Act // Browser extension guide
How to use Save to Act
Everything the extension saves goes into the Act library that is open, with where it came from. A small note at the bottom right of the page says when it is saved.
01
Right click to save
Right click on a page and pick what to save. The extension saves the original picture where it can: the largest size in srcset, the full image behind a thumbnail link, the original on sites it knows.
- Save image to Act / Save the video to Act: on a picture or a video.
- Save link to Act: the page the link goes to, saved as a web page.
- Save selected text to Act: a text item, ending with the page's title and address.
- Save the picture under the pointer to Act: for sites that cover pictures with a transparent layer.
- ⌥ + right click: brings back the browser's menu on sites that block right clicks (can be turned off in the options).
02
Save a page or a bookmark
From the toolbar popup (⌥⇧E opens it) or the page's context menu:
- Save page (⌥⇧S): keeps the page as you see it. Act then makes a snapshot, a picture of the whole page and the readable text.
- Save as bookmark: only the link, its cover, title and summary.
03
Screenshot a region
⌥⇧A, Region in the popup, or Screenshot to Act › Region in the context menu. The page dims and you drag a frame.
- Hold ⇧ for a square; hold ⌘ and click an element to fit the frame to it.
- Drag the frame or its handles; arrow keys move it (⇧ for 10 pixels), ⌘ + arrows resize it; ⌘A takes the whole page.
- Drag near the top or bottom edge and the page scrolls: a region can be taller than the window.
- Return, a double click or Save to Act saves; Esc or a right click cancels.
04
Screenshot the whole page
⌥⇧F or Whole page: the extension scrolls the page and stitches it into one picture. What shows takes only the part you see (no shortcut until you set one).
- It scrolls once first so that lazy pictures load, then shoots screen by screen.
- Sticky headers show once, at the top; chat buttons, cookie bars and pop-ups are left out.
- Progress shows in the tab's title and on the icon; Esc stops. The page goes back to where you were.
- Long pages are saved as one PNG, however tall.
05
Drag to save
Drag a picture, a video, a link or selected text on a page: Act's drop zone slides in at the window's edge.
- Drop on Save to Act to save into the default folder.
- Drop on one of the folders used lately to save there, or on Choose a folder… to pick any folder.
- A link is saved as a web page, text as a text item.
- Turn the drop zone off or move it to the left in the options.
06
Save many pictures at once
The lower half of the popup lists the pictures on the page, at their largest size, without duplicates.
- Filter by size (≥ 200, 400… px) and format, sort by page order or largest first.
- Tick the pictures (or All), choose a folder, add tags, then Save N.
- Open in a window gives the list more room.
07
Pinterest, X and other sites
On sites the extension knows, it saves the original picture or video and fills in the source: title, author, author's page, post address.
- Hover over a Pin: Save to Act appears on its picture. It saves the original picture (or the video) with the Pin's title, description, author and board, and turns into ✓ Saved.
- Batch save to Act at the bottom left: Select Pins (⇧-click for a range, Select all loaded), or Import the whole board, which scrolls the board for you and can be stopped.
- Then pick a folder and, on a board, tick Tag with the board's name.
X (Twitter)
- Each post gets an Act button left of the bookmark button. One click saves the whole post.
- Text-only posts become a text item; each picture is saved in its original size; GIFs as video files.
- Videos: Act downloads them from the post's address. If it cannot, the post stays as a bookmark and Act says so.
- The author, the post's address and its time go into the source. A post you saved shows ✓.
Also
Dribbble, Behance, ArtStation, Instagram, Xiaohongshu (RED) and Unsplash: right click or drag gives the original picture or video and its author. Each site can be turned off in the options.
08
Settings
Click the gear in the popup, or right click the toolbar icon → Options.
- Connection: which Act and library it is connected to, and Reconnect.
- Where saves go: a default folder and default tags for every save.
- Screenshots: PNG or JPEG (and its quality) for one-screen shots; shortcuts, with Change shortcuts….
- On pages: the drop zone and its side, ⌥ + right click.
- Not on these sites: one site a line. No drop zone, ⌥ + right click or site buttons there; screenshots and the context menu still work. The popup also has Not on this site.
- Sites: turn each site's support on or off.
- Advanced: connect by hand with a port and a token, only when it cannot pair by itself.
09
Keyboard shortcuts
Change them at chrome://extensions/shortcuts (or Change shortcuts… in the options). If another extension took a key first, the browser leaves it unset.
- ⌥⇧A
- Screenshot a region
- ⌥⇧F
- Screenshot the whole page
- ⌥⇧S
- Save this page to Act
- ⌥⇧E
- Open the popup
- —
- Screenshot what shows (set one yourself)
10
When it cannot reach Act
The toolbar icon turns grey and the popup says what is wrong. The usual cases:
Open Act, or just save: the extension opens Act and finishes what you asked. The browser asks first whether to open Act; choose Open (tick Always allow and it stops asking). Open Act in the popup does the same.