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Long-form guide

Keyboard shortcuts — 1-page cheat sheet

Every DrawShot shortcut, grouped by job. Designed for printing.

Render the source to PDF — instructions in the markdown file header

11 tools · 4 colors + wheel · 3 strokes · zero conflicts.

DrawShot has no capture hotkey of its own — it watches your Desktop. Use the macOS native shortcut, and the annotator opens automatically (150–300 ms first-shot latency).

Capture (macOS native)

Shortcut Action
⌘⇧3 Full-screen capture
⌘⇧4 Region capture
⌘⇧5 Capture menu (window / region / record)

Tools (single-key, no modifier)

Key Tool What it does
D Draw (default) Freehand pen
A Arrow Drag to draw a straight arrow with arrowhead
R Rectangle Drag to draw an outline rectangle
O Circle Drag to draw an outline ellipse
H Highlight Translucent highlighter stroke
E Eraser Click any annotation to delete it
S Stamp Click to drop an emoji from the picker
B Blur Drag rectangle → permanent 10px mosaic
C Crop Drag selection → Enter / Esc to confirm
L Callout Click → text → speech bubble with tail
N Step #s Click to drop numbered circles (auto-increments)

Save

Shortcut Action
⌘S Save the annotated PNG AND copy it to clipboard (in one keystroke)

Save mode (Settings):

  • Replace (default) — overwrites the original, backs it up to userData/originals/.
  • Copy — writes <name>_annotated.png next to the original.

Copy-to-clipboard on save toggle (default ON) — every ⌘S also drops the PNG on your clipboard.

Edit

Shortcut Action
⌘Z Undo (works for every tool, including crop)
Esc Cancel popover / cancel crop / close edit
Enter Confirm crop selection

Window

Shortcut Action
⌘O Open Screenshot… (file picker)
⌘M Minimize to thumbnail (preserves edits)
⌘W Close annotation canvas (prompts if unsaved)
⌘Q Quit DrawShot

Toolbar

Action Key
Smaller [ · - · _
Larger ] · = · +
Move toolbar to top or bottom Drag the blue D logo

drawshot.dev · v1.4.8 · macOS 13+ · free · audited 2026-05-18