The TAKE. Manual

Everything you need to record your screen, overlay your camera, mix audio, and export a clean MP4 — in one compact Mac app.

1Quick Start

Launch TAKE., grant the macOS permissions it asks for, then:

  1. Pick a capture area — FULLSCREEN or SELECT AREA.
  2. (Optional) Toggle CAMERA, SYSTEM audio, and MIC on.
  3. Tap the big RECORD button.
  4. Tap STOP when you're done. Your MP4 lands in your chosen folder.
First run: macOS will ask you to grant Screen Recording, Camera, and Microphone permissions individually. After allowing, quit and relaunch TAKE. so the permissions take effect.

2The Interface

The TAKE. window is split into three zones:

  • Top bar — window controls, SETTINGS, RE-SELECT AREA, the help (?) button, and the compact-mode toggle.
  • Left side — capture mode (Fullscreen / Select Area) and your three input toggles: Camera, System audio, Mic.
  • Right side — timer, RECORD button, and live meters (SYSTEM, MIC, OVERALL).

A status line runs along the bottom: SYSTEM READY, RECORDING, EXPORTING, etc., with a save-to folder picker on the right.

3Recording Modes

Fullscreen

Captures your entire active display. If you have multiple displays, TAKE. follows the one it's currently on.

Select Area

Click SELECT AREA, then drag a rectangle across your screen. TAKE. will remember it. Hit RE-SELECT AREA in the top bar any time to draw a new crop.

Tip: Select Area is great for 16:9 and 9:16 crops for YouTube Shorts, TikTok, or tutorial shots that skip your dock and menu bar.

4Camera Overlay

Flip the CAMERA toggle on and pick a source from the dropdown — your built-in FaceTime camera, an external webcam, or your iPhone via Continuity Camera.

Move & Resize

The camera overlay floats on top of your screen. Drag the interior to move it. Hover near any edge and the cursor will change — click and drag to resize. The minimum size keeps it readable; there's no hard maximum.

FX Panel

Click FX to open effects for the camera preview:

  • Blend — soften the overlay so it mixes into the background.
  • Hand-gesture reactions — hearts, fireworks, confetti, and thumbs-up trigger automatically when you flash the gesture on camera.

Hiding Controls

By default, TAKE. hides its own window and the camera's thin controls bar from recordings — your viewers see only the camera preview, not the UI. You can toggle this in Settings.

5Audio

System Audio

Flip SYSTEM on to capture everything your Mac is playing — browser, apps, music, notifications — into the recording. No virtual audio drivers required.

Microphone

Flip MIC on and select a source: built-in mic, AirPods, USB mic, or any aggregate input.

Mixing

The three meters on the right (SYSTEM, MIC, OVERALL) show live levels in dB. Drag any slider to trim a source before it hits the final mix. SYSTEM and MIC get summed into OVERALL — keep it below 0 dB to avoid clipping.

macOS 15+ required for mic capture. On earlier versions, TAKE. will still record system audio and video.

6Recording

Tap the big RECORD button. The timer starts counting in [MM:SS] format and meters go live. To stop, tap the same button (now labeled STOP). TAKE. finalizes the file in the background — you'll see EXPORTING with a small progress bar in the status line.

When the status flips back to SYSTEM READY, your MP4 is on disk.

7Compact Mode

Tap the compact-mode button in the top-right of the window to collapse TAKE. down to a slim quickbar. It keeps meters, toggles, and a one-click record button — perfect for staying out of the way while you work.

Tap the same button to expand back.

8Saving & Export

Recordings are exported as MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio — upload-ready for YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Vimeo, Slack, and any other platform. No conversion needed.

Choosing a Folder

In the status bar at the bottom of the window, tap SAVE TO and pick a destination. The folder icon next to it reveals your most recent recording in Finder.

Sandboxed app: TAKE. is a Mac App Store app, so macOS only lets it write where you explicitly point it. The first time you pick a new folder you'll see a permission prompt — grant it and TAKE. will remember it.

9Settings

Click SETTINGS in the top bar to open the preferences pane.

Hide TAKE Controls from Recordings

On by default. Keeps the TAKE. window and camera controls out of the final video while leaving your camera overlay visible to viewers. Turn it off if you want to record a tutorial of the app itself.

Appearance

TAKE. uses a fixed dark theme that stays consistent at any time of day, matching its branding rather than the system appearance.

10Tips & Tricks

  • Pre-roll your levels. Speak into your mic and play something from your browser before hitting RECORD. Adjust the sliders until OVERALL peaks around -6 to -3 dB.
  • Use Select Area for 16:9. Draw a 1920×1080 crop and you'll export a perfectly framed YouTube upload.
  • iPhone as a camera. Continuity Camera gives you a 12MP sensor for free — much sharper than most built-in webcams.
  • Compact mode for long sessions. Expand just to check levels; collapse the rest of the time so TAKE. isn't in your way.
  • Resize the camera overlay before you start. It's easier to fine-tune the crop when you're not already recording.

11Troubleshooting

Permissions Loop

If macOS keeps asking for permissions you've already granted, reset TCC for TAKE. and relaunch:

  • tccutil reset ScreenCapture dev.take.app
  • tccutil reset Camera dev.take.app
  • tccutil reset Microphone dev.take.app

TAKE. Window Shows Up in My Recording

Open Settings and make sure Hide TAKE Controls from Recordings is on. Restart the recording — the setting is applied when you start a new take.

No Audio in Exported Video

Check that SYSTEM or MIC is toggled on before you record, and that the meters move while you play/speak. If MIC never moves, confirm the source in the MIC dropdown.

Still Stuck?

Head to the Support page or email shvwshvnk@icloud.com.