Snipping Tools Mac
The Ultimate Guide to Snipping Tools for Mac
If you use a Mac, you might be wondering if the Snipping Tool, a useful screenshot tool available on Windows, has a Mac counterpart. happy news Mac has its own selection of potent screenshot and snipping tools that can be used for a variety of purposes. This in-depth study will examine these tools, their best practice’s, and their distinctive qualities.
1. Grab – The Built-in Snipping Tool for Mac
What is Grab? (Snipping Tool Mac)
Grab is the default snipping tool for Mac OS. It is a flexible and simple tool that enables you to take screenshots of your full screen, particular windows, or specially chosen regions.
How to Use Grab:
- Opening Grab: Grab can be accessed by going to the “Utilities” subdirectory in the “Applications” directory. You can also type “Grab” into Spotlight Search (Cmd + Space).
- Capture Modes: Grab provides a number of capture options, including Selection, Window, Screen, and Timed Screen. You can decide on the option that best meets your needs.
- Editing: Editing: Grab opens the screenshot you just took so you may make changes. You can include highlights, remarks, and more.
- Saving: Save your clip in JPEG, PNG, or TIFF format, among others.
2. Screenshot App – The All-in-One Solution
What is Screenshot App?
Screenshot App: in the Mac App Store as a third-party tool. It provides sophisticated screenshot options not available in the Grab application’s native form.
How to Use Screenshot App:
- Download and Install: Download the screenshot App from the Mac App Store and install it as directed.
- Capture and Edit: Launch the programme to start taking screenshots, recording your screen, and even using the built-in picture editor.
- Organise Your Snips: The app’s folders and tags allow you to manage your screenshots effectively.
3. Command + Shift + 4—Mac’s Secret Screenshot Shortcut
How to Use Command + Shift + 4:
- Press Command, Shift, and 4 at the same time.
- It will change from a cursor to a crosshair. To choose the area you wish to cut, click and drag.
- By default, the screenshot will be saved to your desktop.
4. Snipaste: The Flexible Snipping Tool
What is snipaste?
Snipaste is another unofficial Mac snipping utility that takes a different approach to snipping. You can take screenshots and then paste them right onto your desktop.
How to Use Snippets:
- Install and download Snipaste.
- Press a programmable hotkey (the default is F1) to record an excerpt.
- The area you want to capture can be clicked and dragged after Snipaste freezes your screen.
- On your desktop, the copied snippet will be automatically pasted and available for usage.
5. Lightshot – The User-Friendly Screenshot Tool
What is Lightshot?
Lightshot A user-friendly screenshot programme for both Mac and Windows is called Lightshot. It is renowned for being simple to use.
How to Use Lightshot:
- Install and get Lightshot.
- To engage Lightshot, press the hotkey (Shift + Cmd + 9 is the default).
- To choose the area you wish to cut, click and drag.
- Use simple annotation tools to edit the screenshot.
- As required, save or distribute the clip.
Conclusion (Snipping Tool Mac)
While Windows offers the Snipping Tool, Mac users have access to a wide range of potent screenshot and snipping tools. Mac guarantees that you can quickly take and edit screenshots to suit your particular needs, whether you choose the built-in Grab, a feature-rich utility like Screenshot, or the distinctive capabilities of utilities like Spinate or Lightshot.
Learning how to use these Mac snipping tools can significantly increase your productivity and creativity in a world where visual communication is becoming more and more important.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Is Grab available on all Macs?
- Yes, every macOS device has Grab pre-installed.
- Can I use Screenshot App for video recording too?
- Yes, Screenshot App has features for taking screenshots and recording screens.
- Are third-party snipping tools safe to use on Mac?
- Third-party snipping programme are generally secure as long as they are downloaded from reliable sources like the Mac App Store.
- Can I customize hotkeys in Snipaste and Lightshot?
- Yes, you may modify the hotkeys in Snipaste and Lightshot to suit your tastes.
- Are there any free snipping tools available for Mac?
- In contrast to Screenshot App and Snipaste, which may offer both free and premium versions with additional functionality, Grab and Lightshot both offer free versions with rudimentary features.
Discover the best snipping tool for your needs from this list, and up your Mac’s screenshot game!
How to Use the Snipping Tool on Mac
The built-in Screenshot tool on Mac allows you to capture specific areas of the screen, just like on Windows.
Although macOS lacks an official snipping tool like Windows does, the built-in Screenshot app can nevertheless do similar functions. It’s useful for taking screenshots of a specified area of the screen, as its name implies.
The macOS capture tool does a good job at taking screenshots, so there’s no need to install any other software. For more information on how to snip on the Mac, keep reading if you recently made the switch from Windows.
How Do You Use the Snipping Tool on Your Mac?
You can take a snapshot of the entire screen or just a portion of it with the snapshot software on your Mac. It can also be used to photograph a particular window.
The snipping or capture tool on the Mac is not universal. For instance, due to limitations imposed by Digital Rights Management (DRM), you won’t be able to make samples of some apps on a Mac (such as Apple TV and Netflix).
Press the keys Shift + Command + 4 at the same time to launch the snipping tool on a Mac. This will cause a crosshair to show up on the screen. To grab a specific area of the screen, drag it.
The captured portion of the screen will get darker. Holding down the Space bar while dragging with the snipping tool will allow you to shift the darkened region. The option to display your cursor in Mac screenshots is also available.
Press the keys Shift + Command + 4 at the same time to launch the snipping tool on a Mac. This will cause a crosshair to show up on the screen. To grab a specific area of the screen, drag it.
The captured portion of the screen will get darker. Holding down the Space bar while dragging with the snipping tool will allow you to shift the darkened region. The option to display your cursor in Mac screenshots is also available.
Any window on the screen that you hover the icon over will have a blue or yellow highlight.
Release the trackpad (or mouse) when you’re prepared to snatch the screen. On your Mac, a thumbnail will show up in the right corner. Using your iPhone or iPad, click on it to modify or annotate it.
The thumbnail will be saved to the desktop if you use the trackpad to slide it to the right. After a short while, it will be saved automatically if you don’t do anything.
On the Mac, you can also get the snipping tool by hitting Command + Shift + 5. The Screenshot app will launch when the keys are pressed, and a selection of options will appear at the bottom of the screen.
Click on Capture after dragging the frame to the area of the screen you wish to capture. When you activate the snipping tool by pressing Command + Shift + 5, you should take note that the region beyond the frame will become darker.
You can modify the default location of screenshots you take using the snipping tool on Macs running macOS Mojave or later. By hitting Command + Shift + 5, launch the Screenshot app, then select Options.
The new default place for the screenshots can be selected by clicking on Other Locations in the selection menu.
Adding the Snipping Tool to the Touch Bar
If you have a MacBook with a Touch Bar and don’t like hitting so many keys at once, you can add the Screenshot app shortcut to the Touch Bar. This is how:
- Select Keyboard from System Preferences > Keyboard.
- Click on App Controls from the dropdown menu next to “Touch Bar shows” in the dropdown menu.
- Press the Customize Control Strip button.
- The screen will show a collection of icons for programme shortcuts. Click here
- Drag the shortcut for the screenshot app to the touch bar. It will be instantly included in it.
It’s quite unusual for the Touch Bar on your MacBook to fail, but there are a few straightforward ways to fix it if it doesn’t display anything.
Once you’ve installed the shortcut, all you need to do is click on the Camera icon on the Touch Bar to access your Mac’s snipping tool. Click on Capture after moving the frame to the region you wish to capture. (Snipping Tool Mac)
Start Snipping on Your Mac
It takes little time to learn how to snip on a Mac. To acquire the area of the screen you want in your frame, just hit a few keys at once.
You can take screenshots on your Mac using a variety of various techniques, but the keyboard shortcut is the most practical one. (Snipping Tool Mac)
How to Take a Screenshot on Your Mac (Using Several Methods)
Discover the various methods for taking a screenshot on a Mac, as well as some suggestions for third-party snipping applications.
On a Mac, you can pick between native and third-party tools when you wish to take a screenshot. MacOS offers you a variety of options for taking screenshots, whether you want to capture the entire screen or just a portion of it.
Let’s examine some helpful tips when learning how to use the best screenshot settings on your Mac.
How to Take Screenshots on a Mac Using Keyboard Shortcuts
To take a snapshot of your Mac, you can select from a variety of different keyboard shortcuts. We’ll go over each of your choices one at a time because the ideal choice will depend on the specifics of the screenshot you wish to take.
Remember that all Mac models are compatible with these screenshot shortcuts, so you may use them to capture a screenshot from a MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, or an iMac.
Check to see if you’ve activated the option in System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Screenshots if the shortcuts techniques below don’t work.
Take a Screenshot of the Entire Screen on Your Mac
You must do this by pressing Cmd + Shift + 3.
The bottom-right corner of your screen will show a picture as soon as you do that. The image can be edited by clicking on it, or you can leave it alone and let it save itself to your desktop. A PNG file will be created from the screenshot.
Use a Snipping Tool to Screenshot Part of a Mac Window
If you want to take a screenshot of a specific area of your Mac screen, you must press Cmd + Shift + 4. The crosshair-shaped cursor that results from this shortcut can be used to click and drag across the area of the screen that you want to capture.
If you only want to change the X or Y axis, hold down the Shift key while making your pick. Hold down the Option key to resize your selection proportionally starting from the Centre. Additionally, hold down Space to move the selection.
You decided against taking the screenshot, right? No issue. To stop what you’re doing, press the Escape key.
Release the mouse once you’re satisfied with your choice. The screenshot is subsequently saved as a PNG file to the desktop.
Similar to before, you’ll need to make a few adjustments to the shortcut if you want to copy the recorded image to the clipboard as opposed to saving it. To duplicate what you capture, change the shortcut to Control + Cmd + Shift + 4.
Capture an Application Window (Snipping Tool Mac)
Want to capture a picture of the currently open window? To begin, press Cmd + Shift + 4. When you press Space, the crosshair will change into a camera.
When you click the camera, you get a screenshot of the programme window and the current window is highlighted.
You have the option to switch the camera’s attention to another window before you click. You need to launch the built-in snipping application on your Mac if you want to take a timed screenshot. This will be covered in the section after this. (Snipping Tool Mac)
How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac With the Built-In Snipping Tool
The snipping tool that comes pre-installed in all of the most recent Mac systems allows you to take screenshots of your Mac.
Open the Screenshot app in your Utilities folder to get to it. Look for the Grab programme instead of Screenshot if your Mac is running macOS High Sierra or an earlier version. Alternatively, you can launch the application by pressing Cmd + Shift + 5.
Apple has made the entire screen-capture procedure simpler with this Screenshot app. If you prefer a more point-and-click method to using Mac keyboard shortcuts, this snipping tool programme can be helpful.
Three buttons in the Screenshot toolbar on macOS, labelled Capture Entire Screen, Capture Selected Window, and Capture Selected Portion, make easy work of screen capture. (There are a few buttons on the app for screen recording.) Click the Options button in the toolbar to make a timed option. The menu that appears contains the timer options.
A little preview will appear at the bottom-right of the screen when you snap a screenshot using any of the aforementioned methods.
A full-sized preview window with capabilities to edit, annotate, and remove the snapshot will appear when you click on it. Text, drawings, shapes, and even your signature can be added here.
The option to open the screenshot in other Mac programme like Notes, Mail, and Reminders is also included in the full-sized preview window.
Uncheck the Show Floating Thumbnail box in the Options menu accessible from the screenshot toolbar to disable the thumbnail feature.
Configuring Screenshot Settings on a Mac (Snipping Tool Mac)
Change the default screenshot format or where screenshots are saved on your Mac if you’re having trouble finding all of your screenshots. You will have to run a command from the Terminal app in these circumstances.
Open the Terminal by selecting it from the Utilities folder, then enter the commands listed below. Each command has a follow-up command that is required to finalize the modifications. This is what it says:
To Change the Default Screenshot Format (Snipping Tool Mac)
Additionally, you can save screenshots in JPG, BMP, and PDF file types. You must do this by changing [file type] in the following command to the appropriate three-letter format name:
To Change Where Screenshots Get Saved (Snipping Tool Mac)
You can modify the default destination folder right from the Screenshot app on macOS Mojave and subsequent versions. To do this, select a folder of your choice from the Save To part of the resultant menu by clicking on the Options button in the screenshot toolbar.
You can drag and drop the relevant folder into Terminal to paste the file path there, or you can type the file path into Terminal.
You can alternatively copy the file path and then paste it into Terminal as an alternative. The Control-click menu for the destination folder contains the Copy as File Path option. However, you can only use the command when you control-click while pressing the Option key.
To Change the Default File Name for Screenshots
Try this command to add a different keyword to screenshot names in place of the standard prefix
(Screenshot):
Before running the programme, make sure to change [file name] with the new prefix. Install an application that enables you to modify macOS settings without using Terminal commands if you’d prefer not to tinker with the Terminal. (Snipping Tool Mac)
How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac With Preview
You may also take screenshots on your Mac using the Preview programme. With each new screenshot capture, you can choose a different file type and save location by utilizing Preview to take the screenshot. Of course, before saving the screenshot, you can immediately change it in Preview. (Snipping Tool Mac)
Under File > Take Screenshot in Preview, you may access the screenshot tools. There isn’t a timed screenshot option accessible here, which is unfortunate. (Snipping Tool Mac)
How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac With Third-Party Snipping Tools
Want more sophisticated options than what your Mac’s built-in snapshot tools offer? You can try one of the three third-party snipping tools from the list of the top screenshot apps for Mac below even though it is not an all-inclusive list. (Snipping Tool Mac)
1. Monosnap
You can use a keyboard shortcut to open this app, which is located in the menu bar of your Mac. You can edit screenshots with Monosnap and add arrows, boxes, and text to them. Additionally, you can highlight a certain location, blur certain aspects, and publish screenshots to the cloud.
2. Skitch
Without opening another app, this software enables you to capture different onscreen components and alter or annotate them. Timed screenshots are also supported by Skitch. (Snipping Tool Mac)
3. Snappy
If you frequently collaborate on screenshots or “snaps” for business, use Snappy. Not only can you edit and annotate screenshots as normal, but you can also easily share them. A password-protection option and a self-destruct timer are included in the sharing options.
Snappy is the ideal screenshot application for your Mac if you frequently take screenshots and want them to be automatically organized. (Snipping Tool Mac)
You Can Take Screenshots on Other Apple Devices, Too
You now know the quick and easy steps involved in taking a screenshot on a Mac. Whether you need to take screenshots on an iMac, MacBook Pro, or any macOS device, macOS provides you with the tools you need.
But there are other Apple products that make taking and annotating screenshots simple, outside just your Mac. (Snipping Tool Mac)