snow-shot

Project Overview

When a screenshot still means opening an image editor to draw arrows and then retyping the text it contains, Snow Shot folds those steps behind one shortcut: capture, annotate, pin, read text and record screen in a single flow. It runs on Windows and macOS, with a C++/Qt interface, Rust for imaging and drawing, and capture, annotation, recording and plain OCR all handled locally. The current version is v1.5.3, with the interface available in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and English.

Item	Value
Platform	Windows x64/ARM64, macOS 15 or newer
Stack	C++/Qt + Rust
License	GPL-3.0-or-later
Latest version	v1.5.3
UI languages	Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, English

Capture, annotation, pinning, text recognition and recording share one shortcut and one toolbar.

Key Features

• Several capture modes: region selection, focused window, current display, delayed capture and scrolling long screenshots
• Annotation tools: arrows, shapes, text, numbering, highlights and blur, also usable on existing images
• Pinned images: keep pictures or clipboard content above other windows, with a history you can restore
• On-device OCR: recognise text and QR codes offline, then copy the result straight out
• Online add-ons: opt-in translation, table recognition and AI conversion, inactive until you configure a service
• Screen recording: record the screen with system audio or a microphone, exporting video or GIF, APNG and WebP
• Image stitching and splitting: join several images, cut long ones apart, or draw on a full-screen canvas while explaining
• MCP interface: once enabled manually, compatible AI clients can call the capture and recognition tools
• Appearance control: shortcuts, toolbar order, themes and export parameters are all adjustable

Interface and Operation

• Global shortcut: bind keys to capture actions in settings, so you never switch to Snow Shot first
• Capture toolbar: the annotation bar appears at the bottom after a selection, and its icon order and grouping can be rearranged
• Tray resident: closing the main window leaves it running in the tray, so pinned images and recording continue
• Two editions: the full build adds QR codes, tables, Markdown, HTML, LaTeX and translation, while Mini keeps capture, annotation, pinning, recording and manual text recognition

Target Audience

• Bloggers writing tutorials and walkthroughs
• QA and support staff who report issues with screenshots
• Students who tidy up lecture notes quickly
• Office workers collaborating remotely on Windows or Mac

Quick Start

Windows

1. Run winget install --exact --id mg-chao.snow-shot --source winget to install the full build
2. Or use Scoop: scoop bucket add extras, then scoop install extras/snowshot
3. On first launch open the shortcuts page and set a capture key

macOS

1. Run brew install --cask mg-chao/tap/snow-shot, or install from the DMG
2. Grant screen recording, accessibility and notification permissions when prompted
3. Quit the app before running brew upgrade --cask snow-shot so files are not in use

System Requirements

Item	Requirement
OS	Windows 10/11 (x64 or ARM64), macOS 15 or newer
Hardware	Recording and scrolling captures use more memory as resolution grows
Dependencies	None beyond the installer, which bundles default OCR resources
Source build	CMake, vcpkg, Qt and the Rust toolchain

Notes

• Online features need a service: translation, table recognition and AI conversion use a service you choose, and their buttons stay inactive until one is configured
• MCP is off by default: turn it on in settings before an AI client can connect
• Mini drops a lot: no QR codes, tables, Markdown, HTML, LaTeX, translation or API settings, and OCR models download on demand
• macOS permissions are mandatory: without screen recording access a capture only yields the desktop wallpaper
• macOS 15 minimum: no package exists for earlier releases