A designer workflow on a Mac: references, screenshots and file handoff
A designer handles many small files: reference screenshots, exports, colour values and feedback. NotchStar gives three short stops for them: the Screenshot Tray, the Shelf and the Clipboard. None of these is a library or an asset manager. They move things from where they appear to where they are needed.
References and feedback shots
- Take a screenshot of a reference, or a region of your own design, with the macOS shortcut.
- The thumbnail appears under the notch and is big enough to read.
- Drag it into your board, a chat or an email. A shot that is used leaves the tray.
- For a set, Command click the thumbnails you want and drag any of them. They go together. Option drag sends everything in the tray.
The tray keeps up to 12 screenshots, five minutes each. Drag the ones you want to keep into a project folder, which moves the file there. Dropping into an app gives the app a copy. The tray does not capture, crop or annotate.
Assets on the Shelf
Drag exported files toward the notch to open the Shelf. Drop them on the shelf zone, then switch apps and drag them out into your handoff folder or message. The shelf holds references, not copies, so do not rename or move the originals while they are parked. To send to a nearby device, drop files on the AirDrop zone and choose the device.
Values and snippets
Copy a hex value, a font name or a link as you work. The Clipboard tab keeps the last 50 copies and lets you search them. Copied images show as thumbnails, with at most 10 kept. Text is stored plain.
What it does not do
- No colour picker, no image editing, no layers.
- The tray and clipboard do not sync and do not last. The clipboard clears when NotchStar quits.
- The Shelf does not convert or resize images.
- AirDrop depends on both devices’ settings.
The Screenshot Tray page and File Shelf page list the limits. For sending a group, see sending several screenshots.
