, with a lock mode for click-through reference use.
• Built with Swift 6 / SwiftUI and open source: The app is developed using Swift 6 and SwiftUI and is released with open-source code available via GitHub.

How to Use Capso

1. Download and install Capso from the provided GitHub releases (DMG) or build it from source.
2. Choose a capture mode using the menu bar or a global shortcut: area, window, or fullscreen.
3. For screenshots, open the capture in the annotation editor to add markup, or apply beautification styles for sharing.
4. For recording, select an area, start an MP4 or GIF recording (optionally with webcam PiP), and use pause/resume/restart controls as needed.
5. Use OCR by selecting an area to detect and copy text, then apply Quick Access actions (copy, save, annotate, OCR, or pin) from the post-capture preview.

Use Cases

• Documentation and tutorials: Capture a specific UI area, annotate with arrows/text/callouts, and apply beautification (padding, rounded corners, shadow) to create consistent visuals.
• Bug reporting: Record an MP4 or GIF (with system audio and microphone) showing the steps, then add markup or pixelate/blur sensitive parts before sharing.
• Text extraction from screenshots: Select an on-screen region containing text and copy detected text blocks using Capso’s OCR workflow.
• Live reference while working: Pin a capture to the screen as an always-on-top overlay; use lock mode for a click-through reference while continuing to use other apps.
• Screen presentations and demos: Record a video with webcam PiP in a chosen shape and position, using configurable controls and global shortcuts to streamline capture.

FAQ

Is Capso free to use? Yes. Capso is free forever with no trial, no feature gating, and no subscription.

Can I use Capso at work? The FAQ states that personal and internal company use is fully permitted under the BSL 1.1 license, with a restriction against forking and selling it as a competing commercial screen capture product.

Does Capso support OCR? Yes. You can select an area to perform text recognition and copy the detected text. Visual highlighting of detected text blocks supports selective copying.

What recording formats are supported? Capso can record video (MP4) and GIF, and it supports system audio and microphone during recording.

Is the app signed and notarized? The FAQ says the DMG from GitHub Releases is signed with a Developer ID certificate and notarized with Apple, so macOS Gatekeeper should allow opening without warnings.

Alternatives

• Paid screenshot/annotation tools for macOS: These typically focus on polished UX and may bundle cloud features; Capso positions itself as a free, open-source option with Swift-based native integration.
• Browser-based screenshot and screen recording: Useful when you only need lightweight captures inside a web workflow, but typically separates capture, annotation, and text extraction into different steps.
• Basic macOS screenshot + built-in markup: Suitable for simple screenshots, but it won’t provide the same combined workflow for recording (MP4/GIF), webcam PiP, and OCR as described for Capso.
• Open-source capture/annotation apps: If you prefer open-source tooling, look for projects that bundle capture and editing in one app; Capso specifically combines annotation, beautification, OCR, and recording in the same interface.