Screenshots Gallery — Captured Video Frames, Organized

The Video Controls Plus screenshots gallery collects every video frame you have captured with the screenshot keyboard shortcut (Alt+S by default), organized by source video and capture date. Each screenshot stores the source URL, the captured timestamp, and your optional note. The /screenshots page is the public marketing surface for the feature; the actual gallery view of YOUR captures appears after sign-in. Until then the page explains what the feature does, where the captures are stored, and what platforms cooperate with the canvas-capture API the feature uses.

Use cases

Capturing reference frames from tutorials

Programming and design tutorials are full of single-frame moments worth saving — a configuration screen, a final design comp, a code snapshot. Screenshots beat full re-watches every time.

Documenting visible moments in research videos

Researchers, journalists, and analysts can capture a specific frame as evidence. Each screenshot carries the source URL and timestamp, so the citation is verifiable.

Saving instructional cards for fitness or cooking videos

Fitness routines and cooking videos often display a recap card at the end. Capture the card; review later without re-watching.

Building a visual study deck

For visually rich content (anatomy, design, music notation), the screenshots gallery becomes a study companion. Pair with /flashcards to turn captures into review cards.

How it works

  1. Press Alt+S during playback. The current frame is captured via the HTML5 Canvas API and saved as a PNG to your browser-local screenshot store.
  2. Optionally add a note. A small inline editor lets you type a one-line caption that travels with the screenshot.
  3. Open /screenshots. The gallery shows captures grouped by source video; pagination after 200 captures.
  4. Search, tag, or filter. Search matches caption text and source title; tags can be assigned per capture for richer organization.
  5. Download or export. Single-click PNG download per capture; "Export all" packages the gallery as a ZIP with a CSV index linking each PNG to its source URL+timestamp.

Examples

  • A 50-frame study deck from a Coursera course. Captured over 2 weeks; ZIP export ~12 MB; review on iPad without re-opening the source platform.
  • A screenshot used as a citation in a blog post. PNG embedded with caption "lecture by X, minute 42:15"; reader can verify by visiting the source URL and scrubbing to the timestamp.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the screenshot return a black frame on some videos?

DRM-protected services (Netflix, Disney+, some Prime Video titles) instruct the browser to return a black frame when external code tries to capture the canvas. This is enforced by the browser, not the extension. There is no workaround that respects DRM.

How is the resolution decided?

The capture matches the video element's native resolution at the moment of capture. A 4K video gives a 4K capture; a 480p video gives a 480p capture. The extension does not upscale.

Are screenshots stored on a server?

No, unless you opt into cloud sync. Local-only mode keeps every PNG in browser storage on the device that captured it.

How much storage do screenshots use?

A 1080p PNG is ~1–2 MB. 100 captures = ~150 MB. Browsers cap extension storage but typically allow several gigabytes; the extension warns when you approach the limit.

Can I edit a screenshot inline?

No editing today (crop, annotate, redact). Use any external editor on the downloaded PNG; this is on the roadmap.

Are screenshots watermarked?

No. The PNG is exactly what the video element renders at the moment of capture.

Tips

  • For fitness or cooking, capture the recap card at the end — saves rewatching for the summary.
  • Tag captures while you take them; tagging in batch later is much harder.
  • If you study a lot of visual content, sign in for cloud sync — moving 50 captures from laptop to iPad otherwise requires a manual ZIP export.
  • The "Export all" ZIP is a clean monthly archive — useful as a backup against browser-storage corruption.

Limitations

  • DRM-protected services return black frames by browser policy; this cannot be fixed by the extension.
  • No inline editing — crop, annotate, and redact require an external editor.
  • Storage is browser-bound for local-only users; very large galleries (10,000+ captures at 4K) hit browser quotas.
  • The /screenshots page itself is public marketing surface; the gallery of YOUR captures appears after sign-in.

Last updated 2026-05-06 by Ahsan Mahmood, maintainer.