Capixe
Find screenshots, not just organize them.
There's a particular kind of frustration I keep running into:
I know I saved an image of this. Where is it?
Then comes the scrolling.
Opening folders.
Checking dates.
Looking through thumbnails.
Trying to remember filenames I never really chose in the first place.
Screenshots are where I notice this problem the most, but it isn't really limited to screenshots.
Over time, all kinds of images pile up on a PC, and finding one again can become surprisingly difficult.
Eventually, I realized something:
I often remember quite a lot about the image I'm looking for.
I just don't remember anything useful about the file.
That's why I'm building Capixe.
The goal is to make finding images depend less on remembering filenames, folders, or dates, and more on what you actually remember about the image.
I'm starting with text.
The first Windows prototype lets you choose a folder, analyze the images locally, and search for words contained inside them.
Choose a folder → Analyze → Search
So if you remember a word, an error message, a product name, or something else you saw in an image, you can use that memory to find it again.
But I don't want Capixe to stop at exact text search.
Sometimes you remember the words.
Other times, you only remember something like:
"an image about a Python dependency problem"
or
"that comparison between two products I was considering."
Eventually, I want to explore AI-powered semantic search for those cases too — so you can search by meaning even when you don't remember the exact words.
That's the broader idea behind Capixe:
Find images by what you remember about them, not by how you stored them.
The first prototype is now available for Windows, and I want to see how this works outside my own image library before I build further.
If you have a folder full of images you've accumulated over time, I'd really appreciate you trying it:
https://p1rworks24-ops.github.io/Capixe/
And if you do:
What was the first image you tried to find?
In my first post, I introduced Capixe as a desktop app for organizing screenshots with folders, tags, and search.
First of all, thank you to everyone who commented on my last post. I really appreciated all the feedback. Reading your thoughts while continuing to build Capixe made me look at the problem a little differently.
I started to feel that the real value isn't simply helping people organize screenshots so they're easier to find later.
It's helping them find the screenshot they need as quickly as possible, even if they don't remember the filename, folder, or date.
Features that help organize screenshots are still important, and I'm continuing to build them.
But I'm now treating those as supporting features, while making the Find experience the heart of Capixe.
Right now, I'm experimenting with a new search UI that lets me search screenshots using words I remember from inside the image.
I'd really like to validate this before I go further.
When you need to find an old screenshot, what do you usually remember first?
Something written inside the image?
The approximate date?
The folder or filename?
Or something else?
And do you actively organize your screenshots, or do you usually search for them only when you need one?
Your answers will directly influence how I design the search experience. I'd really appreciate hearing about your own experience.
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The shift from “organize screenshots” to “retrieve the right one” feels like the more consequential decision here.
What’s especially interesting is that the search experience depends on what people naturally remember before they ever think about how the screenshots were organized.
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Thanks! That's exactly the direction I'm exploring. Before deciding how the search should work, I wanted to understand what people naturally remember first. The answers here will definitely influence how I design the search experience.
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Hi everyone! 👋
I'm excited to share my first post here.
For years, I kept thousands of screenshots across different folders. Finding an old screenshot often took longer than taking a new one.
I tried existing tools, but most focused on cloud storage or photo management rather than organizing large local screenshot collections.
That's why I started building Capixe, a desktop app designed to organize screenshots with folders, tags, and fast search.
It's still in active development, and I'll be sharing my progress here as I continue building in public.
I'd really appreciate your feedback.
How do you currently manage your screenshots? Is there anything you wish existing tools did better?
Looking forward to learning from everyone here!
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The OCR question everyone is asking is a feature question. The harder one is who actually has a budget: solo users with messy desktops rarely pay, but support, QA, and compliance teams treat screenshots as evidence and already pay for worse tools. Find one of those teams before you build out tagging, because they will tell you which features are load-bearing.
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That's a really valuable perspective—thank you.
You're right that "who would actually pay for this?" is a much harder and more important question than "what features should I add?"
Right now I'm intentionally validating the core problem with individual users first, but I'm also paying close attention to who experiences this pain most often.
If I start seeing the same pain from support, QA, or compliance teams, that'll definitely influence where Capixe goes next.
Thanks for giving me another angle to think about.
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That's a very nice and specific problem you are solving. I agree that most of the screenshots that I capture, I won't look them again at all but if It got messy, I would love to check out your product in such case. Good one
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Thanks! That's actually the workflow I'm designing for.
Most screenshots are never opened again, but the moment you need one and can't find it, it becomes frustrating. I'm hoping Capixe can make those moments much easier.
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I like that this came from solving your own workflow first. That's often where the most practical developer tools begin.
One question: are you thinking of keeping Capixe purely as a local-first application, or do you see optional cloud sync becoming part of the roadmap? I imagine privacy-conscious users would really appreciate a local-first approach with cloud sync as an opt-in feature.
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Thanks! That's exactly how it started—I built it because I kept losing track of my own screenshots.
My current plan is to keep Capixe local-first. Privacy and speed are both important to me, and I don't want users to feel like they have to upload their screenshots just to find them.
That said, I could see optional cloud sync being something to explore in the future, but only as an opt-in feature rather than the default.
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Hi,
I understand your frustration :) I know what you're talking about because I've been there myself.. I built a scrollshot Pro Chrome extension that captures the screen in various ways but also saves everything locally right away.. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you succeed, the biggest problem is presenting the product to people and getting them to try it.. at least for me.. Best regards
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Thanks! I really appreciate it.
And yes, I'm starting to realize that getting people to actually try the product is much harder than building it.
I'm focusing on improving the prototype based on feedback first, then I'll keep sharing it and hopefully get more people to use it.Good luck with Scrollshot Pro too!
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Congrats on taking the build-in-public leap! Quick question: are you planning to add OCR (text search inside images) down the road? Half the time I can't remember what folder a screenshot is in, but I remember a phrase or code snippet inside it.
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Thanks! That's definitely something I'm interested in.
Quite a few people have mentioned searching by the text inside screenshots, so OCR is high on my list.
Right now I'm focused on making the core "find your screenshots" experience as smooth as possible, then I'd love to build OCR on top of that.
Thanks for the suggestion!
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My personal pain with screenshots is that on Mac they just go to my desktop by default, and they're untitled, so going through them is a headache. If you can figure out a clever way to help me automatically differentiate between throwaway screenshots and screenshots I may have to reference in the future, that would definitely be something I would use.
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Thanks for sharing that!
That's a really interesting point. The idea of automatically distinguishing between "throwaway" screenshots and ones you'll likely need later is something I've been thinking about as well.
I'm currently focusing on making screenshots easier to find first, but smart organization like that is definitely a direction I'd love to explore.
Out of curiosity, what kinds of screenshots do you usually end up needing again?
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This is actually a great idea. I hope to see it become something big. I'm probably sure a lot of people go through the same problem. Also you're solving a really specific problem.
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Thanks so much! I really appreciate it.
Out of curiosity, have you ever found yourself looking for a screenshot you knew you had but couldn't find?
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I like that you're solving a very specific pain point instead of trying to build another general file manager. One thing I'd be curious about is whether you'll include OCR or AI-powered search so users can find screenshots by the text inside them, not just tags or folders. Looking forward to seeing how it evolves!
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Thanks! I really appreciate that. Keeping the scope focused has been one of my biggest goals while building Capixe. OCR and AI-powered search are definitely on my roadmap, but for now I'm trying to validate the core experience first: helping people quickly find screenshots they already have. I'd rather make that work really well before adding more advanced features. Thanks again for the encouragement!
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Honestly my system is "screenshot everything, never open the folder again." I probably took 40 this week alone — spreadsheets, dashboards, error states, random posts I wanted to reply to later — and I've gone back for maybe three of them.
The thing I'd want isn't folders or tags, because I'll never be disciplined enough to apply either. It's search on what's actually inside the image. Half my screenshots are text, and the reason I lose them is that "the one with the pricing table" isn't something I can type anywhere right now.
Does Capixe do OCR on the contents, or is it manual tagging first? That'd be the deciding factor for me.
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That's really helpful feedback—thanks for taking the time to explain your workflow.
I think you highlighted something important: the goal isn't organizing screenshots for the sake of organizing them, it's being able to find the one you need later.
Right now, Capixe focuses on tags and search to validate the core workflow first.
OCR search is definitely on my roadmap, but I want to make sure I'm solving the right problem before adding more advanced features.
Out of curiosity, if OCR search worked well, would that alone be enough for you to switch from your current workflow?
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"This is such a relatable problem — small annoyances like this are often the best validation signal for a product. Curious how you're thinking about scope creep as you build, since 'just fix screenshots' can easily turn into a much bigger tool."
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That's something I'm thinking about a lot.
There are so many directions this could go (OCR, AI tagging, semantic search...), but I'm trying to stay disciplined and validate the core workflow first.
If people don't find value in simply finding and organizing screenshots, the more advanced features won't matter.
So for now, I'm trying to solve one problem really well.
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Hey! This hits home hard. 😅 My Desktop is basically a screenshot graveyard.
Love that you’re focusing on local files—cloud-first tools always feel like overkill for this. Folders + tags + fast search is exactly the combo I need.
Currently I just suffer through Spotlight search, so I’ll be watching Capixe closely. One wish: a killer "duplicate finder"—I have the same shot saved 5 times.
Excited to follow along! 🚀
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Thanks! "Screenshot graveyard" is such a perfect way to describe it. 😄
I'm trying to keep the first version focused on helping people find screenshots they already have, but a duplicate finder is definitely an interesting idea for the future.
Out of curiosity, how do you usually search for old screenshots today?
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I use default windows one, I'm old i know haahahahhahah
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Haha, if the default Windows tool gets the job done for you, that's all that matters. 😄 Thanks for checking it out!
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Organizing tools are interesting because the value compounds over time, which can slow adoption.
The ones that win usually anchor to an immediate pain (“find this instantly”).
What triggers someone to start using it?
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That's a really interesting point.
I hadn't thought much about the "trigger" before, but you're right—people need a reason to start using it today, not just a promise that it'll be useful months later.
I'll definitely think more about that.
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Don't ask users "why did you sign up?" Ask them: "What were you doing right before you realized you needed this?" The answer is never "I wanted to get organized." It's always something like: "I spent 20 minutes looking for that contract and my client was waiting on Zoom."
Your job: Find the 3 most painful "right before" moments. Then build your homepage around the worst one — not around organizing.
Quick example: Notion didn't win on "organize your notes." They won on "stop losing that one doc your boss asked for." Everything else (databases, wikis, templates) came later.
If you want, I can run a quick simulation on your current landing page vs. 3 trigger-based headlines — see which one would pull the "I need this NOW" user vs. the "this looks nice someday" browser.
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I'd love that—thank you!
I actually just put together a very rough prototype landing page, so I'd really appreciate your honest feedback.
I wasn't able to post the link here, but I've added it to my Capixe project page.
I'm especially interested in whether it gives people an immediate reason to try Capixe, rather than just making them think, "This looks useful someday."
Looking forward to your thoughts!
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I store them in one huge folder and sort by date. I haven't tried searching, I guess the date would be my only option. An option to search for text could come in handy. I don't think I'd ever spend the time to tag them.
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That's fair, and it's exactly why I'm exploring OCR and automatic organization for the future.
If tagging feels like work, the app should probably do more of it for you.
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What stood out to me is that the problem isn't really storing screenshots—it's recovering information you know you captured but can't find when you need it.
Those feel similar, but they lead to very different products.
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I really like that perspective.
You're right—the real problem isn't storing screenshots, it's being able to recover the information when you need it.
That's a much better way to think about the product. Thanks for pointing it out.
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I'm glad it resonated.
I'd be interested in continuing the conversation by email if you're open to it. What's the best email to reach you on?
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Thanks so much for taking the time to read my post and for reaching out!
I'd really appreciate that.
Feel free to send me a DM on X (@rworks_x10a), or if you prefer email, let me know and I'll share it in a way that works.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
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Email would be better for me. Feel free to share the best address to reach you on.
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