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Secondary Screen Snap

by Farno Lee
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Description

Obsidian plugin: capture a secondary display (e.g. online course) with a hotkey and insert the screenshot at the cursor. macOS only.

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Latest Version

1.0.1
a month ago

Changelog

Docs-only release: rewrote README in English (primary) with install, usage, hotkey binding, Screen Recording permission and FAQ sections, plus a Chinese section.

No functional code changes from 1.0.0.

See all version on GitHub

README file from

Github

Secondary Screen Snap

Capture a specific monitor (for example a secondary display showing an online course) with a single hotkey, save the screenshot into your vault, and insert it at the current cursor position — without ever leaving Obsidian.

Built for note-taking during lectures: keep Obsidian on your main monitor, the course on the second one, and snap the course screen straight into your notes.

⚠️ Platform: macOS only. It calls the system screencapture binary. isDesktopOnly: true.

Features

  • One hotkey grabs the whole image of a chosen display at native resolution.
  • The screenshot is written into your vault (default attachments/网课截图/) and embedded at the cursor as ![[...]].
  • Configurable display index, target folder, filename format, and embed style.
  • Silent capture by default (no shutter sound), no preview dialog — fastest possible flow.
  • All screenshots stay in your local vault. Nothing is uploaded anywhere; the plugin makes no network requests.

Install

  1. Download main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css from the latest release.
  2. Put them in your vault at .obsidian/plugins/secondary-screen-snap/.
  3. In Obsidian: Settings → Community plugins → refresh → enable Secondary Screen Snap.

(Or install it from the Obsidian Community plugin directory by searching “Secondary Screen Snap”.)

Required: Screen Recording permission

The first capture needs macOS to allow Obsidian to record the screen, otherwise you get a blank image or could not create image from display:

System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording → enable Obsidian → fully quit and reopen Obsidian.

Usage

  1. Focus a Markdown note and place the cursor where you want the image.
  2. Press your bound hotkey (see below) — the secondary screen is captured and inserted instantly.

Bind a hotkey

Settings → Hotkeys → search “Secondary Screen Snap” and assign a shortcut to:

  • Capture secondary screen and insert at cursor — uses the display index from settings (recommended for lectures).
  • Capture secondary screen (pick display) and insert — choose a display each time.

Suggested combo: ⌥⇧4 (avoids the system screenshot ⌘⇧4).

Settings

  • Display index — 1 = main, 2 = second monitor (usually your course screen). Use the Test capture button to probe each display and see its resolution.
  • Attachment folder — relative to the vault root, e.g. attachments/网课截图. Leave empty for the vault root.
  • File name format — supports {{date:format}}, {{time:format}}, {{display}}.
  • Insert style — embed ![[…]] (default), markdown ![](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/farno/obsidian-secondary-screen-snap/HEAD/…), or plain link.
  • Insert newline — append a line break after the image.
  • Shutter sound — keep the system click sound (off by default).

How it works & notes

  • Obsidian stays in the foreground; the plugin captures the other display, so your notes are never in the shot.
  • The image is generated as a PNG in a temp file, copied into the vault, and the temp file is cleaned up.
  • If your course monitor is the 3rd or 4th display, just raise the index; Test capture reports the highest display the system recognizes.

FAQ

  • Blank image after inserting? → 99% missing Screen Recording permission. Re-grant it and restart Obsidian.
  • Can it capture the mouse cursor? → Full-display screencapture does not include the pointer by default.
  • Windows / Linux? → Not in this version (macOS-only).

Privacy

Screenshots are saved only inside your local vault. The plugin performs no network calls and does not transmit any data.

Feedback & bug reports

Found a bug or have a feature request? Please open an issue:

👉 https://github.com/farno/obsidian-secondary-screen-snap/issues

Before posting, include: your macOS version, Obsidian version, the display index you set, and (if a capture failed) the exact error shown. Screenshots/blank-image reports are especially useful.

License

MIT © farnolee

中文说明

用快捷键抓取指定显示器（例如显示网课的副屏）的画面，保存到 vault 并在当前光标处插入，全程不离开 Obsidian。

  • 仅支持 macOS（调用系统 screencapture），isDesktopOnly: true。
  • 截图默认存到 attachments/网课截图/，以 ![[…]] 内嵌；可设置显示器序号、文件夹、文件名格式与插入样式。
  • 默认静音、无预览，最快记录。所有截图只存本地 vault，不联网、不上传任何数据。

安装：从 最新 Release 下载 main.js/manifest.json/styles.css，放入 <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/secondary-screen-snap/，在第三方插件里启用。

首次使用请授予权限：系统设置 → 隐私与安全性 → 屏幕录制 → 勾选 Obsidian 并重启，否则截图为空白。

用法：聚焦笔记、放好光标，按你绑定的快捷键即可。设置 → 快捷键 搜索 “Secondary Screen Snap”，推荐 ⌥⇧4。

反馈 / 报 Bug：请到 https://github.com/farno/obsidian-secondary-screen-snap/issues 提 issue，附上 macOS 版本、Obsidian 版本、你设置的显示器序号，以及（若抓屏失败）具体报错。

许可证：MIT © farnolee

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