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Mac n00b / Switcher Tip: Print Screen

by C.K. Sample, III Mar 2nd 2005 at 1:09PM

The other day, one of my coworkers called me up with this question, so I thought I would share it here. She wanted to know if there was a Mac function similar to the Print Screen button on Windoze.  In PeeCee land, for those of you who don’t know, the Print Screen button on the keyboard copies the content of the current screen, so that it can be pasted into a document or program for editing, printing, etc.  In Mac, there is an easy key combination to achieve the same effects and more.  Simply hit the Command key (the Apple key next to the space bar), the Shift key, and the number 3 key simultaneously.  This takes a screen shot of the current screen and saves it to the Desktop as a pdf file.

Now, if you only want to copy a segment of the screen, hit Command + Shift + 4, and the mouse cursor will change from an arrow into cross hairs.  Simply click and drag the cross hairs over the area of the screen of which you want to take a picture.  When you release the mouse button, you will hear a clicking sound reminiscent of a camera shutter and a new file will appear on your desktop in pdf format.  Most Macs these days come with a free copy of GraphicConverter, which you can use to convert the resulting pdf file into JPEG, GIF, PNG, or whatever image format you like the best.  Have fun!

UPDATE: Dave notes in the comments: “For even MORE fun, once you use cmd + shift + 4, press the space bar and the cursor turns into a camera. Move over any window and you can take a snapshot of JUST that window. :)” Thanks, Dave!

’NOTHER UPDATE: DF adds, “If you add the control key to any of the OS X screenshot keyboard shortcuts, the screenshot is copied to the clipboard instead of being saved to a file; you can then paste it into any graphics application — such as OS X’s Preview — and save it in any format you prefer.” Thanks, DF!



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The other day, one of my coworkers called me up with this question, so I thought I would share it here. She wanted to know if there was a...
 

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Brad Knowles

Command-Shift-4 doesn't work to grab menubar icons. Command-Shift-3 does, however. D'oh!

March 04 2005 at 3:26 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Scott Morrison

Dave, If you don't have it booked marked, you may want to add this: www.macosxhints.com This is _the_ definitive place for hints, hacks, and other things having to do with OS X

March 02 2005 at 7:59 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
tf

Yes, Macs have always had this and I've always thought it pathetic that Print Screen on Windows only copies the screen to the Clipboard requiring you to open an image editing program. For more shortcuts (there are tons of resources for them and they wouldn't constitute a book), look here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75459 http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61474 http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106743 Those are most of the best ones.

March 02 2005 at 5:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
dave

whoa, thanks DF!

March 02 2005 at 3:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
dave

whoa, thanks DF!

March 02 2005 at 2:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
DF

If you add the control key to any of the OS X screenshot keyboard shortcuts, the screenshot is copied to the clipboard instead of being saved to a file; you can then paste it into any graphics application -- such as OS X's Preview -- and save it in any format you prefer. Dave: I've got a couple lists of shortcuts from my book at: http://www.macosxpowertools.com/content/keyboard.html http://www.macosxpowertools.com/content/mousing.html

March 02 2005 at 1:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mrklaw

command+shift+3 has been around since the early days of the black and white macs without hard drives it used to create a PICT file. command+shift+4 used to dump the screen directly to the printer in those days

March 02 2005 at 1:40 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
dave

I think someone should publish a book containing literally nothing but well organized/categorized OS X shortcuts. The how-to's and tutorials sure are great, but I think some of the most serious power and fun of OS X are these shortcuts that hardly any of us know about. Maybe there could be a blurb with each shortcut or top-level section about what they're for, or examples of how/where to use them, but the book should literally be nothing more than a massive list of all the kick-butt shortcuts that make this OS such a breeze to use. Anyone game? :) I'm quite the shortcut junkie myself, and I'd be happy to help. A friend and I a while back tried to use OS X without a mouse and did a lot of research in the process. Got pretty darn far, once you get used to the paradigm shift. ;)

March 02 2005 at 1:34 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jeremiah

That is cool Dave! It even works when you are in Expose!

March 02 2005 at 1:28 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
C.K. Sample, III

Good tip, Dave. That one totally slipped my mind! I'm adding it to the post.

March 02 2005 at 1:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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