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Taking a screenshot on your Mac is like taking a picture of your monitor, but you don't need a camera to do it. Learn How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac to capture exactly what is displayed on-screen, such as your desktop, an open program window, or a frame from a video clip.
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Mac Screenshot Tips
- The keyboard shortcut Command+Control+Shift+3 replicates the Microsoft Windows 'Print Screen' key.
- OS X provides more keyboard combinations to give you more options
- If you don't want your cursor to appear in a screenshot, hide it in a bottom corner of your screen.
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Introduction
- Whether you call it a screenshot, screengrab, or screen capture, the simplest way to get one on your Mac is by hitting a combo of keys on that slick keyboard of yours. Users transitioning from a Windows PC may find the lack of a "Print Screen" key troubling, but the Mac provides more options through the use of key combinations. A variety of software applications also get the job done and give you even more options and possibilities.
To save the screenshot to a file on your desktop
- Command+Shift+3: Captures entire screen.Apple: Shortcuts for taking pictures of the screen (June 21, 2004)
- Command+Shift+4: Cursor will become crosshairs. Click and drag to create a specific area to capture.Apple:
Screen Capture Enhancements (September 09, 2003)
- Command+Shift+4, then spacebar: Cursor will become a camera. Hover over a window, menu, or icon to highlight it, then click to capture only that element.Apple: Super-Clean Screenshots (December 23, 2008)
- Depending on your version of OS X, the file type will vary:
- You can change the default file type in Terminal.TUAW: Terminal Tips: Change your current screenshot format (September 11, 2008)
- Open Terminal (found in Applications/Utilities/Terminal)
- Enter the following command (changing image_format to the image format of your choice such as gif, jpg, psd, or tiff):
- defaults write com.apple.screencapture type image_format
To save the screenshot to the clipboard
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'''Command'''+'''Control'''+'''Shift'''+'''3''': Captures entire screen.Apple: Shortcuts for taking pictures of the screen
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'''Command'''+'''Control'''+'''Shift'''+'''4''': Cursor will become crosshairs. Click and drag to create a specific area to capture.Apple: Screen Capture Enhancements
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'''Command'''+'''Control'''+'''Shift'''+'''4''', then '''spacebar''': Cursor will become a camera. Hover over a window, menu, or icon to highlight it, then click to capture only that element.Apple: Super-Clean Screenshots
Using Preview
- Open Preview (found in Applications/Preview).
- Click the File menu.
- Click the Grab submenu.
- Choose Selection, Window, or Timed Screen.
- When the screenshot is taken, Preview will show you the image.
- Click the File menu.
- Click Save to pick the file type and where you wish to save the file.Tech-Recipes: Leopard: Using Preview to Make Screenshots (October 8, 2008)
Grab
- Open Grab (found in Applications/Utilities/Grab).
- Click the Capture menu.
- Choose Selection, Window, Screen, or Timed Screen.
- When the screenshot is taken, Grab will show you the image.
- Click the File menu.
- Click Save to save as a TIFF file in the destination of your choice.Mac OS X Tips: The Ultimate Mac Screenshot Guide (July 09, 2008)
Terminal
- Open Terminal (found in Applications/Terminal).
- Enter the following command:
- screencapture -i ~/Desktop/screenshot.png
- You can edit the command to change the location or file type of the image to be saved.A New Mac Tip Every Day: Terminal Screenshots (June 29, 2007)
Using a Third-party Application
- Screenshot Plus: Image capture via a dashboard widget (freeware)
- InstantShot: Image capture, places icon in OS X menubar (freeware)
- Skitch: Image capture with editing/annotation options and share features (freeware while in public beta)
- SnapNDrag: Image capture with advanced options, drag image to destination to save (freeware)
- Paparazzi: Webpage screenshots (freeware)
- Jing Project: Image capture, video capture, and sharing capabilities (freeware)
- Snapz Pro X: Image capture with live preview, video capture (shareware)
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