10 Reasons CleanShot X is Better Than Quicktime

I know you can use Quicktime, which is free on every Mac, to record your screen, but it has a number of shortcomings.

I used to use it for all my screen recordings, until one of my friends suggested I try CleanShot X.

I tried it, and never looked back.

So when I decided to make a video about CleanShot X, and share this valuable tool with you guys, I reached out to them to see if they wanted to sponsor this video.

They said no. So this video is not sponsored.

But anyways, today we’re going to take a look at 10 reasons CleanShot X is better than Quicktime for recording your screen.

Number one, and this is huge for me, is CleanShot X captures internal audio of your Mac.

When you set up to screen record your mac using CleanShot X, you are given a couple options for audio recording.

Along with your screen, you can record your connected microphone, and you have the option to record your computer’s internal audio.

You’re also given the option to record everything on a single track for convenience, or you can record each source on a separate track for more versatility in post.

For me, this feature alone is worth the price of CleanShot X, but there’s more.

Reason number two is CleanShot X allows you to record your screen and you web cam at the same time.

And, you have option here.

First of all, the image from your web cam will be overlayed over your screen recording in a picture in picture window.

You can adjust the shape of this window, the size of it, and it’s position on screen.

You can also toggle this image between a picture in picture window, and full screen, and you can switch this while recording.

So, when you need to talk to your viewers, you can be front and center, and when it’s time to share your screen, you can be out of the way.

Reason number three CleanShot X is better, is it can highlight your mouse clicks and key strokes.

This gives your audience a visual cue and helps highlight what you are trying to show them with a screen recording.

You can highlight mouse clicks with Quicktime, but you’re limited to a black circle.

With CleanShot X, you have options.

You can change the highlighter size, select a color, choose an outline highlight or fill, and even choose whether to animate it or not.

And, with CleanShot X, you can also record keystrokes, so every time you press a key on your keyboard, your viewers can see what you pressed.

Just like highlighting mouse clicks, you have options.

You can adjust the size, position, appearance, and more.

I’m pretty sure there’s no way to do this in Quicktime.

There’s nothing more annoying than trying to capture a screen recording, and have a notification come through.

CleanShot X give you the option to automatically turn on the Do Not Disturb focus mode while capturing your screen.

This way, you don’t have to worry about a personal message coming through and ruining your screen recording.

And, as soon as you are done recording your screen, the Do Not Disturb focus is turned off, so you don’t miss anything important If you record your screen with Quicktime, your screen recording is whatever your screen resolution is at 60 frames per second.

There’s no way to adjust this.

With CleanShot X, your screen recording will match the resolution of your screen, but you can also set the max resolution.

So, if you have a 4K screen, but only need to record in HD, this is an option.

And, you can choose your frame rate.

For example, in video’s like this, where there’s a combination of screen recordings with camera video, I have the option to match my screen recording frame rate with my camera’s frame rate.

If you need to quickly make a few adjustments to your screen recording, you have the ability to do it right inside the CleanShot X app, using the built in video editor.

You can trim your clip, change the video quality, adjust volume and more, all without leaving CleanShot X Just like Quicktime, CleanShot X allows you to either record your entire screen, or just a specific window.

But, with CleanShot X, when you take a screenshot, or make a screen recording of a specific window, you can add a background wallpaper.

This can be your current desktop wallpaper, you can choose a custom image for your wallpaper, or a plain color.

You can adjust the padding slider to adjust the amount of wallpaper shown around your screen shot, and even add a shadow, to separate your window from the background.

When taking screenshots on your Mac, Quicktime only allows you to capture what’s is shown on screen.

But sometimes, you need to capture more, like a full webpage or maybe chat history in a messaging app.

CleanShot X allows you to do this with scrolling capture.

Click on the CleanShot X icon in your menu bar, select Scrolling Capture, and drag out the part of your screen you want to capture.

Click start capture, and either manually scroll the page, or hit the auto scroll button.

CleanShot X captures your screen, and automatically stitches the image together, allowing you to capture images that don’t fit on your screen.

If you need to share your screen, but don’t want others to see the mess on your desktop, or maybe you have some sensitive information you don’t want seen, CleanShot X let’s you easily hide desktop items. You can choose to hide your desktop items when using CleanShot X to capture your screen, or if you’re sharing your screen in real time, you can chose to hide your desktop items all the time.

Click on the CleanShot X icon in the menu bar, and select Hide Desktop Icons.

To bring them back, do the same thing, and select Show Desktop Icons.

This is also a great way to hide distractions on your desktop, so you can focus on what you need to focus on.

And last, but definitely not least, is CleanShot X’s built in Text recognition, or OCR.

CleanShot makes it super easy to capture any non-selectable text, like from an image, a scanned document, or even a video.

You just click on capture text, and select the area that contains the text.

The text in the area selected will be copied to your clipboard, so instead of typing it out, you can just paste it.

And this is done completely on device, so there’s no privacy concerns.

Other than screen recording, this is the feature I use most in CleanShot X.

Before I go, I just want to touch on the pricing of CleanShot X.

You can get CleanShot X for a one time fee of $29USD.

You get the App, yours to keep forever, free updates for one year, and 1 gigabyte of cloud storage.

This is for if you chose to make an account, which you don’t need to do to use the app, you can store your screen recordings and screen shots in the cloud.

There’s also a subscription option for power users and teams, and CleanShot X also comes with a subscription to SetApp.

But the most important part, and something I wish everyone did, is the option to just pay a one time fee.

Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you in the next one.