Modern, lightweight, open-source macOS screenshot, OCR & annotation utility.
Built with native Swift, SwiftUI, and ScreenCaptureKit.
Piser is an open-source alternative to commercial macOS screenshot tools (such as CleanShot X, Shottr, and Xnapper). Designed for developers, designers, educators, and creators, Piser focuses on:
- Speed & Lightweight Footprint: Native Swift and SwiftUI with minimal memory overhead (< 30 MB idle).
- Privacy & Offline First: Zero telemetry by default; native Apple Vision framework for local on-device OCR without external cloud dependencies.
- Modern macOS Integrations: Built on top of
ScreenCaptureKitfor crisp Retina captures and smooth window snapping. - Developer & Community Friendly: 100% open-source under the MIT license, modular architecture, and extensible tool pipeline.
Complete project documentation is organized in the /docs directory:
- 📋 Product Requirements Document (PRD): Goals, user personas, functional specifications, and non-functional requirements.
- 🏗️ System Architecture: Technical design, subsystem breakdown, Apple framework integration (
ScreenCaptureKit,Vision,CoreGraphics), and data flow. - 🗺️ Development Roadmap: Full-scope implementation checklist and specifications for the v1.0 release.
- 🛠️ Developer Guide & Setup: Prerequisites, project setup, permissions (Screen Recording, Accessibility), and contribution workflow.
- Capture Modes: Area selection with pixel loupe magnifier, application window with drop shadow toggle, and full multi-display capture.
- Instant Text Capture (OCR to Clipboard): Select any screen region containing unselectable text (videos, images, terminals, protected PDFs) and immediately copy recognized text to the clipboard with zero clicks.
- Control Center & Desktop Widgets: Trigger Area, Fullscreen, or OCR captures directly from macOS Control Center controls or interactive Desktop widgets.
- Annotation Studio: Vector-based arrows, shapes, highlighters, step-by-step numbering counters, and privacy redaction (blur/pixelate).
- Export & Filename Templates: Multi-format export (PNG, JPEG with quality compression, TIFF, HEIC) and customizable file naming patterns (
{app},{date},{time},{resolution}). - Pin to Screen & Click-Through: Float captures always on top for quick comparison with continuous opacity control and mouse click-through tracing mode.
- Floating Thumbnail & Audio Feedback: Instant overlay for drag-and-drop or one-click markup, paired with authentic macOS camera shutter sound.
We welcome contributions from developers, designers, and technical writers! Check out the Developer Guide to get started.
This project is licensed under the MIT License.