Photo Mode in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is one of the biggest new additions to this remake. The original AC4 from 2013 never had it. Now you can freeze the game at any moment and capture Edward Kenway mid-fight, the Jackdaw at full sail, or a breathtaking Caribbean sunset — with full camera control, filters, lens effects, and decorations.

This guide covers everything: how to enable it, how to open it on every platform, what every setting does, where your screenshots are saved, and the best moments to shoot.

Table of Contents

TL;DR — Photo Mode Quick Summary

Photo Mode must be turned on manually in Settings before you can use it.
PC: Press F3 to open Photo Mode during gameplay.
PS5: Press L3 + R3 at the same time.
Xbox Series X|S: Press Left Stick + Right Stick at the same time.
The game pauses completely the moment Photo Mode opens.
Does not work during cutscenes.
You can adjust Camera, Lens, Filters, and Decorations.
PC screenshots save to Pictures > UbisoftConnect folder.
Xbox Series S note: You are locked to a single 30 FPS Fidelity mode with no graphics presets — Photo Mode still works, but your visuals will differ from Series X.

How to Enable Photo Mode in AC Black Flag Resynced

Photo Mode is off by default. You need to switch it on once in the game settings. Here is how to do it step by step on any platform.

Open the Pause Menu

Can be performed at any time during active gameplay.Press ESC on your keyboard, or the Start / Menu button on your controller.

Navigate to Options

Select Options from the main list.
PS5 Shortcut: Press the touchpad to jump directly.
Xbox Shortcut: Press the View button directly.

Open the Gameplay Tab

Cycle across the top menu options to open the Gameplay settings panel.

Toggle Photo Mode On

Scroll down until you locate the Photo Mode toggle and switch it to On. Your preference will auto-save.

assassin s creed black flag resynced photo mode menu

How to Open Photo Mode — Shortcuts for Every Platform

PC (Keyboard): Press F3
PlayStation 5: Press L3 + R3 simultaneously (click both sticks in)
Xbox Series X|S: Press Left Stick + Right Stick simultaneously

The moment you press the shortcut, the game freezes completely. Enemies stop moving, water pauses mid-wave, and you can take as long as you need to frame your shot.

Important: Photo Mode cannot be used during cutscenes. Pressing the shortcut during a cutscene will do nothing. Wait for it to end and try again.

How to Move the Camera in Photo Mode

Once Photo Mode is open, you have full freedom to move the camera around your character and the surrounding environment.

PC Camera Controls

Move the camera: Mouse to look around, W / A / S / D to translate position
Adjust height: Q to move up, E to move down
Toggle HUD: Press F to hide the interface and preview your clean shot
Take the photo: Press Space

Controller Camera Controls

Move camera position: Left stick
Look / pan: Right stick
Move up: RT (Xbox) or R2 (PS5)
Move down: LT (Xbox) or L2 (PS5)

Take time to explore different angles. A low camera behind Edward during a sword fight reads very differently than an aerial shot above the Jackdaw at open sea. Both look great — the rebuilt Anvil engine visuals reward experimentation.

For the best possible visuals before entering Photo Mode, see our best graphics settings guide to make sure the game is running at peak quality.

All Photo Mode Features Explained

Photo Mode has four tabs, each controlling a different part of the final image. Here is what each one does.

Camera

Controls the basic frame and composition of your shot.

Camera Roll: Tilt the camera left or right for a diagonal cinematic look.
Field of View (FoV): Increase it for wide landscape shots, decrease it for a tighter portrait feel.
Photo Grid: Overlays a grid on screen to help you compose using framing rules like the rule of thirds.

Lens

Controls focus and depth of the image to separate your subject from the background.

Depth of Field: Blurs the background so Edward or the ship stays sharp. Great for portraits and close-ups.
Bokeh: Adds soft circular blur to out-of-focus areas. Makes shots feel more like film photography.
Auto-Focus: The game picks the focus point automatically. Useful if you are not sure where to set it manually.

Filters

Changes the entire colour mood of the image.

Choose from a range of visual effects — golden warm tones for a tropical sunrise feel, desaturated grey for a dramatic battle look, or high contrast for a punchy action shot.
Adjust brightness and exposure to fix shots that came out too dark or too washed out.
Filters layer on top of the game’s existing lighting, so the same filter looks different at dawn versus during a storm.

Decorations

Adds cosmetic touches to the final image before you save it.

Vignette: Darkens the edges of the frame to draw the eye toward the centre.
Frames: Adds a border around the photo for a more stylised finished look.
Additional overlays and decorative elements to personalise the image before sharing.

Best Moments to Use Photo Mode

Photo Mode works during almost any gameplay moment outside of cutscenes. These are the situations worth pausing for.

Naval Battles

Cannon fire, billowing smoke, splintering enemy hulls, and crashing waves — ship combat creates some of the best action shots in the game. Open Photo Mode right as a broadside connects or a ship starts sinking for the most dramatic frames.

The Jackdaw itself looks stunning from a distance. Move the camera far back and up to get the whole ship in frame against an open horizon. For wide panoramic shots that include the full length of the Jackdaw, make sure you are at full sailing speed before opening Photo Mode — the camera tracking radius is larger at speed, giving you more room to pull the camera far enough back to fit the entire ship in one frame. At slower speeds, the radius tightens and you may not be able to get enough distance.

Learn more about forts and naval engagements in our forts guide.

Sunset and Storm Sailing

The new dynamic weather system and ray-traced lighting create genuinely cinematic skies on the open water. Catch the Jackdaw during a storm with waves crashing, or at dusk with golden light on the sails. These shots need no filters at all — the lighting does the work.

Assassination Moments

Freeze the game mid-takedown and reposition the camera for a dramatic low-angle action portrait. Pair it with a high-contrast filter and a slight camera roll for a polished result.

Underwater Exploration

The rebuilt ocean includes new shipwrecks, sea life, and underwater lighting not in the original game. Dive below the surface and open Photo Mode for shots that look completely unlike anything else in the game.

Fort Assaults

Explosions, cannon fire, and soldiers all at once — capturing a fort siege mid-chaos gives you built-in action and scale without needing to set anything up. Check our beginner tips for the best approach to fort combat before diving in.

Where Are Screenshots Saved?

PC

In-game screenshots save to your Pictures folder inside a UbisoftConnect subfolder. The path is:

C:\Users\[YourUsername]\Pictures\UbisoftConnect

If you use Steam’s screenshot shortcut (F12) instead of the in-game capture, your files route to your Steam userdata directory rather than the UbisoftConnect folder. Steam captures are often higher quality PNG files versus the default JPG from the in-game button. You can also use Xbox Game Bar (Win + G) as a third option for PNG saves.

PS5

Screenshots go directly to your Media Gallery on the PS5 home screen. From there you can share them to social media or transfer them to your phone via the PS App.

Xbox Series X|S

Photos save to the Xbox media gallery. You can share them to your Xbox profile or download them via the Xbox app on your phone.

Xbox Series S — What You Need to Know

Photo Mode works on Xbox Series S just like on other platforms. However, there is one important thing to know about the visuals before you start shooting.

Unlike the Xbox Series X — which gives you three graphics presets (Performance at 60 FPS, Balanced at 40 FPS, and Fidelity at 30 FPS) — the Xbox Series S has no selectable graphics modes at all. It runs on a single locked custom Fidelity profile targeting 30 FPS upscaled to 1620p with standard ray tracing. You cannot change it.

This means if you read our graphics settings guide and wonder why certain options are not available on your console, that is why. Series S players still get ray tracing and the Anvil engine’s water simulation — the game just looks and runs differently than on Series X or PS5.

Photo Mode screenshots on Series S will reflect the 1620p output and standard ray tracing, which is still a significant step up from the 2013 original.

Share Your Photos with the Community

Ubisoft has an official Photo Mode gallery on their website where players can submit and browse screenshots from across the community. If you capture something you are proud of, you can upload it there and see what other players have been shooting across the Caribbean.

This is separate from the sharing options on PS5 and Xbox, which let you post directly to social media from the console’s media gallery.

Get the Game

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is available now on all major platforms.

How to Use Photo Mode in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced

TL;DR — Photo Mode Quick Summary