Global capture hotkey
Press ⌥⇧⌘2 or use the menu bar item to select a region, with a live size readout while you drag. You can also drop, paste (⌘V) or open (⌘O) an image.
Open source · macOS 14+ · Universal binary · Menu Bar Utility
Raw screenshots,
ready to share.
Capture a region with ⌥⇧⌘2, or drop and paste an image. ShotPolishStudio adds a gradient backdrop, padding, shadow and rounded corners, then copies or saves it. Everything stays on your Mac.
Free & MIT licensed · Apple Silicon & Intel · Latest release
Features
Polish in a few clicks.
Capture, tune the look with a live preview, and export at full resolution.
Backgrounds and layout
Choose from 8 gradients, a solid color, a custom color pair or a transparent background. Sliders control padding, corner radius and shadow, with an optional window-style border.
Aspect ratio presets
Export as Free, 1:1, 16:9 or 4:3, with the screenshot centered and scaled inside the frame.
On-device auto-redact
Off by default. Vision text recognition finds emails, phone numbers and long digit sequences and covers them with Blur, Pixelate or a Solid Box. Click a box to remove it. Always review the preview before sharing.
PNG and JPEG export
Copy with ⌘C, Save As with ⌘S, or save straight to your default folder with ⌥⌘S. Exports render from the full-resolution original, and PNG keeps transparency.
Private and offline
No account, no backend, no uploads. Your settings are remembered between launches.
Screenshots
See it in action.
Install
Up and running in a minute.
ShotPolishStudio is open source and not notarized with a paid Apple Developer ID, so macOS needs one extra step the first time.
- Download ShotPolishStudio-macOS.zip and unzip it.
- Move ShotPolishStudio.app to your Applications folder.
- Clear the quarantine flag once, then right-click the app and choose Open:
xattr -cr /Applications/ShotPolishStudio.app
- Only for Capture Region, grant Screen Recording in System Settings › Privacy Security when prompted, then relaunch the app if needed.
Download
Get ShotPolishStudio for macOS
Free, forever. Built for macOS 14 Sonoma or newer, Apple Silicon and Intel.
Not notarized: on first launch right-click ShotPolishStudio.app → Open.
- macOS 14 Sonoma+
- Universal (Apple Silicon + Intel)
- MIT licensed · open source
- No ads, no accounts, no telemetry
- Built with Claude Code · how and why
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Is ShotPolishStudio really free and open source?
Yes. It is released under the MIT license and the full source is on GitHub. There are no accounts, subscriptions or paywalls. If it saves you time, you can optionally support development through the Support button.
What permissions does it need?
Screen Recording, and only for Capture Region. The app asks the first time you capture. Dropping, pasting and opening images needs no permission, and it never requests Accessibility, Microphone or Camera access.
Where is my data stored?
Your images are processed on your Mac and never uploaded. Preferences such as background, padding and format are stored locally, and your default save folder is remembered as a bookmark to the folder you picked.
Why is the app not notarized?
Notarization requires a paid Apple Developer account, and this is a free project. Right-click the app and choose Open once to launch it, or build it from source with Xcode and XcodeGen.
Was this written by AI?
Yes. ShotPolishStudio was generated by Claude Code from a written spec as a clean-room reimplementation, with no code or assets from any commercial app. The full source is on GitHub under MIT, so you can read every line before you run it. It has had less human review than a hand-written app, so bug reports are welcome.
Support ❤️
Built by one person, given away for free.
ShotPolishStudio is a free, open-source alternative to paid utilities. If it earns a spot on your Mac, a coffee keeps the updates coming.
☕ Support Or on Ko-fi