Getting started
What does Sopycat do?
You do a task once on your PC while Sopycat records the screen. It turns that recording into a step-by-step manual, with a picture and a short instruction for each click. It also includes a full PDF editor, so your manuals and your office's PDFs sit in one library.
What computer do I need?
Sopycat runs on Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. You need a microphone only if you want to talk while you record. The optional smarter writing on your PC needs 6 to 12 GB of memory, depending on the model you pick.
Is there a Mac version?
No. Sopycat is for Windows only. Manuals you save as a PDF, Word document or web page open on any computer, including a Mac.
Do I need the internet?
No. Recording, writing the steps with simple sentences, editing and the PDF editor all work offline. You need the internet for updates, the optional downloads (the Office pack, voice transcription, the smarter-writing helper) and the two online writing options.
Where are my manuals saved?
In your library folder, which is Documents\Sopycat unless you chose another. Each manual and document is a folder of ordinary files. You can open the folder from Settings.
Settings › Where your manuals are kept › Open folder
If I uninstall Sopycat, do I lose my manuals?
No. Uninstalling leaves the library folder where it is. Install Sopycat again and point it at the same folder to carry on.
How do I see the tour again?
Choose Take the tour again in Settings, or press Ctrl+K and type tour. Keys: → for the next stop, ← for the one before, Esc to end.
Settings › Getting around › Take the tour again
Does Sopycat work in other languages?
Sopycat's screens are in English. The spelling check follows the languages set in Windows. Voice transcription and making scans searchable (OCR) work in English only.
Recording
Can I pause a recording?
No, there is no pause button. Press Stop when you need a break, then add the rest later with Record more steps…. The new steps join the same manual.
Open the manual › ⋯ More options › Record more steps…
Can I record just one window?
No. Sopycat records a whole screen. If you have more than one, it asks Which screen will you use? before you start. Sopycat's own recording bar is never in the recording.
What if I type a password while recording?
Password boxes are never written down: the step just says Enter the Password. Anything else you type is written into the manual, so it can say things like "Enter 25.00 in Amount". If you type other private details, turn off Write down what I type first.
Settings › Buttons while recording › Write down what I type
How long does it take to write the manual?
Usually a minute or two after you press Stop. Smarter writing on your PC can take several minutes. You can leave the page and keep working; Sopycat can tell you with a Windows notification when it is ready.
I made a mistake while recording. Do I start again?
You can press Start over on the recording bar, then click it again to confirm. Often it is quicker to carry on and remove the extra steps afterwards with the step's ⋯ › Remove step.
A step names the wrong button. How do I fix it?
Click the step's title and type the right words. Sopycat names each click from what Windows reports, or by reading the screen. While you record, the bar shows the name it will use for your last action, so you can redo an action if the name looks wrong.
I forgot a step in the middle. Can I add it?
Yes. On the step before the gap, open its ⋯ menu and choose Add a step after this. From there you can record the missing part, paste a screenshot, pick a picture file or add a blank step.
Open the manual › the step's ⋯ › Add a step after this › Record more steps here…
Can I talk while I record?
Yes. Tick Record my voice too before you start. Your voice plays back on each step, and with voice transcription downloaded Sopycat can write your words into the steps. A narrated recording also gets a tutorial video.
Can I change the stop key?
Yes. The standard keys are Ctrl+F9 to stop and Ctrl+F8 to mark a spot as its own step. Type a new pair, such as Alt+F10, and they work from any program while you record.
Settings › Buttons while recording
Editing
Do I need to save a manual?
No. A manual saves itself a moment after you stop typing, and the header shows Saved. Your changes are also kept as earlier versions you can go back to.
How do I hide private details in a picture?
Press Blur something on the step and drag over what you want hidden. Press × on a blur to take it away. Sopycat can also blur email addresses, phone numbers, card numbers and social-security numbers for you as it makes the manual.
Open the manual › the step › Blur something
I changed something by mistake. Can I undo it?
Removing, splitting or merging a step shows an Undo button for a few seconds. For anything older, open Earlier versions and press Put back on the version you want. Each manual keeps its 30 most recent versions.
Open the manual › ⋯ More options › Earlier versions
Can I make a manual without recording?
Yes. Press New manual on the Library page for an empty manual, then add screenshots and words yourself. Take a screenshot with Windows+Shift+S and press Ctrl+V in the manual to make it a step.
Library › New manual
The picture caught the wrong moment. Can I pick another?
Yes. Choose Change picture on the step, move through the recording with the slider, and press Use this picture. You can also drag the purple box to put the highlight in the right place.
Open the manual › the step's ⋯ › Change picture
The program changed. How do I know which steps are out of date?
Choose Compare the steps with the screen… with the program open on your main screen. Sopycat photographs the screen and marks each step as still matching, moved or looking different. You can also set a review date so the manual reminds you to check it.
Open the manual › ⋯ More options › Compare the steps with the screen…
Can Sopycat write the steps again?
Yes, if the manual came from a recording. Rewrite from the recording writes every step again, for example after you switch to smarter writing. It replaces your changes to the words and pictures, but keeps steps you added yourself and leaves the old version under Earlier versions.
Open the manual › ⋯ More options › Rewrite from the recording
Sharing and training
Can people without Sopycat read my manuals?
Yes. Save the manual as a PDF, a Word document, a web page or a tutorial video, and send it or put it on a shared drive. Anyone can open those without Sopycat.
Can Sopycat make a training video?
Yes, from any manual that came from a recording. The video shows the screen with a ring and number on each click and a caption for each step, plus your voice if you narrated. Narrated recordings get one automatically.
Open the manual › ⋯ More options › Make a tutorial video
Can I print a manual?
Save it as a PDF first, then print the PDF. The PDF is Letter size, with the title, the summary and each numbered step with its picture.
Open the manual › Save as PDF
How do I know my staff read a manual?
Choose Ask staff to confirm they read this… and press Publish. Each reader sees a banner and presses I have read this, and their name is logged. If you publish again after changes, everyone is asked again.
Open the manual › ⋯ More options › Ask staff to confirm they read this…
Do readers need Sopycat to confirm they read it?
Yes. Confirmations are made in Sopycat, so each reader needs Sopycat pointed at the same shared library folder. Their name comes from Settings › Your name, or their Windows user name if that is empty.
Can I show that someone completed a procedure?
Yes. When someone goes through a manual with Follow along, each step they tick or skip is logged with their name and the time. The Records page lists every run, and you can save the list as a CSV file for a spreadsheet.
Sidebar › Tools › Records › Save completions as CSV
What is Follow along?
A small window that stays on top of your other programs and shows one step at a time, with a short film of that step when the manual came from a recording. Press Done for each step, or Skip and give a reason. It can also show the steps as a checklist.
Open the manual › Follow along
PDFs and documents
Can I change the words in a PDF?
Yes. On the Edit text tab, click a line to change its words, or pick Paragraphs to rewrite a whole block. The old words are taken out of the file, not just covered. If the file lacks the font, Sopycat uses the closest standard one.
Does Sopycat change my original file?
No. The file you added is never written over. Each save makes a new version, and you can go back to the original at any time under Versions.
Open the document › ⋯ More options › Versions
Can Sopycat read a scanned PDF?
Yes, after you make it searchable. Make it searchable (OCR)… reads the words on each scanned page on your PC and adds them invisibly, so you can search the file and use Find and redact. It works in English.
Open the PDF › More › Make it searchable (OCR)…
Can I sign a PDF?
Yes. Draw or type your signature once and place it on any page. That is a picture of your signature. If you need a digital signature that shows any later change, use Sign with a certificate….
Open the PDF › Mark up › Signature
Is redaction really safe?
Yes. On save, Sopycat takes the words and picture data out from under each box, then checks the page again. If it cannot prove they are gone, it saves nothing and tells you. Every redaction is listed in the redaction log.
Can I open Word, Excel and PowerPoint files?
Word .docx files open in Sopycat's Word editor. Excel, PowerPoint, older .doc files, .rtf and .odt are turned into PDFs as you add them, which needs the free Office pack. The original file is kept alongside.
Settings › Converting Office files › Download the Office pack (about 350 MB)
Can I edit a password-protected PDF?
Only if you know the password. Type it and press Remove the password, and the locked copy stays under Versions. Without the password, Sopycat cannot open the lock.
How do I combine PDFs into one?
Use Make a PDF: drop in PDFs, pictures and Office files, put them in order and press Make the PDF. To add one PDF to the end of another, open the first and choose Add another PDF to the end.
Sidebar › Tools › Make a PDF
Sopycat closed before I saved my PDF edits. Are they lost?
Usually not. Sopycat keeps unsaved PDF edits on your PC every few seconds. When you open the file again it says You have unsaved changes, and you can press Restore.
Offices
Do we need a server?
No. A shared folder is all it takes. Sopycat marks who is editing each document and stops one save from replacing another. For fewer clashes, keep the computers' clocks correct and give each PC its own name in Windows.
What happens if two people edit the same thing?
The second person sees who is editing and can choose Open read-only. If both save anyway, Sopycat refuses the save that would overwrite a newer one and offers Reload theirs or Keep yours as a copy. Nothing is replaced silently.
What is regulated-office mode?
One switch for offices with strict rules. It keeps all writing on the PC, hides Share as a web page, turns off automatic updates and crash reports, and logs every view, edit and export.
Settings › Regulated office › Regulated-office mode
Is there an audit log?
Yes. Redactions, signatures, read confirmations, Follow along runs, publishing, deletes and restores are always logged. In regulated-office mode, views, edits, exports and backups are logged too. You can see it in Settings and save it as a CSV file.
Settings › Regulated office › Show the audit log
How do we back up the library?
Press Back up the library… to save everything in one .zip file, or tick Back up automatically once a week and pick a folder on another drive. The weekly backup keeps the last 4 and runs while Sopycat is open. Restoring adds what is missing and never writes over what is there.
Settings › Backup
Does installing need admin rights?
No. Sopycat installs for the person signed in to Windows, so no admin password is needed. The same goes for the Office pack.
Privacy
Does Sopycat upload my recordings?
No. Recordings, manuals, PDFs and records stay on your PC in your library folder. Sopycat only sends anything if you choose one of the two online writing options, and then it sends the pictures of the steps being described, not your manuals.
Does Sopycat use AI?
Not unless you choose it. The standard option, Simple sentences (recommended), writes short steps like "Click Save" with no AI and no internet. You can switch to a writing helper that runs on your PC, or to an online writer.
Settings › How the words get written
What does an online writer see?
For each step: a picture before and after the click, what was clicked, the window and program, what you typed if that is turned on, and the step's narration words. Your finished manuals and the rest of your library are not sent.
Are pictures blurred before they are sent?
Yes, with Blur personal details in the pictures automatically on. Email addresses, phone numbers, card numbers and social-security numbers are pixelated on your PC first. Other details, such as names, are not found automatically.
Settings › Buttons while recording › Blur personal details in the pictures automatically
Does Sopycat send anything on its own?
Only an update check, which you can turn off. Crash reports are off unless you turn them on, and problem reports go only when you press Send.
Settings › Updates, and Settings › If something goes wrong
Can I use Sopycat with client or patient information?
Sopycat keeps everything on your PC unless you choose an online writer, and regulated-office mode switches those off. It does not make your office compliant with any rule by itself. Remember that the unblurred original frames stay in each manual's folder, so keep the library where only the right people can reach it.
Buying
Is there a free trial?
Yes. You can try every feature free for 14 days, with no account and no card.
What happens when the trial ends?
Nothing is deleted, and you can still open and read every manual and PDF. Recording, editing and exporting wait until you enter a key.
How many computers can I use my key on?
A personal key covers up to 3 of your own computers. With an office plan, each person gets their own key.
Does Sopycat need to be online to check my key?
Only now and then. The key is checked once when you enter it and refreshed from time to time, and Sopycat keeps working offline for a while in between.
Can I get a refund?
[YOUR REFUND POLICY, for example: a full refund within 30 days, no questions asked.]
Who do I contact about buying?
Write to support@sopycat.com with the email address you bought with.
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