Spotlight Tool (Mac)
Call attention to an area by dimming and/or blurring the rest of the image.
Note: Spotlight and other tools in the Snagit Editor toolbar are available to annotate images. To draw your viewer’s attention while you record video, try Screen Draw. To enhance video you have already recorded, share your video to TechSmith Camtasia.
Add a Spotlight
- Click the Spotlight tool in the Snagit Editor toolbar.
Note: If the tool is not visible in the toolbar, click the More dropdown to select the tool. See Customize the Snagit Toolbar.
- Select a spotlight shape in Tool Properties.
- Click and draw on the Canvas to select the spotlight area.
- Complete any of the following to edit the spotlight area:
- Click and drag to move.
- Click and drag a white handle to resize.
- Click and drag the green handle to rotate.
- Adjust the Color, Opacity, and Blur properties to achieve the desired effect. See Tool Properties.
- When you are finished with the Spotlight tool, click the Move tool in the toolbar to select, move, edit, or delete objects you added to your image.
Note: Windows users can achieve a similar effect with the Selection tool and the Spotlight & Magnify effect. To learn more, see Add Effects.
Tool Properties
Edit the properties to customize the tool.
Tip: Save tool customizations as Quick Styles.
After you edit tool properties, save your customization as a Quick Style for future use. See Quickly Access Favorite Styles and Tools.
Shape
Select a square, rounded corner square, or oval shape for the spotlight.
Color
Click the dropdown and select one of the following to set the background color for the image surrounding the spotlight:
- Click to select a preset or color from the palette.
- Enter a HEX or RGB value into the field.
- Click the Eyedropper button and then click to select a color from anywhere on the screen.
Opacity
Drag the slider to adjust the transparency of the background color surrounding the spotlight.
Blur:
Drag the slider to adjust the clarity of the background image surrounding the spotlight.
Note: This tutorial is for Snagit version 2023. Previous versions may look or function differently.
- To check your version, select Help menu (Windows) or Snagit menu (Mac) > About Snagit.
- If you have a previous version of Snagit, see tutorials for previous versions or upgrade to the latest version.
- For unexpected behavior with Snagit, visit the TechSmith Help Center.
