Since I got a Mac I’ve been meaning to write more about the differences between Macs and PCs. Now I’m definitely not a major fan of either (I’ll post more about this later) but I’m not against trying out different things. I’ve got a Powerbook for photo shoots and general on-location picture editing. At home I’ve got a powerful Windows workstation. I think there’s always more than one tool for the job.
One thing that stumped me the most about OS X was how to take screenshots. Well here’s some of the many different and complex ways to do so:
- Command-Shift-3: Take a screenshot of the screen, and save it as a file on the desktop
- Command-Shift-4, then select an area: Take a screenshot of an area and save it as a file on the desktop
- Command-Shift-4, then space, then click a window: Take a screenshot of a window and save it as a file on the desktop
- Command-Control-Shift-3: Take a screenshot of the screen, and save it to the clipboard
- Command-Control-Shift-4, then select an area: Take a screenshot of an area and save it to the clipboard
- Command-Control-Shift-4, then space, then click a window: Take a screenshot of a window and save it to the clipboard
In 10.4 (Tiger) the resulting capture from the first 3 methods will be saved as a PNG format file on the desktop, named ‘Picture 1′ the next ‘Picture 2′ etc. Preview can also be used to take screenshots, I prefer this method as it’s a bit simpler and the resulting file is date-stamped.
Try the Screenshot Plus widget, it greatly simplifies the process.
I agree that the Preview method is the best. It is very simple and the date stamping is great. I take snaps of all the pages that contain the confirmation information when I pay bills online. You don’t even have to save the file it is automatically saved, the down side is that it is saved as a Tiff file which is rather large.
try the gui “Grab” program at Applications:Utilities
I’ve always used SnapzPro or the CTR-keystroke method but didn’t know about you could do it in Preview. Thanks for the tip.
Um… you’re unfortunately insane. If you have an online bill or receipt, hit “print”. Then, Click on the pdf menu/button on the lower left and choose “Save PDF to Web Receipts Folder”, a folder automatically created (if it doesn’t exist) in your documents folder. Isn’t it awesome that apple thought of this for us?
Tony: I tried the Screenshot Plus widget and while it is a handy tool I generally don’t use widgets. For me (once fully memorised) keyboard shortcuts are a lot faster and easier.
markian: Thanks for that, that is a really cool feature from Apple.
you’re welcome. Sorry, after reading it again ‘insane’ sounded a lot harsher than I intended.
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