Filed under: Productivity, Tips and tricks
3 great uses for your screen shot app
Whether you use Leopard's native screen grab tool, or a specially designed app like Skitch, there's more you can use it for than just snapping a shot of your desktop. Here are three of my favorites:
No more cut and paste - I often have to replicate several pages of a content management system (CMS) that require me to enter tags in a field one at a time. I used to enter them on the first page, then copy the text, open Text Edit or Stickies, paste the text, then move on to the next page and flip back and forth between screens while re-entering tags on each page. Now I just snap a screenshot of the tags I've entered and use it as a reference on the remaining CMS pages.
File those registration receipts - After I've bought an app, I snap a shot of the receipt screen and store it in Evernote. Of course I also keep the copy the vendor emails me, buts it's nice having a backup in case my email client flakes out.
Make audio editing easier - While editing podcasts in Audacity, I often need to note the exact time of a clip. While it's easy enough to make a note with pencil and paper (remember those?), a screen grab lets me see at a glance exactly what other settings I was using at the time.
What are some of your more unconventional uses for the screen grab tool?
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
egordin said 11:34AM on 9-01-2008
I often use the CMD+Shift+4 to get quick (and quite accurate) measurements of things for web development.
For example, when I see that something is rendering a few pixels off, I can measure the distance that it is offset (and press esc to not actually take a screen shot), saving myself the hassle of taking the screenshot and then firing up photoshop to measure the pixel difference!
I do it all the time and its very helpful!
Reply
Terf-Work said 12:23PM on 9-01-2008
awesome tip man
never thought of that one!
Dan Sheerman said 12:58PM on 9-01-2008
Wow, I thought I was the only one.
Lee said 11:40AM on 9-01-2008
Quiet news day ???
Reply
Rachel said 11:44AM on 9-01-2008
um, 1: your browser is capable of having more than one window open. Keep the page you need to refer to open in one and work in the new stuff in the other. And 2: especially as you're on a Mac, just Print the page as PDF. Especially useful if the receipt page is larger than can be shown in the window.
Unbelievably pointless post...
Reply
redstone said 4:36PM on 9-01-2008
"Unbelievably pointless post..."
Having a bad day, Rach?
I found the thread quite useful.
Dave said 12:02PM on 9-01-2008
Better for receipts is print to PDF from the webpage. In fact, for anything with data that you might want to copy paste, this is a better solution than a screensnap.
Reply
Dbs143 said 12:08PM on 9-01-2008
Skitch is, BY FAR, one of the best apps on OS X. I wasn't sure what it was when I tried it, but now I could never live without it.
Reply
caleb said 12:09PM on 9-01-2008
For application receipts or any receipt from an online purchase I find that the print to PDF feature is ideal. There is even an option to "Save PDF to Web Receipts Folder" which is located in your Documents folder (~/Documents/Web\ Receipts/)
Reply
caleb said 12:09PM on 9-01-2008
For application receipts or any receipt from an online purchase I find that the print to PDF feature is ideal. There is even an option to "Save PDF to Web Receipts Folder" which is located in your Documents folder (~/Documents/Web\ Receipts/)
Reply
caleb said 12:16PM on 9-01-2008
Fail.
I'd like to add that I hate the new account info setup. I used to just be able to type my password and type my comment. Now I have to choose "Returning" and then type my email address and my password before I can type my comment. I thought new features were supposed to make things easier, not harder.
chicco said 12:34PM on 9-01-2008
after pressing cmd+shift+4 if you keep pressed ctrl you place the grab in clipboard instead of a file.
I use it to make quick mockups of modifications on web pages or software we produce (pasting pieces in pages and moving them around like "place this button there, that button her, and such")
Also in writing step by step instructions cmd+shift+4 and then space bar lets you grab the exact copy of the window ready to be pasted in your document.
Reply
Serge said 2:32PM on 9-01-2008
I hope your're joking. Or maybe, you need a better pair of glasses. John Appleseed opens his arms widely when he speaks, while the japanese guy frequently close his left hand. There is no comparison.
Reply
Serge said 2:32PM on 9-01-2008
I hope your're joking. Or maybe, you need a better pair of glasses. John Appleseed opens his arms widely when he speaks, while the japanese guy frequently close his left hand. There is no comparison.
Reply
flp said 3:24PM on 9-01-2008
Kind of related...
I use the screen grab function on my iPhone to take snapshots of train timetables and Google Maps before travelling.
Much easier to access them from Photos than to load up a web page, it works offline, and I can just delete them when I'm done.
Reply
Kiwiiano said 4:05PM on 9-01-2008
My variation is that all financial transactions during on-line banking, eBay or such are clipped with Cmd-Sht-4 just-in-case there's ever an argument about a particular payment.
The Print-to-PDF is also very useful because any URLs in the web page remain active in the PDF and it's a way of capturing a long page. A pox on those editors who spread articles over several pages without an option to view as a single page.
Reply
Douglas Tang said 7:30PM on 9-01-2008
Just in case you want to save those articles as one page. Sometimes the "print view" compiles the article into one continuous page.
BUT, just incase, you can also take several pdfs and combine them into one pdf with preview by dragging the files into the sidebar (aka- page drawer). I use this trick all the time for batching together related documents from different sources. Its a god send...
Phil B said 4:40PM on 9-03-2008
I often have to send my travel itinerary to my company before leaving on business trip. When I book the flight, I use the Cmd-Shift-4 to select the flight info from the airline web page and put that in my email. I can easily exclude the pricing and just show the flights.
I use tinkertool to tell my Mac to save those captures as jpg files instead of png files.
Reply