Record a Picture-in-Picture Video

Record your screen and webcam at the same time with Snagit's Picture-in-Picture feature.

Add a Picture-in-Picture (camera) video to connect with your viewers. Snagit’s Picture-in-Picture allows you to:

Display screen and camera simultaneously in your video.
Control the size and placement of the camera video.
Turn the camera off and on during recording as needed, or quickly swap between picture-in-picture and fullscreen camera.

Picture-in-picture example

Record a Picture-in-Picture Video

In the Capture window, select the Video tab.
Toggle the Camera option on.
Click the Camera arrow to select camera options. See Camera Options.
Note: You can also preview and adjust camera options before you start recording.
Toggle the Record Microphone option on.
Click the Record Microphone arrow to select a microphone device or other options (Mac only).
Adjust any other video capture settings. For details about settings, see Record a Video with Snagit.
Click the Capture button or press Print Screen (Windows) or Control+Shift+C (Mac).
The orange crosshairs appear. Click and drag to select the area to record on the screen or click the Fullscreen button to select the entire screen. For more information about selecting the recording area, see Record a Video with Snagit.
A preview of your recording area and webcam appears.
Check your settings in the Ready to Record window, and make any changes in the Video Recording toolbar. See Camera Options.
To begin recording, click the Record button or press Shift+F9 (Windows) or Control+Shift+Space (Mac).
To pause recording, click the Pause button or press Shift+F9 (Windows) or Control+Shift+Space (Mac).
To stop the recording, click the Stop button or press Shift+F10 (Windows) or Control+Shift+V (Mac).

The capture opens in Snagit Editor where you can:

Preview and edit your video.
Combine the video with other clips.
Get a link to share your video in an email or message and gather feedback.
Share or save the video to a variety of apps and file locations.

Tips for Effective Picture-in-Picture Video

A few adjustments to the camera options before and during recording can improve the impact and effectiveness of your video.

If your video includes an introduction of yourself or your topic, start with fullscreen webcam. Then, switch to Picture-in-Picture when you’re ready to show the screen recording.
Change the placement or size of the Picture-in-Picture to ensure important parts of your screen recording are not hidden by the webcam display.
Mac only: Consider blurring the webcam background to keep the focus on you.
Mac only: Select a virtual background to match the mood, branding, or intent of your video.

Camera Options

Select webcam options from the Video tab of the Snagit Capture window or the video recording toolbar.
Camera toggle and options arrow in Snagit Capture window

Record camera and options buttons in the video recording toolbar

Device

Select a built-in camera or connected device to record.

Placement

Select the location for the Picture-in-Picture window in your final video: Top-left, Top-right, Bottom-left, or Bottom-right.
Picture-in-picture placed in the top-left corner

Or select Fullscreen (Windows) or Fullscreen Camera (Mac) to show only camera video and no screen recording.
Example of a fullscreen webcam recording

Shape

Select Circle, Square, Rounded Square, Rectangle, or Rounded Rectangle for Picture-in-Picture camera display.
Example of Circle webcam shape Example of Square webcam shape Example of Rounded Square webcam shape Example of Rectangle webcam shape Example of Rounded Rectangle webcam shape

Mirror camera (Mac only)

Flip the camera video horizontally.
Example of mirrored webcam image

Border (Mac only)

Add a border to your picture-in-picture camera video and select the color.
Example of camera with and without border

Backgrounds (Mac only)
Camera background settings on Mac

In the Camera Settings dialog, click the Backgrounds tab and select one of the following options:

Select the None option to use your real background.
Select the Blur option to blur your background.
Select an image thumbnail to use as a virtual background.
Select the + option to select and upload an image to use as a virtual background.

Note: Virtual backgrounds are not supported on Macs with Intel processors. Select from None or Blur background options.

Adjust Camera in Preview or While Recording

Before you press Record, Snagit shows a preview of your recording area and camera. You can adjust the size, style, and placement of the camera in the preview or even while recording.

Change camera size

To change the size your camera is displayed in the Picture-in-Picture, drag a corner of the camera preview in or out.
Drag webcam preview corner to resize

Change camera placement

To change the placement of the camera in the Picture-in-Picture, click and drag the camera preview to a different corner.
Drag webcam preview to reposition

Swap Picture-in-Picture and Fullscreen Camera

To swap between Picture-in-Picture and fullscreen camera, click the Fullscreen Camera or Picture-in-Picture button, or press Control+Shift+F.
Example swapping between picture-in-picture and fullscreen webcam