Treat screenshots like design assets

Use design tools and reusable components to make updates faster

Screenshot maintenance is a mess in most documentation projects.

Someone captures a screenshot, edits it with the OS image editor, adds it to the docs. Three months later the UI changes. Nobody can find the original. Nobody knows how it was edited. Someone creates a new screenshot that looks different from the rest.

Designers don’t work this way. Neither should you.

Use a design tool

Stop editing screenshots in your OS image editor.

Use a professional tool Figma or Draw.io instead. Create one canvas per documentation page. All your screenshots live in one place, with consistent sizes and styles.

When you need to export, choose your format and resolution. When the UI changes, you know exactly where to update it.

Build a reusable library

Create components you use across all screenshots:

• Highlight boxes (consistent color and style)

• Arrows pointing to UI elements

• Step numbers for tutorials

• Blur overlays for sensitive data

When a screenshot becomes outdated, replace the base image and reuse your existing highlights and arrows. No need to recreate everything from scratch.

Store editable versions with your docs

Put the editable files (.fig, .drawio) in your documentation repository.

When someone needs to update a screenshot six months from now, they can. They’re not starting from scratch or guessing how you created the original.

Putting it all together

This doesn’t prevent screenshots from becoming outdated. Nothing does.

But it makes updates faster. Your future self (or your teammate) opens the design file, swaps the screenshot, and exports.

The consistency is a bonus. When all your screenshots use the same highlight color and arrow style, your documentation looks professional instead of cobbled together.

Treat screenshots like design assets, not disposable images.