Screenshot on Mac hotkeys. Complete instructions for taking screenshots in OS X
Taking screenshots in Mac OS may seem like an overwhelming task for first-time users or those who have recently upgraded to devices Apple. In Windows, the Print Screen key is used for this task, which is simply not available on the Mac. This is understandable, since there is not a need to use this button very often. However, Mac OS provides a little more functionality for taking screenshots by using keyboard shortcuts. So how do you take a screenshot using this operating system?
What is a screenshot and how to take it on Mac OS
Screenshot (screenshot, or screenshot for short) is an image received by a device and showing exactly what the user sees on the screen of a monitor or other visual output device. Usually this digital image obtained by the operating system or other program at the user's command. Much less often, screenshots are obtained using external device, such as a photo/video camera, or by intercepting a video signal from a computer to a monitor.
Wikipedia
Using MacBook keyboard shortcuts
All of these combinations can be used with the Ctrl key. For example, command + ctrl + shift + 3. Then, instead of saving to the desktop, the picture will be placed on the clipboard. This can be useful if you want to correct the screenshot in a photo editor before putting it in your working folder.
Using the Screenshot program on your computer
If you do not want to burden yourself with remembering various key combinations, you can use a special utility. To run it, go to Programs > System programs and select the Screenshot app.
Open the Applications folder Open the Utilities folder Launch the Screenshot program (Grab)
Launch the program and select the desired action from the Snapshot menu.
Video on the topic
For a more detailed look at the possibilities of taking screenshots on Mac OS, I recommend watching the video.
These keyboard shortcuts work for everyone Mac versions OS. They can help, for example, to capture an error in a program for later reference. technical support. If you write articles of an instructive nature on working in operating system Mac OS then definitely cannot do without these functions.
You can take a screenshot on Mac standard means systems. None additional applications no need to install. Now I’ll tell you how to take photos and video screenshots using macOS Mojave as an example.
Basic keyboard shortcuts
Cmd Shift 3 - take a screenshot of the entire screen and save it to the Desktop;
Cmd Shift 4 - select an area of the screen, take a picture of it and save it to the Desktop;
Cmd Shift 4 then spacebar - makes it possible to select a specific window, take a picture of it and save it to the Desktop;
Cmd Shift 5 - will bring up a small menu where you can clearly see all the capabilities of the built-in screenshot. From here you can record a video demonstration of the screen;
All these combinations can also be used with the Ctrl key. In this case, instead of saving to the Desktop, the picture will be immediately saved to the clipboard.
All screenshots are saved on the Desktop Modifier keys
macOS provides a number of modifier keys that you can use when selecting a capture area. To use a modifier, you need to hold down the corresponding key.
- space - fixes the size of the selected area, and when moving;
the pointer moves the entire selected area instead of changing its size; - Shift - allows you to change only one of the sizes of the selected area;
- Option - the area will change size symmetrically to the selected center.
How to choose a screenshot format
By default, macOS stores screenshots in PNG format. But you can change this format to any other.
To save screenshots as JPG, run the following commands in Terminal:
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg
killall SystemUIServer
In addition to JPG and PNG, macOS also supports: tiff, pdf, bmp and pict.
How to remove a shadow from a screenshot
By default, all screenshots are taken with a small shadow along the entire outline. You can remove the shadow with the following commands:
defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true
killall SystemUIServer
Bring the shadow back:
defaults delete com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow
killall SystemUIServer
Screenshot taken with and without shadow Mac Screenshot Locations
By default, screenshots are saved to the Desktop, which quickly creates a mess and is not suitable for those who follow the principles.
It's best to create a separate folder for them:
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Pictures
killall SystemUIServer
Where ~/Pictures is the path to the new folder.
Return screenshots back to the desktop:
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Desktop
killall SystemUIServer
How to optimize screenshots
If you are going to publish screenshots somewhere on a blog or forum, then it is better to optimize their size before publishing. This way they will load faster.
To optimize PNG use . And for JPG - .
Detailed article with description how to take screenshots on Mac OS X and save these images in different formats. Analysis of additional useful functions and gadgets for taking screenshots on a Mac.
Taking a screenshot
To create a picture PrintScreen in Mac OS, by default, the corresponding function is built-in. Screenshots on Mac are taken with special keys.
Full screen screenshot:
Command + Shift + 3
Take a screenshot of the selected area. A cross will appear, with which you can select an area of the image:
Command + Shift + 4
Screenshot of a separate window. Same key combination as above, but then press space. And using the mouse you can select an area of any program on the screen. It will be saved in a separate file:
Command + Shift + 4, Spacebar
To save an image to clipboard, when saving the image, you need to hold CTRL key. In this case, the screenshot will not be saved to a file, but will be placed on the clipboard.
How to remove shadow from screenshots
When creating screenshots of selected areas (the last command described), by default, they are saved with a volumetric shadow. This is a beautiful effect, but if you often need to post screenshots on your website, then sometimes this shadow greatly spoils the intended design of the site. Luckily, these shadows can be removed.
The console command in the Terminal removes the shadow from screenshots:
defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true; killall SystemUIServer
If you want to return 3D screenshots:
defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool false; killall SystemUIServer
Changing the screenshot format
The default screenshot format in Mac OS has the extension .PNG. The file is saved with transparency (alpha channel). In order to change the extension of the saved image on Mac, you need to open the program and enter the console command:
Instead of small letters - jpg, you can use capital expansion letters JPG. This is just a matter of taste and does not affect the file format.
All supported screenshot formats:
JPG, PNG BMP, PDF, JP2, TGA, TIFF, PICT
You can return to the default format with the following command:
defaults delete com.apple.screencapture type; killall SystemUIServer
How to change the names of screenshots
The name of screenshots in Mac OS is saved by default in the format “name year-month-day in hours.minutes.seconds”:
Screenshot 2017-05-15 at 10.40.11.JPG
In order to change the name of the screenshots you need to enter the command:
defaults write com.apple.screencapture name "img"; killall SystemUIServer
where in quotes "img_" any other desired name.
To return the original name settings, enter the command:
defaults delete com.apple.screencapture name; killall SystemUIServer
Domain (com.apple.screencapture) not found
If for some reason, when changing the names of the files, the error “Domain (com.apple.screencapture) not found" and "Defaults have not been changed", then you can reset with the following command:
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Desktop; killall SystemUIServer
After this everything should work. And you can re-enter the required commands.
Changing the date and time format of screenshots
For those who don't like the name of the saved screenshot in time and date format, you can go ahead and change it. To do this, you need to make changes to a special system file.
Before the editing procedure you need.
After disabling protection and restarting the computer, open Terminal and enter the command:
cd /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemUIServer.app/Contents/Resources/ru.lproj
Make a copy of the file just in case ScreenCapture.strings, to which we will make changes:
sudo cp ScreenCapture.strings ScreenCapture.strings.old
Let's convert this file into editing format:
sudo plutil -convert xml1 ScreenCapture.strings
Now open the file:
sudo vi ScreenCapture.strings
Let's move on to the lines:
and change it to whatever we want, for example, remove “in”:
We save the file and return the binary (binary) data format:
sudo plutil -convert binary1 ScreenCapture.strings
killall SystemUIServer
Now when you save an image, it will have the name:
Screenshot 2017-05-15_10.40.11.JPG
Where to save screenshots
By default, screenshots on Mac OS are saved to Desk. You can change this folder, for example make it on the desktop special folder for screenshots. To do this, you must first create this folder manually. Create a folder Screenshots to a folder Downloads and then enter the command: img_ , change the extension to jpg, put the screenshots in the screenshots folder.
defaults write com.apple.screencapture name "img_";
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg; killall SystemUIServer
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location "~/Downloads/Screenshots";
defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true;
killall SystemUIServer
Mac OS X makes it very easy and quick to take screenshots. So easy that this function has become an integral part of my work in the system. In Mac OS X, you can take screenshots of the entire screen, a separate window, an arbitrary area of the screen, or a separate menu.
Typically, to take a screenshot in Mac OS X, you just need to press a certain key combination, select the desired window or area of the screen, and the screenshot will be automatically saved to the Desktop as a PNG file. In this article, I'll cover all the basic options for taking screenshots in Mac OS X, from the simplest to the more advanced.
Screenshot of the entire desktop
To take a screenshot of the entire screen, use the keyboard shortcut:
Screenshot of an arbitrary area of the screen
To create a screenshot of an arbitrary area of the screen, press the combination:
After this, the mouse cursor will change to a cross-shaped one, next to which the current coordinates of the cursor will be displayed. Move the cursor to the place on the screen that you want to “photograph” and hold down the left mouse button and move the cursor, thereby highlighting the area of the future screenshot. Release the mouse button and the screenshot of the selected area will be saved to the Desktop.
Screenshot of a specific window
To take a screenshot of a specific window, use the following keyboard shortcut:
Cmd + Shift + 4 then press Space
That is, first press Cmd + Shift + 4, the cursor changes to a cross-shaped one, then you press Space - the cursor takes the shape of a camera. Now move the cursor over the window, it will be highlighted in blue, and click the left mouse button.
Save not to a folder, but to the clipboard
The methods described above save the screenshot to the Desktop. To prevent a screenshot file from being created and the image to be automatically placed on the clipboard, you must additionally press the Ctrl key.
Cmd + Ctrl + Shift + 3 - Take a screenshot of the entire screen and place it on the clipboard.
Cmd + Ctrl + Shift + 4 - Take a screenshot of an arbitrary area of the screen and place it on the clipboard.
Cmd + Ctrl + Shift + 4, then press a certain Spacebar - take a screenshot of a certain window and place it on the clipboard.
Additional screen area selection options
There are several additional options for selecting a custom area of the screen when you use the Cmd + Ctrl + 4 combination. Click this combination, the mouse cursor will change to a cross-shaped one, start selecting an area of the screen. Next, you can press one of the following keys and affect the selection:
Option - Allows you to stretch the selection area from the center in all directions.
Shift - Allows you to stretch the selection area in one direction only. Here you first select an area of the screen, then press Shift and then move the mouse in the direction in which you want to stretch the rectangle, for example up or down (you won’t be able to expand the area to the right or left).
Spacebar - Allows you to freeze an area and move it around the screen.
Using the Screenshot program
Mac OS X has a utility called Screenshot. In addition to regular pictures, she can take time-delayed screenshots.
Let's look at how to take screenshots in the Screenshot program. First, let's launch the program itself. Open the Launcher and find Screenshot in the Others folder. The program does not have any interface; all actions are performed through the main menu (at the top of the screen).
To take pictures, select Snapshot from the menu, then select the type of screenshot you want.
If you select Screen with delay, then a window will open in which you need to press the button Start timer. The timer will start and after ten seconds the screenshot will be created.
Screenshots can be saved to TIFF format. To later save the screenshot to another format, for example, PNG or JPEG, open the screenshot in the Viewer program and select the menu File->Export and specify the desired screenshot format for saving.
We use the View program
The Viewer program is used primarily for viewing PDF files and image files. However, you can take screenshots and perform some simple actions on them. You can launch the Viewer program from the Launcher.
In the main menu of the Viewer program, select File->Take Screenshot and select the type of screenshot you want.
When the screenshot is ready, you can change it through the Tools menu (change size, colors, rotate, etc.). To save a screenshot select menu File->Export.
Using the terminal
You may probably be wondering why you should use the terminal to take screenshots. For example, this feature can be used if you are writing a script that needs to take screenshots at a certain time interval.
To take screenshots through the terminal, use the screencapture program. To take a screenshot, you need to run the program and specify, separated by a space, the name and path to the file in which the screenshot will be saved. For example, let’s take a screenshot of the entire screen and save it to the desktop; to do this, run the command in the terminal:
Screencapture ~/Desktop/myscreen.png
To take a screenshot and open it in the Viewer program, use the -P switch:
Screencapture -P ~/Desktop/myscreen.png
To take a screenshot with a delay, use the -T key, followed by the number of seconds after which the picture will be taken. For example, to take a screenshot with a delay of 5 seconds, do:
Screencapture -T 5 ~/Desktop/myscreen.png
This is far from full list program capabilities. You can get a complete list of switches and their descriptions by running the command (in fact, the -h option does not exist, and the program therefore displays a list of its options):
Screencapture -h
Conclusion
I've covered all the basic screenshot capabilities in Mac OS X. They should be sufficient for most tasks. If you have any interesting additions, write about them in the comments.
One of the advantages of MacOS over Windows is the presence of a large number of hot commands (keyboard shortcuts). Today we’ll talk about how to take a screenshot on a MacBook.
Types of skinshots
MacOS has a very convenient built-in service for taking screenshots. Using key combinations you can make a screenshot:
How to do
Let's move on to the process of creating a screen capture. In Apple's operating system, interacting with this function is much easier than in Windows.
Whole screen
A screenshot of the entire screen is made using the hot command “⌘ (Command) + ⇧ (Shift) + 3”.
Separate window
You can take a screenshot of a specific application window using the combination “⌘ (Command) + ⇧ (Shift) + 4 + Space”.
Screen fragment
The creation process is no different in complexity from the previous one. To save a separate piece, use the hot command “⌘ (Command) + ⇧ (Shift) + 4”.
Keyboard shortcuts
Below is a table with hotkeys for creating screenshots.
