Recording
Recording is where Walkmark watches a screen or window, captures PNG frames at meaningful moments, and builds the step rail for your guide.
Starting a recording
New guide opens the source picker:
- Writing defaults — audience, voice, language, product (from Settings → Writing; change per recording here).
- Capture source — every connected monitor and open window, with live thumbnail and resolution.
- Record — starts the countdown and session.
While recording, the main window can hide and a floating HUD appears at the bottom of the screen (see HUD).
Picking a source
Pick the smallest area that still shows the whole task:
| Source | Best for |
|---|---|
| Window | Single-app flows; less desktop clutter in frames |
| Monitor | Multi-window workflows, drag across apps, or full-desktop tasks |
The thumbnail updates live — confirm you selected the right target before clicking Record.
How steps are captured
Walkmark uses two mechanisms:
Input-based capture (preferred on macOS)
When Accessibility permission is granted, Walkmark listens for clicks, key presses, and scrolls. After each action it waits Pause after each action (default 300 ms), then grabs a frame.
This produces frames aligned with what you did, not arbitrary animation mid-flight.
Visual fallback (optional)
When Visual fallback is on in Settings → Recording, Walkmark also compares periodic screenshots. If the image changes enough — and Minimum gap between steps has passed — it saves a step even without a fresh input event.
Useful when:
- Input monitoring is blocked (some Linux setups)
- The UI changes on its own (loading spinners, auto-refresh)
- You need a frame from a slow animation you did not click
Tune Visual sensitivity and Wait for the screen to settle when visual fallback is enabled.
Minimum gap
A cooldown (default 800 ms) between automatic steps. Prevents key repeat, double-clicks, or rapid typing from flooding the guide with near-duplicate frames.
Recording HUD
When Get out of the way while recording is on (default), Walkmark minimizes and shows a compact HUD:
| Control | Shortcut (global) | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Stop | Shift + Alt + S | End recording and open the editor |
| Mark step | Shift + Alt + M | Force a capture now |
| Pause / Resume | Shift + Alt + P | Pause capture (timestamps exclude paused time) |
The HUD shows elapsed time, step count, and a simple activity indicator.
Global shortcuts work while Walkmark is in the background — switch to your target app and keep working.
Manual steps
Press Mark step (or Shift + Alt + M) to force a capture at any moment:
- A visual change is too subtle for auto-detection
- You want a frame before and after the same click
- A slow animation needs the right frame, not the first diff
Manual marks respect the minimum gap like automatic steps.
Alternate frames
When Walkmark captures near the same moment, it may store alternate frames for a step. In the editor, open Different moment on the screenshot to pick the best frame. See Editing guides — Pick a different moment.
Pause and resume
Pause when you need to answer a message or dig through files off-screen. Resume when you are back in the workflow. No steps are captured while paused.
Recording settings
All tunables live in Settings → Recording:
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum gap between steps | 0.8 s | Cooldown between automatic captures |
| Pause after each action | 0.3 s | Wait after input before screenshot |
| Countdown before starting | 3 s | Delay before capture begins (0 = none) |
| Screen check interval | 0.2 s | How often to sample after an action |
| Stored screenshot width | 1800 px | Max width saved to disk |
| Visual fallback | Off | Also capture on screen change |
| Visual sensitivity | — | How large a change must be (when fallback on) |
| Wait for the screen to settle | — | Avoid half-open menus (when fallback on) |
| Get out of the way while recording | On | HUD instead of main window |
Wider screenshots preserve UI detail for AI and export; narrower saves disk space.
After recording
Steps appear in capture order. Before writing or exporting you can:
- Reorder, merge, or delete steps
- Exclude steps from the document
- Annotate screenshots (blur, cover, highlight)
- Pick alternate frames
See Editing guides.
Platform notes
macOS
Both Screen Recording and Accessibility are required for the best experience. Without Accessibility, enable Visual fallback or rely on manual marks.
Windows
Window and monitor capture via the OS APIs. ARM64 and x64 builds behave the same.
Linux
Wayland support varies by compositor. If window capture fails, try a monitor source. For headless or remote sessions, capture may not be available — Walkmark needs a local graphical session.