Microsoft Edge: screenshot tool gets AI, OCR and image search capabilities

[harlan4096]

Microsoft Edge, like many other web browsers, has a screenshot tool. Called Web capture in Edge Stable, it lets you capture screenshots quickly by drawing rectangles on the screen.

Microsoft launched a new Edge Canary update today that brings several improvements to the tool. Besides a name change to Screenshot, the tool is getting an AI infusion, OCR capabilities and a an image search option.

Unlike the option to make Edge look better on Windows 11, this Screenshot tool seems to roll out to all supported desktop platforms.



You may launch the Screenshot tool in Edge with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-Shift-S, or by right-clicking on a blank space on the screen and selecting Screenshot from the menu.

Edge lets you draw a rectangle around content on the screen and displays the screenshot toolbar after you let go of the mouse button.

There, you find all available options. Options to draw on the screenshot immediately are provided. You may add arrows, circles or draw freehand. There is also an option to add text to the screenshot and use the mosaic function. There is no Blur option, but Mosaic paints over parts of the screenshot. It remains to be seen if it does so securely.

Note that Bing locks the screen when its screenshot tool is active. You can't switch to another app until you close the screenshot app.

Besides these basic options, Edge's Screenshot tool supports a number of interesting features. Have you followed Samsung's announcement of the new Galaxy S24 smartphone lineup? It showcased an AI feature that looks up content that you mark on the screen online.

Microsoft's Edge's image search feature is not as powerful, but you may use it to find items that you mark when using the screenshot tool. While you may use it to mark entire images, you may also search for specific items in images. The search uses Bing to find matching images.
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