PixPin Usage Guide
Screenshots, Pinning, OCR, Long Screenshots All in One

What Can PixPin Do?

Open PixPin's settings panel and you'll see a complete feature matrix:

• Screenshots: Rectangular, window, full-screen, custom shape;
• Pinning: "Pin" screenshots on top of all windows, like sticky notes for reference;
• OCR text recognition: Extract text from screenshots directly to clipboard;
• Long screenshots: Auto-scroll stitching for webpages, chat logs, documents;
• GIF recording: Record screen operations and auto-generate animated GIFs;
• Annotation / Mosaic: Draw boxes, add arrows, pixelate, number annotations.

Many screenshot tools only do one or two of these. PixPin does them all—and reliably.

Basic Screenshots: Three Common Methods

PixPin's default global shortcuts:

The most commonly used is Rectangular screenshot: press the shortcut → drag to select → release to capture. After capturing, a toolbar pops up by default with options for "annotate, save to clipboard, pin, OCR." If you don't want the popup, disable it in settings—screenshots go straight to clipboard.

Pinning: "Pin" Screenshots on Screen

This is my favorite PixPin feature. After capturing, click "Pin" and it floats on top of all windows—semi-transparent, draggable, resizable.

Typical scenarios:

• Pinning reference materials in a screen corner while writing docs;
• Pinning table data alongside for easy comparison;
• Pinning example code on a second monitor while coding.

In pin mode, PixPin also supports:

• Mouse pass-through: When enabled, you can click through the pin to underlying windows;
• Toggle always-on-top: Ctrl + T to temporarily hide the pin;
• Thumbnail mode: Shrink to a small corner image, expand when needed.

Recommended setting: Enable "mouse pass-through + semi-transparent" by default for the most comfortable experience.

OCR Screenshot: Text in Images, Instantly Extracted

See code in an image, an error message, or a paragraph in a PDF screenshot that you want to copy—OCR screenshot is the most convenient way.

How to use: Press Ctrl + 2 → select the area → after recognition completes, text is auto-copied to clipboard, and an OCR results window pops up for review and search.

The OCR engine supports multiple languages with very high accuracy. For developers, screenshotting an error log and then OCR-ing it directly into a search box is a fantastic experience.

Long Screenshots: Great for Webpages and Chat Logs

PixPin's long screenshot uses a scroll-stitching algorithm: auto-scrolls to capture multiple times, then seamlessly stitches them into one complete long image.

How to use:

1. Press Ctrl + 3 and select the starting position of the area to capture;
2. Set scroll direction (down / right) and scroll speed;
3. Click "Start"—PixPin auto-scrolls and captures;
4. Press Esc at any time to stop.

Great for capturing: blog articles, long Notion documents, PDF reader content, long chat window conversations, etc. Note that the window can't be too small, or the scrollbar won't appear.

GIF Recording: Screen Recording → Animated Image

Demonstrating a workflow to colleagues? An animated GIF is more intuitive than text. Press Ctrl + 5 to select the recording area → start → perform actions → stop, and PixPin auto-outputs a GIF file.

Configurable options:

• Frame rate (default 10 fps; 8–12 fps recommended to control file size);
• Record mouse trail / keypress indicators;
• Export format (GIF / MP4 / WebP).

For writing blog posts, making tutorials, or filing bug reports, this is a very practical feature.

Annotation Tools: Arrows, Numbers, Mosaic

The toolbar that appears after screenshotting provides a set of annotation buttons:

• Rectangle/Ellipse: Highlight key areas;
• Arrow: Indicate relationships;
• Number markers: Annotate multiple steps in 1, 2, 3... order;
• Mosaic: Pixelate sensitive information;
• Text annotation: Write directly on the image.

When writing operation guides or QA screenshots, number markers are especially useful—much clearer than a bunch of arrows.

Recommended Settings

Here's the configuration I settled on after six months of use:

• Auto-copy to clipboard after screenshot: Avoids manual copying every time;
• Pin defaults to semi-transparent + mouse pass-through: Reference without blocking operations;
• OCR engine set to "Fast": Sufficient for daily use, faster;
• Screenshot format PNG: Lossless, text stays sharp;
• GIF recording at 10 fps: The sweet spot between size and clarity;
• Start at boot: Once you rely on a screenshot tool, you don't want it missing.

Working with Other Tools

PixPin's role in my workflow is "screen information capture":

• Screenshot an error → OCR to extract text → paste into Everything to search for files;
• Screenshot a product UI for reference → pin it → follow along while designing;
• Record an operation → GIF → embed in Obsidian notes or PR comments;
• Screenshot a code segment → pin → reference while writing documentation.

Summary

Screenshots seem simple, but when you're capturing dozens daily, writing tutorials, and communicating bugs, tool differences compound exponentially. PixPin isn't the kind of tool that "wows you instantly," but after a week or two, you'll gradually realize—it covers virtually all screenshot-related needs, and does each one reliably.

The free version already satisfies most people. The registered version adds some advanced features (like color picker, optimized long screenshots, etc.)—choose as needed.