A recording that looks like somebody designed it.

How to add a background to a screen recording on a Mac

Open the project, choose a canvas, and fill it. The fill can be a solid colour, a gradient, a blur of the recording itself or an image you import, and the screen sits on top of it with padding you set. Because the background is drawn when the project plays and exports, the original capture underneath is never changed, and you can swap the background on any project later.

Add padding, rounded corners and a drop shadow

Padding gives the recording room to breathe. Rounded corners and a border make the capture read as a window rather than a crop, and a shadow lifts it off the background. These are the three settings that turn an edge-to-edge screen capture into something that looks designed: screen recording backgrounds and padding gives starting values for each.

Canvas size and shape

A canvas can be landscape, portrait, square, a 4:5 feed shape, classic, tall, custom or the original shape of what you recorded. Choose fit to keep the whole screen inside the canvas when detail matters, or fill to let the frame follow what you do. If the destination is a vertical feed, the vertical video feature goes into the shape and framing choices in depth.

Gradient and blur backgrounds

A gradient is a safe default for tutorials, because it gives the screen contrast without a competing image. A blur of the recording itself ties the frame to the content and works well for short clips. An imported image is stored inside the project folder, so it travels with the project when you move it.