How to take a screenshot on a Mac

Lost without Print Screen? Here are 3 ways to take a screenshot on your Mac

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Need to take a screenshot with your Mac? If you’re new to the operating system, you might notice there’s no “Print Screen” button on your keyboard. Fortunately, that doesn’t necessarily mean the process is complicated. Using various keyboard shortcuts, you can capture a screenshot of your entire display and everything on it, or you can simply drag a box around the designated area you want to capture.

There’s a variety of other screenshot methods available in MacOS High Sierra — including those for capturing a specific window — all of which produce images you can then use to flaunt your latest high score or clarify a problem with tech support.

Here’s a guide on how to take a screenshot on a Mac, whether you prefer capturing images using keyboard shortcuts or Preview.

Taking a screenshot using keyboard commands

Capture the entire screen

Step 1: Press the “Command” + “Shift” + “3” keys simultaneously.
That will save a copy of your screen to your clipboard. You can alternatively press the same combination without the “Command” key in order to save the image as a PNG file to your desktop.

Capture a selected area

Step 1: Press the “Command” + “Shift” + “4” keys simultaneously.
Step 2: With your mouse pointer turned into a crosshair, use it to select the region you wish to capture.
Step 3: You can fine-tune your selection by pressing the space bar, which will let you take a full-screen capture or to select an open menu.
Your selection will then be copied to the clipboard. Alternatively, don’t press the “Command” key and your screenshot will be saved to the desktop as a PNG file.
Note that if you have a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, it’ll give you options on the Touch Bar that include the “Selected Portion,” “Window,” or “Entire Screen.” You can also shoot to save it to a different folder such as Desktop, Documents, or even Clipboard. Another feature exclusive to is to take a screenshot of the Touch Bar display, which can be done by hitting Shift+Command+6 to take a screenshot.

Taking screenshots with Grab

Don’t feel like memorizing keyboard shortcuts? Grab is a program that comes pre-installed on all Macs and lets you create screenshots directly from the menu bar. The program also lets you take time-delayed screenshots, just in case you need to set the stage before capturing an image on your display.
Step 1: Launch Grab by opening it from the “Utilities” folder, which is housed within the “Applications” folder. Once you launch it, you’ll see an icon for the program in your dock. If you want, you can also pin this icon for quick access later.
Grab doesn’t usually feature a window when open, and instead, runs almost entirely from the menu bar.

Step 2: Either use the Capture menu system to take screenshots as you wish, or use the keyboard shortcuts detailed next to the respective command.

Timed screenshots

With Grab, you can take a screenshot of a particular section of the screen, an individual window, or the entire screen — the same three options we previously outlined above. What’s new here is the “Timed screen” option, which gives you a 10-second delay before the screenshot is captured.
This means that, if you need to open a menu or position your mouse in the right position, you’ve got some time to do so.
Step 1: Open grab as before if you haven’t already.
Step 2: Select “Timed Screenshot” from the Grab menu, or press its shortcut: “Command” + “Shift” + “Z.”
Keep in mind that your mouse cursor will not show up in the screenshot by default. If you want to ensure it’s captured in the frame, click “Preferences” from the main Grab menu and select the mouse icon from the resulting pop-up window.

The cursor will only show up when capturing delayed screenshots, which is just as well since you’ll need your mouse to take screenshots with the other options. We still think the keyboard shortcuts are a better way to capture screenshots, but if you don’t want to memorize anything, Grab is a great alternative.

Using Preview to take a screenshot

Preview, the default tool that allows you to open everything from photos to PDF files on your Mac, has more than a few hidden features. You can edit images with Preview, for instance, simply by clicking the toolbox icon. Preview can also capture screenshots.
Step 1: Open Preview.
Step 2: Highlight “File” in the menu bar.
Step 3: From the drop-down menu, select “Take Screenshot” and then either “From Selection,” “From Window,” or “From Entire Screen,” depending on your preferences.

We prefer the keyboard shortcut method to this method, because the former is far quicker, but Preview does offer one main advantage: you can choose where your screenshots end up. The other options on our list automatically save your screenshot to the desktop with a verbose filename. Preview opens the screenshot, lets you make a few edits, and then you can save the file wherever you like. If that matters to you, Preview is a solid choice.

Taking and saving Mac screenshots

What happens once a screenshot is taken? Assuming you didn’t just send it to the clipboard, your Mac will automatically time stamp the screenshot with the day and time it was taken, before saving it as a PNG file to your desktop. This is handy for immediate reference, but if you’re taking many screenshots in a row, then your desktop will quickly become cluttered with files that sport odd names.
The best solution is to simply move screenshots to the Trash whenever you’re finished with them. But if you work with numerous screenshots, this may get a little tiring. The good news is that there are modifications you can make via Terminal commands and third-party MacOS software. We talk about some of our favorites in our guide to the best MacOS apps.
Take, for example, the Tiny for Mac app. The software will automatically rename your screenshot based on the foremost application window. If you’re using Safari or Chrome, it will also incorporate the URL and title of the active tab, if applicable. This can greatly help with organization if you’re juggling several images at the same time.

source : https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-take-a-screenshot-on-a-mac/