Photo Editor - ShareX

What is the ShareX photo editor?

The ShareX photo editor is a layer-based image editor for work that goes beyond annotating a screenshot. It supports multiple documents, layers and groups, masks, selections, retouching brushes, adjustment layers, filters and layer styles, and it can save everything as an editable project.

Use the image editor for quick annotations such as arrows, text, steps and redaction. Use the photo editor when you need to combine images, retouch photos, make precise selections or keep a multi-layer edit you can return to later.

Open the photo editor

Open Tools -> Photo editor… to start with the start screen, where you can create a new file, take a region screenshot or reopen a recent file.
Enable Open in photo editor under After capture tasks to open every new screenshot in the photo editor. When you close the screenshot's document, the edited image continues to the remaining after capture tasks, such as saving or uploading.
Right-click an item in the main window or history windows and select Edit in Photo editor….
Right-click an image in Windows Explorer and select Edit with ShareX Photo editor. This option can be turned on or off in Application settings -> Integration.
Run ShareX with -PhotoEditor "image file path". See command line arguments.

Images opened while the photo editor is already running open as new document tabs in the same window.

Create documents

The File menu can create a document from scratch or from the screen:

New… creates an empty document with a custom size.
New from Clipboard creates a document from the image on the clipboard.
New from Screenshot (Region)… and New from Screenshot (Full Screen) capture the screen straight into a new document.
Place Embedded… adds another image file to the current document as a new layer.

Open Recent lists recently opened files, and Clear Recent File List empties it.

Tools

The toolbar groups related tools together. Press a tool's shortcut key to select it, and right-click a tool group to choose another tool in that group.

Group	Tools	Key
Move	Move, Artboard	`V`
Marquee	Rectangular, Elliptical, Single Row and Single Column Marquee	`M`
Lasso	Lasso, Polygonal Lasso, Magnetic Lasso	`L`
Object Selection	Object Selection, Quick Selection, Magic Wand, Selection Brush	`W`
Crop	Crop, Perspective Crop, Slice, Slice Select	`C`
Frame	Frame	`K`
Eyedropper	Eyedropper, Color Sampler, Ruler, Note, Count	`I`
Healing	Spot Healing Brush, Remove, Healing Brush, Patch, Content-Aware Move, Red Eye	`J`
Brush	Brush, Pencil, Color Replacement, Mixer Brush, Adjustment Brush	`B`
Stamp	Clone Stamp, Pattern Stamp	`S`
History Brush	History Brush, Art History Brush	`Y`
Eraser	Eraser, Background Eraser, Magic Eraser	`E`
Gradient	Gradient, Paint Bucket	`G`
Blur	Blur, Sharpen, Smudge
Dodge	Dodge, Burn, Sponge	`O`
Pen	Pen, Freeform Pen, Curvature Pen, Add/Delete Anchor Point, Convert Point	`P`
Type	Horizontal and Vertical Type, Horizontal and Vertical Type Mask	`T`
Path Selection	Path Selection, Direct Selection	`A`
Shape	Rectangle, Ellipse, Triangle, Polygon, Line, Custom Shape	`U`
Hand	Hand, Rotate View	`H`, `R`
Zoom	Zoom	`Z`

The options bar above the canvas shows the settings of the selected tool. Use Edit -> Toolbar… to rearrange or hide tools, and Window -> Two Column Toolbar to switch the toolbar layout.

Layers

Every document is built from layers shown in the Layers panel. The Layer menu can:

Create layers, groups, fill layers (solid color, gradient, pattern) and adjustment layers.
Add layer masks, create clipping masks, and convert layers to smart objects.
Apply layer styles such as drop shadow, inner shadow, outer glow, color overlay and stroke.
Arrange, align, lock, link, merge and flatten layers.

Adjustment layers and smart filters stay editable, so you can change or remove them later without affecting the original pixels.

Selections

Besides the selection tools, the Select menu includes Color Range…, Subject, Select and Mask…, Modify (border, smooth, expand, contract, feather), Grow, Similar, Transform Selection and Quick Mask. Selections can be saved and loaded, and converted to paths.

Adjustments and filters

Image -> Adjustments includes brightness/contrast, levels, curves, exposure, vibrance, hue/saturation, color balance, black and white, photo filter, channel mixer, color lookup, invert, posterize, threshold, gradient map, selective color, shadows/highlights, HDR toning, desaturate, match color, replace color and equalize. Auto Tone, Auto Contrast and Auto Color correct an image in one step.

The Filter menu has blur, distort, noise, pixelate, render, sharpen, stylize and other filters. Effects Library gives access to the same effects used by ShareX image effects. Use Convert for Smart Filters first to keep filters editable.

Edit -> Content-Aware Fill fills a selection with surrounding image content, which is useful for removing unwanted objects.

Save and export

Save and Save As… keep the full document, including layers, masks and effects, as a ShareX Photo Editor Project (.sxpe) file.
Export -> Export As… saves a flattened image as PNG, JPEG, WebP, BMP, GIF or TIFF. JPEG and WebP have a quality setting, WebP also has a Lossless option, and the dialog remembers the last used format and settings.
Export -> Quick Export as PNG saves a PNG without opening the export dialog.
Save Slices… and Layers to Files… export slices or individual layers as separate images.

Supported formats for opening are .sxpe, PNG, JPEG, WebP, BMP, GIF, TIFF and ICO.

File -> Share with ShareX sends the flattened image back to ShareX:

Send to ShareX (After Capture Tasks) runs the image through your configured after capture tasks.
Upload with ShareX uploads the image to your image destination.
Pin to Screen opens the image in pin to screen.

File -> Print… prints the image.

Workspace

Panels are available from the Window menu: Adjustments, Brushes, Channels, Color, History, Info, Layers, Navigator, Paths, Properties and Swatches. Arrange them the way you like, then use Window -> Workspace to save the layout or reset it to the default.

Use Edit -> Keyboard Shortcuts… (Ctrl + Shift + Alt + K) to see and change shortcuts, and Edit -> Preferences… (Ctrl + K) for editor settings.

Common shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl` + `N`	New document
`Ctrl` + `O`	Open
`Ctrl` + `Alt` + `N`	New from clipboard
`Ctrl` + `S`	Save
`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `S`	Save as
`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `Alt` + `W`	Export as
`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `Alt` + `U`	Send to ShareX (after capture tasks)
`Ctrl` + `Z`	Undo
`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `Z` or `Ctrl` + `Y`	Redo
`Ctrl` + `T`	Free transform
`Ctrl` + `A`	Select all
`Ctrl` + `D`	Deselect
`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `I`	Inverse selection
`Ctrl` + `Tab`	Next document
`Ctrl` + `W`	Close document