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Google Chrome will soon be able to take and edit screenshots straight from the desktop browser

A quick screenshot is a handy way to get information to someone, but sometimes an edit or two is needed to best fit the situation. Now, Google Chrome is preparing the ability to both capture and edit screenshots straight from the desktop version of the browser.

Available for the past few months, Google Chrome on Android has been able to take and edit screenshots with its own custom tool, bypassing the system’s own screenshot tools. The custom editor on Android supports cropping, drawing, and adding text overlays.

As spotted by TechDows and others, Chrome Canary for desktop platforms seems to be adding a similar screenshot feature. A new flag added in Chrome 98, live now in the Canary release channel, shows that Google is working on an “edit flow” for screenshots taken within the browser using its built-in sharing menu. Unfortunately, we can’t yet see what the editor actually looks like, as the functionality does not yet work.

When live, it’s expected this will work similarly to how it does on Android, and will most likely stick with the same PNG image download after the screenshot has been edited. Google mentions that this feature will work with Chrome OS along with Windows, Mac, and Linux.

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As it stands today, it’s remarkably easy to crash the browser using this feature, so it seems Google has quite a bit of work to do to get this feature ready for a stable release.

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