Settings

Change DreamCut's recording quality, zoom and cursor defaults, export folder, camera, microphone, sound effects and keyboard shortcuts on your Mac.

DreamCut's Settings window holds the defaults for capturing, recording and exporting, your camera and microphone, its sound effects and its keyboard shortcuts, plus a link to your subscription. DreamCut saves each change as soon as you make it; there's nothing to confirm.

The DreamCut Settings window on the General tab: seven tabs along the top, then the Start DreamCut at login and Hide Dock icon switches, the Manage Subscription button, the Usage data switch and Reset preferences — Seven tabs along the top; General holds the app and account settings

Open Settings

There are three ways in:

From the menu bar: click the DreamCut icon and choose Show settings (⌘,). Settings opens on General.
From the capture bar: click the gear to open Capture Options, then click Open Full Settings.
From the editor: click the gear next to EXPORT in the top bar. Settings opens on Export.

Then click a tab along the top: General, Capture, Recording, Export, Camera, Sound or Shortcuts.

General

Setting	What it does
Start DreamCut at login	Meant to open DreamCut when you log in to your Mac. In this version it only saves your choice: see the note below
Hide Dock icon	Hides DreamCut's Dock icon, also while a project is open, although the line under the switch says "when no projects are open". DreamCut stays in the menu bar. Show DreamCut in Dock (`⌘D`) in the menu bar menu is the same switch the other way round
Manage Subscription	Opens Stripe's customer portal in your browser, to manage your plan, billing and payment details
Usage data	Meant to let DreamCut send anonymous feature usage events. In this version it only saves your choice: see the note below
Reset preferences	Turns the switches on this tab back to their defaults, sets the sound effects back to Chime at 70%, and puts the picker and quick-capture shortcuts back. Your capture, recording and export settings stay as they are

With an active DesignCode Product Pass, a DesignCode Product Pass row shows "Active" and the date your free Pro access ends, and Manage Subscription is hidden unless you also pay through Stripe. Plans and credits covers plans, credits and the pass.

Capture

Setting	Choices	What it does
Capture mode	Display, Window, Region	What screenshots and recordings take in. Region is the one the capture bar calls Area
Aspect ratio	Free, 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 3:4, 9:16	Locks the shape of an area you drag and of the recording's framing. Free lets you drag any shape
Window target	Pick on Screen, Select Window, Refresh List	Shows only when Capture mode is Window, and sets the window to capture or record. Pick on Screen lets you click the window itself; Select Window lists open windows by app and title; Refresh List updates that list after you open a new window

Recording

Setting	Choices	Default	What it does
Frame rate	30 fps, 60 fps	60 fps	Frames per second of new recordings
Resolution	720p, 1080p, 4K	4K	The size new recordings are saved at
Recording quality	Best, High, Balanced	Best	How recordings are compressed. Best and High save HEVC video, Balanced H.264
Zoom frequency	0.5s to 5.0s	5.0s	How often zoom points are added while you record
Follow frequency	Auto, Significant, Balanced, Smooth, Real time	Auto	How closely the view follows the mouse between zoom points. Greyed out while Follow mouse is off
Follow mouse	On or off	On	Follows the recorded cursor between zoom points
Cursor style	Default, Library, Custom	Default	The standard cursor, a cursor set from your Library (Library opens Cursor Sets to pick one), or your own 3x3 PNG sprite sheet (Custom)

Scroll down for the cursor size and what happens after each recording.

The bottom of the Recording tab at its defaults: Cursor preview with Arrow, Pointing Hand and Open Hand, Cursor size at 300%, Optimize after recording on, and Generate captions automatically, Clean audio automatically and Hide desktop icons off, the two automatic switches each reading "Turn on Mic audio…" — Every switch at its default. The microphone is off here, so the two automatic switches ask you to turn on Mic audio first

Setting	Choices	Default	What it does
Cursor preview	Nothing to set	None	Shows the chosen style as Arrow, Pointing Hand and Open Hand
Cursor size	100% to 800%	300%	How big the cursor is drawn in recordings
Optimize after recording	On or off	On	Re-encodes each finished recording with Apple's video tools, for a smaller file
Generate captions automatically	On or off	Off	Makes captions from your microphone when a new recording opens in the editor
Clean audio automatically	On or off	Off	Cleans your microphone audio when a new recording opens in the editor
Hide desktop icons	On or off	Off	Hides the icons on your desktop while you capture

Zooms and the cursor explains how the zoom and cursor settings shape a recording, and how to change them afterwards in the editor.

Export

Setting	Choices	What it does
Image format	PNG, JPG, TIFF, HEIC	The file type for screenshots
Image quality	Best, High, Balanced	How much screenshots are compressed and scaled down
Video format	MOV, MP4	The file type recordings are saved as
Save to	Choose Folder, Reveal	The folder the editor saves exports to: the Desktop until you choose another. Reveal shows it in Finder
Show floating capture preview	On or off	After each recording or screenshot from the capture bar, shows a card in the bottom-right corner to open it in the editor, add it to the open project, save it to your Desktop or delete it. When it's off, each capture goes straight to your Desktop
Publishing accounts	Connect, Disconnect	Links your YouTube and X accounts, so you can publish to them from the editor

The format, frame rate and quality of a finished video are chosen when you export. Export settings covers them.

Camera

Setting	Choices	What it does
Camera source	No Camera, or any camera your Mac can see	The camera recorded alongside your screen. The list can include your Mac's camera, a display's camera, an iPhone through Continuity Camera, and their Desk View cameras

The camera you pick here is the one the capture bar uses, and the other way round. Camera and microphone covers framing and testing it.

Sound

Setting	Choices	What it does
Microphone source	No Microphone, or any input on your Mac	The microphone recorded with your screen, such as your Mac's own, a USB audio interface or a wireless mic receiver
System audio source	No System Audio, or an output on your Mac	Turns your Mac's own sound on or off for recordings. The output you pick names the capture bar's chip; DreamCut records the Mac's sound either way, not just that output

Under Sound effects:

Setting	Choices	What it does
Sound style	Soft, Chime, Pop, Click, Off	The sounds DreamCut plays when you take a picture, on the recording countdown, when a recording is saved, and when dictation starts and stops. Picking a style plays it. Chime is the default
Previews	Picture, Countdown, Saved, Dictation	Each button plays that sound in the chosen style
Volume	0% to 100%	How loud the sound effects play; 70% to start with

Off silences all four sounds and greys out the previews and Volume. Dictation's sounds can also be turned off on their own in the Dictation window. System audio covers recording your Mac's sound.

Shortcuts

Setting	Default	What it does
Display selection	`⇧⌘``	Opens the display picker, with Capture and Record choices
Window selection	`⇧⌘1`	Opens the window picker
Area selection	`⇧⌘2`	Opens the area picker
Capture area	`⌃` twice	Drag over part of the screen to copy it to the clipboard, as with `⇧⌘4` in macOS. `Space` moves the box and `Esc` cancels
Copy active window	`⌥` twice	Copies a screenshot of the window in front
Record active window	`⌘` twice	Records the window in front with the pointer and clicks, until you press it again or for up to 5 minutes, then copies the video
Dictate with fn	Hold `fn`	Transcribes what you say and pastes it where you're typing; tap `fn` twice for hands-free. Its switch turns dictation on or off; Open Dictation opens the Dictation window. See Dictation

While you're recording, the same keys control the recording instead: Display selection restarts it, Window selection pauses or resumes it, and Area selection stops it.

To change a selection shortcut:

Click Record New Keys next to it. The button changes to Press Shortcut.
Press a letter, number or backtick together with Command, Shift, Option or Control.
To stop without changing it, press Esc or click Cancel.

For the three quick captures, pick a key from the menu next to each: ⌥ Option twice, ⌃ Control twice, ⇧ Shift twice, ⌘ Command twice or Off. They work in other apps once DreamCut has Accessibility access. Quick captures shows what each one does.

The bottom of the Shortcuts tab: Area selection, the three double-tap menus, Dictate with fn with its Open Dictation button and switch turned on, and Reset shortcuts — Scroll down for Dictate with fn and Reset shortcuts

If two shortcuts clash, the tab says "Two or more shortcuts currently conflict. Change one of them." Reset shortcuts, at the bottom, puts the picker and quick-capture shortcuts back to their defaults. It leaves the Dictate with fn switch as it is.

What's next

Plans and credits: your plan, AI credits and subscription.
Keyboard shortcuts: every shortcut in DreamCut, in one place.
Record your screen: put these settings to work on your first recording.

#Open Settings

#General

#Capture

#Recording

#Export

#Camera

#Sound

#Shortcuts

#What's next