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- Take Screenshot With Macbook
- How To Screenshot With Macbook
- How To Take A Screenshot With A Macbook Air
- How To Screenshot With Macbook Pro
There may be as many ways to take a screenshot off your 16-inch MacBook Pro as there are reasons to take them, but Apple could make it a lot more obvious what's possible and how to do it.
In macOS Mojave, Apple has introduced a screen capture interface that unifies the screenshot and screen recording features on Mac, making accessing them easier from one place. Sep 28, 2021 To start a screenshot or screen recording: For the entire screen or a portion of it: Click 'Capture'. For a window: Move the cursor to the window, then click the window. For recordings: Click 'Record'. To stop recording, click the 'Stop Recording' button in the menu bar. How to take a screenshot on a Mac hold down ⌘ command: and shift: and press # 3 = Your Mac captures the entire screen and saves it as a file on the desktop. The file name will look like “Screen shot 2021-12-16 at 08.45.00 AM.png”. How do I take a partial screenshot?
Whether it's just for speed as you want to capture a website page, or you need to show someone what's being shown on your display, taking a screenshot or grab of your MacBook Pro screen is handy. Apple doesn't exactly make it obvious how you do it, but the company does give you an almost ridiculous number of options once you start.
Two crucial things before you take a screenshot, though.
The most important caveat is that you must remember that you are not taking a shot of the screen, you are taking a shot of what the Mac is displaying. So if your display has gone, say, monochrome for some reason, and you take a screenshot, that shot will be in perfect color.
You also can't take a screenshot of a Blu-ray or DVD player because of rights issues. It's the same thing with streaming services such as Netflix — you can take a shot, but it will be blank where the movie was
Other than that, you can take a grab of anything on your Mac's screen and choose between either doing it very quickly or with some customization.
How to take a screenshot on a MacBook pro, the quick way
- Hold down the Command key
- Hold down the Shift key
- Tap the number 3 key
A capture of your entire MacBook Pro screen is briefly displayed at the bottom right of your monitor, and then it is saved to your desktop.
By default, every screenshot will first show up as a thumbnail at bottom right of your screen.
In a giant majority of cases, this is probably all you want. And on the odd occasion that you only wanted to grab a particular portion of the screen, you can open that screenshot in an image editor and delete what you don't need.
That image editor could be your Mac's built-in one, too. When the screenshot is briefly displayed at the bottom right, or at any time when you select it and tap the Spacebar, you can edit the image.
Click on the icon of a marker pen and you get a reasonable set of editing tools that include markup ones and cropping.
How to take a screenshot of part of a MacBook Pro screen
You can, though, decide in advance that you are only going to take a screenshot of, say, one particular window, or one section of your screen.
- Hold down the Command key
- Hold down the Shift key
- Tap the number 4 key
Notice the difference here, you're using the number 4 key. When you do that, the Mac's cursor turns into a crosshair and you can drag over the area you want to grab.
When you let go of the mouse, or the trackpad, the shot is taken.
You can select just one window.
How to take a screenshot of a single window on a MacBook Pro screen
- Hold down the Command key
- Hold down the Shift key
- Tap the number 4 key
- Move the cursor over a window
- Tap the spacebar
- Click when you're ready
How to take a screenshot of a single window on a MacBook Pro screen on a timer
In that example, the shot only takes place when you click, and in all the others, it happens immediately. To give yourself a few seconds to, say, arrange a window or select a menu, you can use a timer.
Having seen the use of the number 3 and 4 keys, you may not be surprised to know that this one involves 5.
- Hold down the Command key
- Hold down the Shift key
- Tap the number 5 key
This time, all that happens is that you get a control strip on screen. It actually contains buttons to start off everything you've done so far with keystrokes, such as grabbing the whole screen or a portion.
You can set a time delay on when screenshots will be taken.
Click on that and you get the choice of taking a shot immediately, in 5 seconds or in 10 seconds.
There are also options for where you save the screenshot, whether it gets displayed on screen, and so on. The same control strip even includes options to take video of the screen instead of a still image.
However, for speed and convenience, the keystrokes of Command, Shift and the number 3, 4 or 5, can't be beaten.
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Screenshot on mac: Cropping a screenshot on a Mac can help clarify something if you cannot describe it clearly. The screenshot can sometimes be strengthened by drawing on it. Pictures speak louder than words. To show your friends or family how to use new Mac software, services, or anything else, you can email them.
How to Screenshot on Mac
In Mac, a snipping tool named Grab is built-in. It allows you to crop screenshots of any screen or window. The Grab app has been replaced by Screenshot in macOS Mojave. It is not the case for macOS Catalina. Shift, Command, and five keys are needed to bring it up. Otherwise, keyboard shortcuts can be used to crop screenshots.
You can take a screenshot in multiple ways (or print the screen if you are coming from the PC world). We will go over the different critical combinations for taking screenshots and how to refine them so you can zoom in or crop them to a particular size. Moreover, we’ll consider photographing what you want when you can’t interact with the screen.
Several of the methods below work with all versions of macOS (or OS X), but macOS Mojave brought new screenshot options in 2018, so if you don’t have that version installed, you aren’t going to be able to use them.
It isn’t always clear how and where print screens are saved on the Mac. In this article, we explain how to take a screenshot from your Mac. We’ll also discuss how you can edit them.
You can change where screenshots are saved if you wish, but screenshots are committed to your Desktop by default. The screenshot will typically save as a .png file, which you can view in Preview or a similar image viewer and then save as another file type. Below we describe how you can change the format in which your screenshot is saved.
Method 1: Take a Screenshot on Mac
Get the most out of Grab on Mac by Cropping Screenshots
Grab is a Mac app that allows you to screenshot images. Although Mac screenshots are typical, you can take time-delayed screenshots using Grab as well. The command, shift, and five key combinations are required when using Mac OS Catalina.
Step 1: Launch Grab from the Launchpad. You can also find it in the Applications folder.
Step 2: On the dock, you’ll see Grab’s menu bar.
Step 3: You can crop an image on Mac by selecting Selection, Window, Screen, or Timed Screen.
Step 4: Click Download at the File menu, select Save as JPEG, PNG, or TIFF.
Method 2: taking a Screenshot on Mac
Cropping and editing screenshots on the Mac
It can be helpful to draw on a screenshot. That way, the message can be communicated more easily. Getting complete control over Mac screenshots can be achieved with Vidmore Screen Recorder. Vidmore Screen Recorder offers free screenshots with real-time drawing effects on Mac. With this program, you can crop, edit, share and manage screenshots on Mac for free. The features of this application are listed below.
Step 1: Install and run Vidmore Screen Recorder. Then choose Screen Capture from the main menu.
Step 2: Watch the cursor move in the pop-up window. If you are using a Mac, click the left mouse button to confirm cropping a screenshot of the entire screen or a particular browser. By using your mouse, you can also set a specific area for capturing screenshots.
Step 3: Edit the screenshot by using any drawing tool within the small window. The callout tool can be accessed by clicking the icon on the toolbar. Set the color and size as necessary. Now you can draw directly on the screenshot image.
Step 4: Delete the screenshot on the Mac, undo it, or redo it. Alternatively, you can click the Copy button directly to copy your screenshot to your clipboard. Pinning screenshots to the screen is also supported. Mac users can also choose to save screenshots by clicking Save. A pop-up window lets you specify a destination folder, tags, file name, and format. To keep your snapshot, click Save.
Method 3: Screenshot on Mac
Mac keyboard shortcuts for cropping screenshots
With the Mac screenshot keyboard commands, you can immediately take a screenshot of any portion of the screen on your Mac computer. It will automatically save a screenshot to the desktop of your computer. The Control key can also be pressed with other fixed combinations if you wish to crop a screenshot on Mac. From there, the screenshot thumbnail can be edited in picture editors. If it is a video, the video editor can edit it.
Capture the entire screen on a Mac:
Step 1: Press Shift+Command+3.
Step 2: To edit the snapshot, click the thumbnail in the left corner.
Step 3: A screenshot of your Mac will appear on your desktop.
On a Mac, take a screenshot of any part of the screen:
Step 1: Hold down Shift, Command, and 4.
Step 2: Set the screen capture area by dragging the crosshair.
Step 3: At the Apple menu, click and hold the mouse button or trackpad button.
Step 4: The screenshot will be stored on your Mac.
Screenshots of windows or menus on Mac can be taken as follows:
Step 1: Press Shift, Command, 4, and Space simultaneously.
Step 2: Click on the window or menu you wish to capture.
Step 3: Use the crop tool on macOS Catalina to crop a screenshot.
Step 4: Using Option, you can remove the window shadow from the screenshot.
Step 5: The screenshot of your Mac will appear immediately on your desktop.
On Mac, where do screenshots get stored?
A screenshot on a Mac is saved to your desktop by default. Depending on which version of Mojave you are using, you may be able to choose where your screenshot will be saved.
You might end up losing your screenshots if you took them using an app like Grab (available in earlier versions of macOS). Unless you change the name of the image, Grab will save the screenshot to the Documents folder.
Method 4: Crop Screen on Mac
Choosing the right size for a screenshot
Some screenshots might need to be a specific size for a variety of reasons. The request might be that you supply an image of a particular size, or you may need to take several screenshots that are the same size.
It might seem as though you need to edit the screenshot after you’ve taken it to achieve this, but it’s not necessary to edit it after the fact – you can select the dimensions of the screenshot as you take it.
When taking a screenshot at a specific size as a one-time exercise, follow these steps:
- Command + Shift + 4 is the shortcut.
- There will be a crosshair on your screen next to a number representing how many pixels you are grabbing. Grab the area you want by clicking on the screen and dragging a marquee. You will see numbers appear beside the crosshairs when you do so.
- Measure until you reach the desired size. When creating a square, you should ensure the height and width are the same.
- Once you have pressed the Space bar, you can move the box around your screen until the area you wish to screenshot is covered.
- As soon as you have made your selection, release the mouse button or trackpad.
You could set up your crosshairs in advance by pressing Command + Shift + 5 if you frequently take images of the same size – we typically take 1,600 x 900 images, for example. Follow these steps:
Take Screenshot With Macbook
- Press Command + Shift + 5.
- The crosshairs will appear on your screen once you have determined your pixel width and depth. Drag these crosshairs to cover an area of your screen equal to those values. Since once you release the mouse button, the box will be able to move around your screen until it covers the area you want to screenshot. You won’t need to worry too much about how well you cover the area you’re grabbing.
- If you are using macOS Mojave or later, click Capture once you are satisfied with your selection.
Best editing tools to edit Mac Screenshots
MacOS’ most recent versions provide the option of editing screenshots while not having to open an application.
On macOS Mojave or later, you will see a thumbnail of the screenshot when you take it. Upon clicking it, you will be able to edit the image in a way called Quick Look, where you can draw, highlight, add shapes, text boxes, and even add your signature.
macOS includes an app called Preview that allows you to edit screenshots in case you forget the thumbnail. The screenshot can even be opened using the Space bar on the Desktop so you can edit it without opening the Preview app.
You can access those tools here:
- When the screenshot appears, click on the thumbnail or double-click on the file on the Desktop, select it, and press the Space bar.
- You will find an option called Open with Preview (unless you already opened the document with Preview) at the top of the window that opens. If you wish to rotate the picture, then click the rotate button.) if you click the pencil icon in a circle, you can access the tools you need without opening Preview.
- Choosing the pencil icon will provide you with lots of options for editing your screenshot.
Saving screenshots as JPEG files
PNG files are the default format for Mac screenshots. Formatting images allows you to keep all the details, but it also causes the files to be significant. For the smallest image possible, use the following method.
Since Apple removed Grab from Mojave, it also eliminated a straightforward way of saving screenshots as JPEGs or TIFFs.
Changing the screenshot’s format could be as simple as opening it in a photo editing app like Photos or Preview or Photoshop and then saving it.
However, you can change Terminal so that, for example, your Mac always saves a screencap as a .jpg if you feel confident.
- Press the Space+Command combination to open Terminal.
- Type com. apple.screencapture type jpg into defaults:
- The return key will appear.
- The changes will not take effect until your Mac is restarted.
The best way to take a screenshot on Mac
Take your screenshots to the next level with these tips:
- To release the keyboard keys, you need to wait until the crosshairs appear.
- Once you have clicked and dragged the mouse cursor, you will be able to move the selected area by pressing Space.
- You can only move horizontally when you hold Shift.
- Any time you press Escape, the screengrab will be canceled. There will be no image generated or captured.
- By holding down Control while taking a screenshot, it will be copied to the pasteboard.
How To Screenshot With Macbook
Fixes for Mac screenshot issues
If you are having difficulty taking screenshots on your Mac, you may find the solution below.
The screenshots are blank
It is unfortunately not uncommon to see this.
The chances are that the software you were using has chosen to block screenshots if you do not see graphical elements in the screenshot, even though you followed the instructions above exactly. Netflix, for example, does not allow screenshots of visual content.
Using another software program designed to do the same thing should be able to resolve the problem.
Troubleshooting Mac screenshots when they don’t work
A screenshot that does not appear on your desktop might have been taken while you were pressing CTRL and copying the screenshot to your pasteboard.
Check that Screenshots are activated under System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts if it’s not as simple as that.
Also, it would help if you also double-checked the shortcuts here in System Preferences in case something else is assigned to them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a reason why Mac screensavers don’t work?
You cannot use the built-in shortcuts and programs for screenshots on Apple TV and related Apple programs if you crop a screenshot. You will not be able to crop screenshots on Mac when using Chrome Incognito mode. Vidmore Screen Recorder can be used to crop a photo instead at this time.
Having trouble taking a screenshot on a Mac?
You can fix the issue by restarting your Mac or by using a screen-capturing program alternative.
How To Take A Screenshot With A Macbook Air
Having trouble deleting screenshots on your Mac?
How To Screenshot With Macbook Pro
The most common way to delete Mac screenshots is to drag them to the Trash. Alternatively, you can press Option, Command, and Escape to force quit it first if it is stuck.