Settings
Every ScreenCameo setting, pane by pane, with what it does and what it’s set to out of the box.
ScreenCameo settings live in one window with a sidebar, like System Settings. This page lists every pane in order, with what each option does and its default. Most choices can also be changed for a single recording, so these are mainly your starting points.
Open ScreenCameo settings #
- Press CmdComma while a ScreenCameo window is in front. Or click the menu-bar icon and choose Settings….
- Click a pane in the sidebar: General, Recording, Brand, Screenshots, Shortcuts, License, Privacy or About.
- Can’t find an option? Type in Search settings at the top of the sidebar, for example “fps” or “logo”. Only the panes that match stay in the list.
General #
How ScreenCameo looks, how it starts, and where recordings go. Install & update covers updates and login in more detail.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Appearance | Match macOS, Light or Dark for Home, Settings and panels. | Match macOS |
| Editor: always dark | Keeps the editor dark even when your Mac is light. Recordings look truest on a dark, neutral background. | On |
| Dark tint | Graphite is a cool grey, Plum a warm one. | Graphite |
| Accent colour | The highlight colour of dark windows: ScreenCameo amber or Match macOS. | ScreenCameo amber |
| Open at login | Starts ScreenCameo in the menu bar when you log in, so your shortcuts always work. | On, unless you turned it off in the welcome window |
| Keep in the menu bar after CmdQ | CmdQ closes the windows but keeps ScreenCameo in the menu bar. Turn it off to make CmdQ quit completely. | On |
| Editor preview | Faster, Balanced or Best quality. Faster helps with long or 4K recordings. Exports are always full quality. Applies to editors you open next. | Balanced |
| Recordings folder | Where new recordings and their exports go. Show opens it, Change… picks another, and Use Standard goes back. | ~/Movies/ScreenCameo |
| Version | The version you have. Check for Updates… looks for a newer one now. | — |
Recording #
Your recording defaults. The Capture Bar remembers what you used last; these are what its Reset to Defaults goes back to. Recording explains each choice.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Record | Display, Window or Area. | Display |
| Camera | The camera for your face bubble, or No camera. | No camera |
| Microphone | The Mac’s current input, a specific microphone, or No microphone. | The Mac’s current input |
| Record Mac sound | Records the sound your Mac plays, too. | Off |
| Clean recording | Leaves desktop icons, the Dock and notifications out of the video. Nothing on your Mac changes. Turning it on turns Record Mac sound off. | On |
| Leave out the menu bar (Display) | Records a display without its menu bar. | Off |
| Frame rate | 30 fps or 60 fps. 60 is smoothest; 30 makes smaller files. | 60 fps |
| Countdown | Seconds before recording starts, from off to 10 s. | 3 s |
| When you stop | Open the editor, or Show a quick card in the screen corner with Edit, Copy MP4, Save…, Another Take and Discard. | Open the editor |
| Shortcut to run before recording | A Shortcut from the Shortcuts app that runs before each recording, such as one that turns on Do Not Disturb. Choose lists yours. | None |
| Detect typing & shortcuts | Shows the shortcuts you press in the video and finds typing you can speed up. Needs the Keystrokes permission. Only shortcut names are saved. | On |
| Create zooms automatically | Adds zooms where you click and type in new recordings. | On |
| Follow style | Smooth floats after the cursor. Focused settles quickly and is easier to read. | Smooth |
Three buttons sit under your defaults. Reset Capture Bar to These switches the Capture Bar to them now. Use the Capture Bar’s Choices saves what it shows as your defaults. Factory Defaults puts back the values in this table.
Brand #
Your brand kit: a logo, colours, a font and title cards for new recordings. Brand kit shows how to set it up.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Choose Logo… | Adds your logo in a corner of every video. A PNG with a transparent background works best. Change… or Remove it later. | No logo |
| Corner | Top left, Top right, Bottom left or Bottom right. | Bottom right |
| Opacity | How solid the logo is, from 20% to 100%. | 85% |
| Size | The logo’s size as a share of the video’s shorter side, from 5% to 30%. | 12% |
| Add to new recordings | New recordings start with the logo on. Turn it off for one video in the editor: Style → Logo watermark. | On, once you add a logo |
| Colours | Up to 6 brand colours. They come first in the editor’s swatches, and title cards use the first one. Right-click one to remove it. | None |
| Font | A font installed on your Mac. It comes first in text and caption fonts, and new title cards use it. | System font |
| Intro card | A full-screen title card at the start of every new recording. Type a headline, then a subtitle on the next line. | Off |
| Outro card | The same at the end of every new recording. | Off |
| Shown for | How long each card shows, from 1 to 6 s. | Intro 2.5 s, outro 3 s |
Screenshots #
Where saved screenshots go and how they’re captured. Screenshots covers taking and annotating them.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Save to | The folder Save puts screenshots in. Choose… picks another. | Desktop |
| Format | PNG, JPEG, HEIC, TIFF, WebP or AVIF. The list shows the formats your Mac can write. | PNG |
| Quality | For JPEG, HEIC, WebP and AVIF only, from 40% to 100%. | 90% |
| File name | A pattern for saved files. The line below shows an example and the words you can use: {app} {date} {time} {title} {n}. | {app} {date} at {time}, like ScreenCameo 2026-10-20 at 14.05.33 |
| Play capture sounds | A short sound when you take a screenshot. | On |
| Delay | Waits before capturing: None, or 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 or 10 seconds. | None |
| Keep the window shadow when capturing a window | Keeps the soft shadow around a captured window. | On |
| Thumbnail corner | Where the thumbnail appears after a capture. The quick card after a recording uses it too. | Bottom left |
| Hide thumbnail after | 3, 5, 8, 12 or 20 seconds, or Never. | 8 seconds |
Where your files are explains the file name words and where the screenshot history is kept.
Shortcuts #
Shortcuts that work anywhere on your Mac. Click a shortcut, then press the new keys. Keyboard shortcuts lists the editor’s shortcuts too.
| Shortcut | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| New recording (Capture Bar) | Opens the Capture Bar. | OptionShift5 |
| Record with Last Setup (or stop) | Starts with your last setup, or stops a recording. | OptionShift6 |
| Pause / resume | Pauses or resumes a recording. | OptionShift7 |
| Mark this moment | Adds a flag to the editor’s timeline while you record. | OptionShift8 |
| Record display, Record window, Record area | Starts right away with your other Capture Bar choices. | Not set |
| Show or hide script notes | Shows or hides your script notes. | Not set |
| Open Home | Opens the Home window. | Not set |
| Area or window | Takes a screenshot of an area or a window. | OptionShift4 |
| Full screen | Takes a screenshot of the whole screen. | OptionShift3 |
| Capture text | Copies the text in an area of the screen. | OptionShift2 |
| Repeat last screenshot | Captures the same area again. | Not set |
License #
Your license on this Mac. License explains activating, moving to a new Mac and renewing updates.
| Item | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Licensed to, Email, License ID | Who the license belongs to, and its ID for support. | — |
| Updates included until | The last date a new version is included. | 12 months after purchase |
| Use a Different License Key… | Replaces the key on this Mac with another one. | — |
| Remove License from This Mac… | Removes the key. You can activate again with the same key at any time. | — |
| Lost your key?, Buy a license | Open the website to recover your key or buy one. | — |
Not activated yet? The pane shows a License key field instead. Paste the key from your purchase email and click Activate.
Privacy #
What leaves your Mac, and every permission in one list. Your recordings, screenshots, transcripts, voice clean-up and text recognition never leave your Mac. ScreenCameo has no account and no analytics.
| Item | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| What leaves your Mac | The app contacts screencameo.com for updates and the refunded-license list, and GitHub to download an update you install. macOS may download a caption language from Apple the first time you use it. | — |
| Screen Recording | Required to record your screen. | Asked on first launch |
| Microphone, Camera | Your voice and your face in recordings. | Asked when you use them |
| Accessibility | Resizes and centres a window before you record it. | Asked when you use it |
| Keystrokes | Shows the shortcuts you press and speeds up typing. System Settings calls it Input Monitoring. | Asked when you use it |
Each row says Allowed, or has an Allow or Open Settings button. Permissions walks through each one.
About #
The app icon, your version number, and links to the Website and Support. Support opens an email to us. Contact lists other ways to reach us.
Shortcuts on this page#
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| CmdComma | Open Settings |
If something’s off#
- A setting didn’t change my last recording
- Most Recording and Brand settings apply to new recordings. Change an existing one in the editor instead, as Editing basics shows.
- The Capture Bar doesn’t use my defaults
- It remembers what you used last. Click Reset Capture Bar to These in Settings → Recording, or choose Reset to Defaults in the Capture Bar’s menu.
- A screenshot shortcut does nothing
- Another app may use the same keys. Pick new keys in Settings → Shortcuts, or see Troubleshooting.
Checked against ScreenCameo 0.9.0 · October 20, 2026
Still stuck? Email support@screencameo.com. Replies come usually within 2 business days.
