如何使用 Camtasia 錄製及剪輯螢幕教學：實用操作指南

Originally published at kuponaut.com, where prices and plan details are kept up to date.

A good screen tutorial is mostly preparation and editing; the recording itself takes minutes. This guide walks through making one with TechSmith Camtasia, from planning and the Camtasia Recorder settings to cutting mistakes, adding cursor effects, zooms and captions, and exporting the finished video. Feature names and steps follow the TechSmith tutorials and support pages, and prices are from the TechSmith store on 15 October 2026.

Step 1: plan the recording

Decide what the viewer should be able to do once the video ends, then write down the clicks needed to get there. A short outline or a full script keeps you from wandering, and splitting a long topic into several short videos makes each one easier to record and to update later.

Prepare the screen before you press record. Close apps you do not need, turn off notifications, sign in to anything the tutorial uses and load sample data so nothing personal appears on screen. On a Mac, the Camtasia menu bar icon has a Hide Desktop Icons option if you are recording the desktop.

Sound matters more than most people expect. TechSmith recommends a USB microphone over a Bluetooth one because it is more reliable, placed close to the person speaking. Make a ten-second test recording and play it back before the real take, so you find a muted microphone or missing system sound early.

Step 2: set up the Camtasia Recorder

Open the Camtasia editor and click New Recording on the Home window, or click Record inside a project you already have open. The Camtasia Recorder opens with a highlighted area on the screen and a row of toggles: Screen Recording, Camera, Microphone and System Audio. Turn on only what you need.

To set the capture area, drag the handles around the highlighted rectangle or type exact pixel values into the Width and Height fields. You can move the area by dragging its centre handle on Windows or dragging inside it on a Mac, and drag it to another display if you have more than one. To capture just one program, open the Screen dropdown, pick Choose Window, select the app and click OK. In that mode System Audio records only that app, and closing the window ends the recording.

Use the Camera and Microphone dropdowns to choose your webcam and microphone, and drag the microphone slider to set the input level. Switch System Audio on if the tutorial needs computer sounds such as alerts or a video playing; leave it off otherwise. There is also a Camtasia Rev toggle that opens Rev after recording; you can ignore it for a standard tutorial.

Windows users can set a Maximum capture frame rate and the Recording encoder (TSC2 or H264) under Tools, Preferences, on the Inputs tab.

Step 3: record and stop

Click Record, or press F9 on Windows or Command+Shift+2 on a Mac. Work through your outline at a slightly slower pace than feels natural, and move the mouse deliberately so viewers can follow it. If you make a mistake, pause for a second and repeat the sentence or the click; a clean gap is much easier to cut than a stumble in the middle of a word.

To stop, click Stop, or press F10 on Windows or Command+Option+2 on a Mac. You can also stop from the Camtasia Recorder icon in the Windows taskbar, or from the Camtasia icon in the Mac menu bar with Stop Recording. The rest of the work happens in the Camtasia editor.

Step 4: cut out mistakes

Start with the edit that matters most: removing pauses, retakes and dead time. To shorten the start or end of a clip, select it on the timeline and drag its edge inward; dragging it back out restores what you trimmed.

To remove a section from the middle, drag the green and red playhead handles to mark the start and end, then click Cut. The timeline Zoom slider helps you place the handles precisely. If there are tracks you want to keep untouched, such as background music, click Lock Track next to their names first. Cut material can be put back with Paste at the playhead.

To divide a clip in two, place the playhead and click Split, or press S on Windows or Command+T on a Mac. Splitting is useful when you want to move, delete or speed up one part of a recording without affecting the rest.

Step 5: guide the eye with cursor effects, zooms, annotations and captions

Screen recordings are hard to follow when the important part is a small button on a large screen. Three tools in the Camtasia editor deal with this. Cursor Effect in the tools panel lets you drag an effect onto the recording so viewers see where the mouse is and when it clicks.

Zoom-n-Pan, found under Animations in the tools panel, lets you resize a rectangle to zoom into part of the screen and drag it to pan to another area. TechSmith points Mac users to Custom Animations for the same result. Use zooms for menus, small text and form fields, and zoom back out so viewers do not lose track of where they are.

For annotations, move the playhead to where a label or arrow should appear, open Annotations in the tools panel and drag your choice onto the canvas. Keep them short and remove them once the step is done.

Captions help viewers who watch without sound or in a second language. In Camtasia 2024 and later, the Windows support article describes generating them with Captions, then Speech-to-Text, which transcribes the narration automatically. Read the result before export, since names and technical terms are the words most often misheard.

Step 6: export and share

Click Export and choose Local File to save the video to your computer. TechSmith lists MP4, GIF, M4A and WebM for this option; MP4 is the safe choice for a normal tutorial. On Windows you choose a preset or Custom, and on a Mac you pick the format and use Options for advanced settings. Batch Export creates several versions at once, for example a full-quality file and a smaller one.

If you added quizzes, a table of contents, captions or search, export with the TechSmith Smart Player, using the MP4 with Smart Player preset on Windows or the options in the MP4 export on a Mac, including the SCORM option if the video goes into a course platform. YouTube does not support quizzes or hotspots.

To publish directly, Export also offers YouTube, where you add a title, description, tags and privacy setting, and Screencast, the TechSmith hosting service. Every plan includes hosting for up to 25 videos on Screencast.

Which Camtasia plan you need

On 15 October 2026 TechSmith listed four yearly plans. Starter costs $39 a year and includes Snagit and the Camtasia editor, but exports from the editor carry a watermark. Essentials, at $179.88 a year, is the first plan with watermark-free exports, and the pricing page lists text-based editing, transcription, unlimited captions, cursor effects, quizzes and SCORM export from this plan up, plus Audiate. Create, at $249, adds AI scripts and AI voiceovers with 200+ voices. Pro, at $599, adds avatars, dubbing, translation, a large stock library and unlimited video sharing.

For tutorials you record with your own voice, Essentials is the plan to look at. Create only makes sense if you want a generated voice instead of your own. Students pay $45 a year and educators $162.36 through the education store. Camtasia is sold as an annual subscription, and every plan has a 14-day money-back guarantee.

You can try the editor before paying. The TechSmith support page lists no time limit on the Camtasia editor trial, only a watermark on exports, which it says can be removed after purchase.

Camtasia, Snagit or Filmora?

Snagit is not a competitor here, because every Camtasia plan includes it. Use Snagit for screenshots and quick, unedited recordings, such as a short clip for a colleague, and the Camtasia editor when a video needs cuts, zooms, captions or a polished export.

Wondershare Filmora is a general creative video editor and costs less, at $49.99 a year. It suits social videos and vlogs, while TechSmith Camtasia is built around screen recordings and teaching videos, with cursor effects, quizzes and SCORM export.