# Getting started

> Install Dabbit, grant one permission, pick your first color.

Source: https://dabbit.app/docs/getting-started

## Install

1. [Download the DMG](https://dabbit.app/download), open it, drag Dabbit into Applications.
2. Open Dabbit. It lives in the menu bar, with the four-petal mark, and opens its library window the first time.
3. Everything works for 5 days without a license; after that Dabbit pauses until it has a key. Buying one later doesn't change anything you made. See [License](https://dabbit.app/docs/license).

Dabbit needs an Apple silicon Mac (M1 or later) running macOS 14 Sonoma or later. There is no Intel build.

## The first pick

Press <kbd>⌥⌘C</kbd> anywhere, or click the menu bar mark and choose **Pick**. A magnifier follows the cursor; click on the pixel you want.

![The menu bar dropdown after a pick: the color and its name, the history strip, Copy as, and the picker, library, settings and quit controls](https://dabbit.app/_astro/popover@fill.BdotGA7n.png)

The first time, macOS asks for **Screen Recording** access. That's what lets the magnifier read pixels under the cursor. Allow it, then quit and reopen Dabbit; macOS only applies this permission to a fresh launch. If Dabbit isn't listed under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording, click **+** and add it from Applications. If you'd rather not grant it, choose **Use Apple's sampler** (in the alert, or later in Settings → Picker): it's the system eyedropper, no permission needed, but no loupe, zoom, or aperture either.

After the click, the color is:

- copied to the clipboard in your default format (Hex, to start), and
- added to **Recent picks** in the library, with the app it came from.

Change the shortcut in Settings → Shortcuts.

## Where things are

- **Menu bar mark**: pick, the last few picks, copy as any format, open the dock or library.
- **Library window** (⌘-click the mark, or **Open Library**): recent picks, your palettes, and the two generators.
- **Color Dock**: an optional floating strip of swatches that stays on top while you work. Off by default; <kbd>⌥⌘D</kbd> toggles it.
- **Settings** (<kbd>⌘,</kbd>): shortcuts, picker behaviour, formats, dock, color management, backups, license.

## Next

- Learn what the magnifier can do while it's open: [The picker](https://dabbit.app/docs/picker).
- Pick the output your work needs, or write your own: [Formats](https://dabbit.app/docs/formats).
- All the keys on one page: [Keyboard shortcuts](https://dabbit.app/docs/keyboard-shortcuts).