Screenshot. Annotate. Done.

Kestrel is a fast, keyboard-driven screenshot tool that lives in your menu bar. Capture an area, a window or the whole screen, annotate and measure in the editor, then copy or share. The core is built in Rust, and text recognition runs on your Mac. Kestrel is in development and not yet released.

Supporter license for €12, in development

Get a license View pricing

The Kestrel editor with a capture: red box with counter 1, curved arrow and a text label "Totals look off" on a gradient backdrop.

What it's about

A screenshot is rarely the end, it is usually the start of an explanation: an arrow pointing at the bug, a box around the spot, a counter for the order of steps. Kestrel keeps the path from keypress to finished image short and stays in the background until you need it.

Capture and editor work hand in hand. You drag out an area, annotate with arrows, boxes, text, counters and blur, measure distances with rulers and guides, and copy the result or drag it straight into another app. If you like, arrows, lines and boxes look hand-drawn.

Kestrel is built with Tauri 2: a Rust core for capture, hotkeys and output, and a React editor for editing. Kestrel recognizes text and QR codes with Apple's Vision framework, right on the device. It only uploads if you set up your own S3 storage.

How it works

Capture
Press the shortcut and drag out an area, click a window or grab the screen under the cursor.
Annotate
Arrows, boxes, text, counters, blur, rulers and guides. With undo, zoom and backdrop.
Share
Copy, save, pin, drag into another app or upload to your S3 storage.

What Kestrel can do

Area, window, screen

Frozen overlay on every monitor with crosshair, magnifier and size readout. Plus active window, repeat last selection and delayed capture.

Scrolling capture

Scroll long pages automatically or manually, Kestrel stitches the parts together and detects fixed headers and footers. macOS only.

Recognize text and QR

Select an area and the recognized text or QR content lands in the clipboard. Runs on the device through Apple's Vision framework. macOS only.

Annotate

Arrows in four styles, lines, boxes, ovals, text, counters, highlighter, freehand, blur, spotlight and magnifier. Hand-drawn if you like.

Measure

Automatic rulers, guides with snapping and distances between objects via ⌥. Color values under the cursor in HEX, RGB or OKLCH and a contrast check for WCAG and APCA.

Compose

Insert, move and scale more captures or images, plus a before-and-after GIF. With a backdrop of gradient, padding, rounded corners and shadow.

A copy of the image floats on top at all times. Scrolling resizes it, ⌥ plus scroll changes the opacity.

Upload

To any S3-compatible storage such as AWS S3, Cloudflare R2 or MinIO. The link lands in the clipboard, the key in the keychain.

For scripts

The snapr:// scheme for Raycast, Alfred and scripts, enabled on request: start a capture, open settings, load an image.

Privacy and security

Text recognition: on your Mac, with Apple's Vision framework
Account: none needed
Upload: only to your own S3 storage, if you set one up
Credentials: the secret key is kept in the system keychain
Permissions: Screen Recording for every capture, Accessibility only for automatic scrolling
System: macOS 13 or newer, Windows is planned

Pricing

As of October 2026. Current prices at license.pixelandprocess.de. You pay securely through Stripe and get your key by email right away.

Supporter

€12

incl. VAT where it applies

Works on 3 Macs
All future updates
The license does not expire
License key by email, manageable in your account

Who Kestrel is for

Support and documentation
Show bugs, number steps, pixelate sensitive spots and pass the image on in seconds.
Design and development
Measure spacing, pick colors, check contrast and annotate interfaces cleanly.
Anyone who shares screenshots often
One shortcut, a few marks, copy. Without opening a big app.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kestrel?

A menu bar screenshot tool with an editor. It captures areas, windows and screens, you annotate and measure in the image, and then copy, save or share the result.

Can I download Kestrel yet?

Not yet. Kestrel is in development and has no public version. Write to us if you would like to be told when it launches.

What does Kestrel cost?

The Supporter license costs €12, including VAT where it applies. It covers 3 Macs, includes all future updates and does not expire. You buy it securely through Stripe at license.pixelandprocess.de and get the key by email right away.

Which systems does Kestrel support?

macOS 13 or newer is the first step. Windows is planned, and some features such as scrolling capture and text recognition are only available on the Mac for now.

Does Kestrel send my screenshots anywhere?

No. Images stay on your device. An image only goes elsewhere if you set up your own S3-compatible storage and actively upload.

Which permissions does Kestrel need?

Screen Recording, so Kestrel can capture at all. Accessibility is only needed for automatic scrolling, manual scrolling works without it.

Can I control Kestrel with Raycast or Alfred?

Yes. Kestrel supports the snapr:// scheme, for example snapr://capture/area. It is off by default and can be enabled in settings.