How to take a screenshot on a Mac
Lost without Print Screen? Here's a few
ways to take a screenshot on your Mac
Worry not
though, as there’s a variety of screenshot methods available in the newest version of MacOS —
including those for capturing a specific window — all of which produce images
you can use for whatever you need.
USING KEYBOARD COMMANDS
MacOS keyboard commands are
the easiest and quickest way to take a screenshot on a Mac whether you’re
capturing the entire screen or just a portion of it — as long as your keys aren’t stuck.
Step 1: Press the “Command” + “Shift” + “3” keys simultaneously.
Step 2: That will save a
copy of your screen to your clipboard. You can alternatively press the same
combination without the “Command” key in order to save the image as a PNG file
to your desktop.
If you’re
running the developmental preview of Apple’s upcoming Mojave update for MacOS,
a preview of the screenshot will appear in the corner of your screen giving you
quicker access to editing tools. You can also take advantage of the new
screenshot “Stacks” feature which groups together screenshots.
Capture a
selected area
Step 1: Press the “Command” + “Shift” + “4” keys simultaneously.
Step 2: With your mouse
pointer turned into a crosshair, use it to select the region you wish to
capture.
Step 3: You can
fine-tune your selection by pressing the space bar, which will let you take a
full-screen capture or to select an open menu.
Your selection will then be copied to the clipboard.
Alternatively, don’t press the “Command” key and your screenshot will be saved
to the desktop as a PNG file.
Note that
if you have a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar,
it’ll give you options on the Touch Bar that include the “Selected Portion,”
“Window,” or “Entire Screen.” You can also use it to save it to a different
folder such as Desktop, Documents, or even Clipboard. Another feature exclusive
to Touch Bar MacBooks is to take a screenshot of the Touch Bar display, which
can be done by hitting Shift+Command+6.
TAKING
SCREENSHOTS WITH GRAB
Don’t feel like memorizing keyboard shortcuts? Grab is a program
that comes pre-installed on all Macs and lets you create screenshots
directly from the menu bar. The program also lets you take time-delayed
screenshots, just in case you need to set the stage before capturing an image
on your display.
Step 1: Launch Grab by opening it
from the “Utilities” folder, which is housed within the “Applications”
folder. Once you launch it, you’ll see an icon for the program in
your dock. If you want, you can also pin this icon for quick access later.
Step 2: Either use the
Capture menu system to take screenshots as you wish, or use the keyboard
shortcuts detailed next to the respective command.
Timed screenshots
With Grab, you can take a screenshot of a particular section of
the screen, an individual window, or the entire screen — the same three options
we previously outlined above. What’s new here is the “Timed screen” option,
which gives you a 10-second delay before the screenshot is captured.
This means that if you need to open a menu or position your
mouse in the right position, you’ve got some time to do so.
Step 1: Open Grab as in the instructions above.
Step 2: Select “Timed
Screenshot” from the Grab menu, or press its shortcut: “Command” + “Shift” +
“Z.”
Keep in
mind that your mouse cursor will not show up in the screenshot by
default. If you want to ensure it’s captured in the frame, click
“Preferences” from the main Grab
menu and select the mouse icon from the resulting pop-up window.
The cursor will only show up when capturing delayed screenshots,
which is just as well since you’ll need your mouse to take screenshots with the
other options. We still think the keyboard shortcuts are a better way to
capture screenshots, but if you don’t want to memorize anything, Grab is a
great alternative.
USING
PREVIEW TO TAKE A SCREENSHOT
Preview,
the default tool that allows you to open everything from photos to PDF files on
your Mac (here’s how to convert them) has more than a few hidden features. You
can edit images with Preview, for instance, simply by
clicking the toolbox icon. Preview can also capture screenshots.
Step 1: Open Preview.
Step 2: Highlight “File”
in the menu bar.
Step 3: From the
drop-down menu, select “Take Screenshot” and then either “From Selection,”
“From Window,” or “From Entire Screen,” depending on your preferences.
We prefer the keyboard shortcut method to this one because the
former is far quicker, but Preview does offer one main advantage: you can
choose where your screenshots end up. The other options on our list
automatically save your screenshot to the desktop with a verbose filename.
Preview opens the screenshot, lets you make a few edits, and then you can save
the file wherever you like. If that matters to you, Preview is a solid choice.
TAKING
AND SAVING MAC SCREENSHOTS
What happens once a screenshot is taken? Assuming you didn’t
just send it to the clipboard, your Mac will automatically time stamp the
screenshot with the day and time it was taken, before saving it as a PNG file
to your desktop. This is handy for immediate reference, but if you’re taking
many screenshots in a row, then your desktop will quickly become cluttered
with files that sport odd names.
The best
solution is to simply move screenshots to the Trash whenever you’re
finished with them. But if you work with numerous screenshots, this may get a
little tiring. The good news is that there are modifications you can make via Terminal
commands and third-party MacOS software. We talk about some of
our favorites in our guide to the best MacOS apps.
Take, for
example, the TinyTake for Mac app which gives you far greater
control over your screenshots and how you take them.
Alternatively,
if you’re running the preview build of MacOS called Mojave,
there are new organization and quick-editing tools you can take advantage of.
Screenshots saved to the desktop are automatically grouped together to
declutter things and when they appear as thumbnails in the corner of your
screen shortly after you take them, you can click those images to enable
quick-editing through the Markup app.
By https://www.digitaltrends.com
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