Annotate Screenshots Without an Editor: Arrows, Steps, Blur

To add arrows and text to a screenshot on Windows with Sleekshot, press PrtSc, drag over the area you need and start drawing. The toolbar opens right next to the selection, on top of the screenshot. There's no editor window to wait for and no file to open. When the arrows and labels are in place, Ctrl + C copies the finished image and Ctrl + S saves it.

The idea is Lightshot's speed with a much bigger set of tools. You get seven arrow styles, numbered steps, blur, a highlighter, text labels and shapes. Every tool has its own key, so most screenshots take a few seconds instead of a trip through Paint.

How drawing right on the screenshot works

Sleekshot takes a still picture of the screen the moment you press the key. Open menus, tooltips and hover effects stay exactly as they were. You draw on that picture, inside your selection.

1. Press PrtSc, Sleekshot's default shortcut (you can pick any other key).
2. Drag over an area, click a window or press Ctrl + A for the whole monitor.
3. Pick a tool on the toolbar or press its key: 1 for an arrow, T for text, B for blur.
4. Draw. Turn the mouse wheel anywhere to make the line thicker or thinner (1–100).
5. Press Ctrl + C to copy, Ctrl + S to save or Ctrl + U to get a link you can share.

Made a mistake? Ctrl + Z removes the last mark. Undo goes back one step only, and there's no redo. If you always start with the same tool, set it in Settings → Screenshots → Default drawing tool.

7 arrow styles

Arrows are what most screenshots need, so Sleekshot has seven of them. 1 picks the default Arrow, and keys 2–7 switch to the other six without opening the menu.

Hold Shift while you draw to snap an arrow to 0°, 45° or 90°. Several styles have two looks. Drag with the left mouse button for a clean arrow in your chosen color, or with the right button for the other version.

For documentation and bug reports, we stick to the default Arrow. Hand-drawn styles like Sketchy and Doodle suit tutorials and social posts, where a more casual look fits. More ideas in our guide to drawing arrows on screenshots.

Numbered steps, text labels and highlighter

Numbered steps (S) turn a screenshot into instructions. Click once per step, and Sleekshot places circles numbered 1, 2, 3… in order, so you never type a number by hand. It's the fastest way to build a step-by-step screenshot guide.

Text (T) adds a filled label that's easy to read on any background. Double-click to switch to plain text. You can drag labels after you place them, and the mouse wheel changes the font size. Details in how to add text to a screenshot.

Highlighter (H) draws a see-through stroke (40% opacity), like a marker on paper. Use it to pick out one line in a log or a sentence in a document. Next to it are the Pen (P) and the Dashed pen (Shift + P) for circles and notes by hand. Line (L) and Dashed line (Shift + L) draw straight connectors.

Blur and shapes to hide private info

Press B and drag a blur box over an email address, a customer name or an API token before you share the image. The other shapes are in the same group: Rectangle (R), Filled rectangle (F), Ellipse (E) and Filled ellipse (O).

Tip: For passwords, keys and card numbers, use a Filled rectangle instead of blur. A solid box leaves nothing to recover. Our guide to blurring screenshots explains when blur is enough.

Colors, sizes and every tool's key

The color button (C) opens 20 colors. Press C again and again to go through them. The mouse wheel sets the brush size from 1 to 100 wherever the pointer is, and for text it changes the font size.

The full list, with the keys for taking screenshots and recording, is on the keyboard shortcuts page. The same toolbar also works while you record the screen.

What it doesn't do (yet)

• You can't move arrows and shapes after you draw them. Undo and draw them again instead. Only text labels can be dragged. Undo goes back one step, and there's no redo.
• It can't open saved images. Sleekshot works with what's on screen when you take the screenshot. To add arrows to a file you already have, open it on screen and take a new screenshot.
• No backgrounds, frames or mockups around the screenshot, and no scrolling screenshots.
• The Mac version has fewer tools: an arrow, a rectangle, a filled rectangle, an ellipse, pixel blur, a line, a pencil and text. See Sleekshot for Mac.

For a wider walkthrough that also covers the tools built into Windows, read how to annotate a screenshot. Or download Sleekshot and press PrtSc.