1. Welcome

This guide provides a comprehensive overview of AccsiCapture, a powerful utility for Windows designed for accessible, quick, and easy screen and audio capture. It operates from the system tray, using global hotkeys to make capturing your screen, video, or audio effortless. Key features include clear audio cues for all actions, a visual countdown for video and GIF recording, and a simple configuration dialog, making it a perfect tool for all users.

2. Usage Guide

2.1 System Tray Menu Explained

Right-clicking the AccsiCapture icon in the system tray (near the clock) is the primary way to interact with the application outside of hotkeys. The menu is dynamic and provides quick access to all features.

Capture Modes (Full Screen, Free Form, etc.)

Instantly trigger one of the main screenshot capture modes.

Dynamic Recording Menu

This part of the menu changes based on the application's current state:

• When Idle: You will see three separate options: "Start Video Recording", "Start Audio Recording", and "Record Animated GIF".
• When Recording Video or Audio: These options are replaced by a single submenu named "Video Recording" or "Audio Recording". This submenu contains a dynamic "Pause/Resume" option and a "Stop Recording" option.
• When Recording a GIF: The menu item will simply change to "Stop Recording GIF".

Configure...

Opens the main settings window where you can change hotkeys, paths, quality settings, and more.

Manage multi tracks...

Opens the dedicated window for setting up and managing your multi-track recording configuration.

Pause/Resume Hotkeys

Temporarily disables or re-enables all global hotkeys for AccsiCapture. This is useful if a hotkey conflicts with another application you are using. The text will dynamically change to show the available action.

Connect with us

This submenu contains quick links to our social media channels (Telegram, Facebook, X, YouTube), our GitHub page for developers, and a direct link to our contact page.

Help file...

Opens this documentation file.

Check for Update...

Manually checks if a new version of AccsiCapture is available.

Visit accsify.com

Opens the official Accsify website in your web browser.

About AccsiCapture...

Displays the application's version and license information.

Exit

Closes the AccsiCapture application.

2.2 General Workflow

1. Press the hotkey for your desired action (e.g., Free Form capture or Start GIF Recording).
2. For video, audio, or GIF recording, a 3-second countdown will appear on screen.
3. An audio cue will play to confirm the action has started. The tray icon will turn red if a recording is in progress.
4. Perform your capture or recording.
5. Press the same hotkey again to stop recording, or complete the capture action (e.g., release the mouse button for free form).
6. An audio cue will confirm the action has stopped. A tray notification will appear confirming the output (e.g., "GIF saved to file...").

3. Screenshot Modes Explained

AccsiCapture provides five distinct modes for taking screenshots, each with its own hotkey.

Capture Full Screen

Instantly captures everything visible across all your monitors.

Capture Free Form

This advanced mode darkens the screen and allows you to click and drag to select a rectangular region. It features a magnifier loupe attached to your cursor for pixel-perfect selection and displays the dimensions of your selection in real-time. Right-click or press Esc to cancel.

Capture Active Window

Captures the currently active foreground window. This mode is intelligent: if the foreground window is not a suitable target (e.g., the desktop), a dialog will appear listing all open, valid windows for you to choose from.

Capture by Keyboard Focus

Captures the specific control (like a button, text box, or list) that currently has the keyboard input focus.

Capture by Mouse Focus

Captures the specific control that is currently underneath the mouse cursor.

4. Recording Modes Explained

Video Recording

Can be set to record the Full Screen or the Active Window. When in Active Window mode, recording will automatically pause if the target window is minimized or another application's window is brought into the foreground. Recording resumes automatically when the target window is focused again. This function also serves as a primary trigger for Multi-Track recording if it is enabled.

Audio-Only Recording

This versatile function can operate in one of three modes:

• Simple Mode: When Multi-Track is disabled, it creates a single audio file based on the settings in the "Audio Recording" configuration tab.
• Hybrid Mixdown Mode: When Multi-Track is disabled BUT "Use same sources..." is enabled, it creates a single, complex mixed file using all audio sources from your multi-track setup.
• Multi-Track Trigger Mode: When Multi-Track is enabled, this function acts as a dedicated trigger to record only the audio tracks from your multi-track setup into separate files.

GIF Recording

Creates an animated GIF. It can be set to record the Full Screen or the Active Window. When in Active Window mode, the recording will stop automatically if the target window loses focus. You can also set a maximum duration in the settings for the recording to stop automatically.

5. Multi-Track Recording

This powerful feature allows you to record multiple video and audio sources simultaneously, with each source saved to its own separate file. For example, you can record your screen, your webcam, your microphone, and system audio all at once, resulting in four distinct media files that you can edit independently.

Triggering a Multi-Track Recording

Important: When Multi-Track mode is enabled, you have two independent ways to start a recording session.

• The Comprehensive Trigger (Video Recording Hotkey): Using the 'Start/Stop Video Recording' function will record ALL configured tracks, including video, camera, audio input, and audio output.
• The Audio-Only Trigger (Audio Recording Hotkey): Using the 'Start/Stop Audio Recording' function will record ONLY the configured audio tracks (Audio Input, Audio Output, and audio from Mixed tracks), ignoring all video and camera sources. This is perfect when you only need to capture separate audio streams.

How it Works

1. Access the Manager: Right-click the tray icon and select "Manage multi tracks..." or use its hotkey.
2. Enable the Feature: Check the "Enable Multi-Track Recording" box.
3. Define Tracks: A track is a single output file. You can add multiple tracks. For each track, you define its name, type, and sources.

Track Types

• Mixed: A standard video file containing one video source and a mix of audio input (mic) and audio output (system).
• Video Only: A video file with no audio. Useful for recording a screen or webcam separately.
• Audio Input: An audio file containing only the selected microphone/input device.
• Audio Output: An audio file containing only the selected speakers/output device (system sound).

Use same sources in single track mode

This powerful hybrid mode allows you to leverage your complex multi-track audio setup while still producing a single, mixed audio file. When 'Enable Multi-Track Recording' is turned OFF but this option is checked, the single-track 'Audio Recording' function will find all audio sources you have configured across all your tracks, record them simultaneously, and intelligently mix them together into one audio file, applying the individual volume levels you set for each track.

6. Configuration

Access the settings by right-clicking the tray icon and selecting "Configure...". The settings are organized into the following tabs.

6.1 General Tab

Language: Choose the application's display language. "System Default" attempts to match your Windows language.
Start with Windows: Check this to have AccsiCapture launch automatically when you log in.

6.2 Screen Capture Tab

Output Mode: Choose whether screenshots are copied to the clipboard, saved to a file, or both.
Play sound on capture: Toggles the confirmation sound for screenshots.
Save Location: Set the folder where screenshots are saved. Defaults to `...\\Pictures\\AccsiCapture`.

6.3 Video Recording Tab

Video Mode: Choose between Full Screen and Active Window recording.
Video Quality: Select a resolution from Low (480p) to UHD (2160p).
Audio Source: Select No Audio, External (Mic), Internal (System), or Mixed.
System Volume: Adjust the recording volume for system audio.
Play sounds for recording events: Toggles sounds for start/stop/pause/resume.
Save Location: Set the folder for video files. Defaults to `...\\Videos\\AccsiCapture`.

6.4 Audio Recording Tab

Audio Format: Choose MP3, M4A (AAC), or WAV.
Audio Quality: Select a bitrate for MP3/M4A formats.
Audio Source: Select External (Mic), Internal (System), or Mixed.
System Volume: Adjust the recording volume for system audio.
Play sounds for audio events: Toggles sounds for start/stop/pause/resume.
Save Location: Set the folder for audio files. Defaults to `...\\Music\\AccsiCapture`.

6.5 GIF Recording Tab

GIF Mode: Choose between Full Screen and Active Window recording.
Duration (seconds): Set a time limit for the recording. Set to 0 for manual stop.
Play sounds for GIF events: Toggles sounds for start/stop.
Save Location: Set the folder for GIF files. Defaults to `...\\Pictures\\AccsiCapture`.

6.6 Hotkeys Tab

View all available actions and their currently assigned hotkeys. Select an action and click "Change..." to assign a new key combination.

6.7 Sound Effects Tab

Customize the sound played for each application event. You can play, change, or clear sounds for individual actions, or restore all sounds to their default settings.

6.8 Devices Tab

Manually select the default devices for single-track recording. You can pick a specific microphone, system audio (speaker/headphone) device, and screen/monitor. This is useful for systems with multiple devices and overrides the system's default choices.

7. Default Hotkeys

All hotkeys can be changed in the Configuration window.

8. Frequently Asked Questions

How do I record my microphone and system audio into separate files?

Enable Multi-Track Recording. Then, create two tracks in the manager: one of type "Audio Input" for your mic, and one of type "Audio Output" for system sound. To record them, you can either use the 'Start/Stop Audio Recording' hotkey (which will only record these two tracks) or the 'Start/Stop Video Recording' hotkey (which will record these two tracks plus any video/camera tracks you have configured).

How do I change the application language?

Open the Configuration window, go to the "General" tab, and select your desired language from the dropdown menu. The change will apply instantly.

Why did my video recording pause by itself?

You are likely in "Active Window" video recording mode. The recording automatically pauses when the window you are recording is no longer in focus. It will resume automatically when you focus the window again. You can disable this by switching to "Full Screen" mode in the Video Recording settings.

Why did my GIF recording stop by itself?

This can happen for two reasons: 1) You are in "Active Window" GIF mode and you clicked on a different window, which stops the recording. 2) You have set a "Duration" in the GIF Recording settings, and the time limit was reached.

A hotkey isn't working. What's wrong?

Another application on your system might be using the same hotkey globally. Try setting a different, unique key combination in the Settings dialog. Also, ensure hotkeys are not paused (an option in the tray menu).

Something went wrong. Is there a log file?

Yes. AccsiCapture creates a `log.txt` file in the same directory as the configuration file (`%APPDATA%\\accsify\\AccsiCapture\\`). This file contains diagnostic information that can help identify the cause of any issues.