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Is there something like the Windows Snipping Tool for OSX?

For those, who don't know about the tool, it's an easy to use software to take snapshot of any portion of screen, and is really useful in various situations.

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can you please avoid using apple.stackexchange.com as a replacement for basic googling? – XAleXOwnZX Dec 20 '11 at 22:01
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@XAleXOwnZX I understand your concern, but I wouldn't expect to find the topvoted answer below, on Google. Moreover, I'm sure others also found it helpful. – Atul Goyal Dec 21 '11 at 8:07
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First hit for "screenshot mac os x" on google is a page with extensive info on the shortcuts and their uses – XAleXOwnZX Dec 22 '11 at 2:21
I did Google it, must have used different keywords but all I found was a bunch of third party softwares... – Atul Goyal Dec 22 '11 at 6:26
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Oh well, next person to google this question will find this answer. – dbtedman Dec 22 '11 at 11:57
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6 Answers

up vote 34 down vote accepted

There is now a blog entry about Taking Screenshots in a Snap.

It's built into Mac OS.

  • ⌘+⇧+3 captures the whole screen
  • ⌘+⇧+4 captures a custom rectangle (click and drag over the screen region you want to capture)
  • ⌘+⇧+4 then space captures a specific window (move the mouse cursor over the desired window, then click)

Press esc to cancel.

Screenshots are saved onto your Desktop and timestamped.

By default the image format is png. However, you can change the format by typing in the Terminal:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture type image_format
killall SystemUIServer

Where image_format is one of jpg, tiff, pdf, png, bmp or pict (among others). If you omit the second line, you will need to log out and in again for the change to take effect.

The settings for the shortcuts in the system preferences are located at:
System Preferences → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Screen Shots

The MacOS X application that enables screenshots is called Grab. It is located at /Applications/Utilities/Grab.app

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awesome! the only problem being as a beginner Mac user I'm already overwhelmed with so many shortcuts!!! One more to remember! :D and I guess after the clicking and dragging the region is in memory so where do I paste it now? need to install an image editing program? – Atul Goyal Dec 16 '11 at 21:45
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The screen shot should produce an image file (a .png?) on your Desktop. The built-in application Preview should allow you to open it. – David Rouse Dec 16 '11 at 21:55
@DavidRouse is right. I'll edit my answer. – gentmatt Dec 16 '11 at 22:28
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Holding control in addition to the above shortcuts copies the desired selection to clipboard (like print screen on windows) rather than saving an image file to the desktop – XAleXOwnZX Dec 20 '11 at 22:01
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up vote 5 down vote

Macworld magazine's senior editor Dan Frakes just posted a very good short video tutorial (with show transcript) about the screenshot features of Mac OS X. This includes how to use the Grab app from the Utilities folder. The video is at: http://www.macworld.com/article/164123/2011/12/mac_os_x_screenshot_secrets.html.
His show description: "Mac OS X makes it easy to take screenshots—images of your screen or objects on it. But even veteran Mac users are often unaware of the many options available for getting the perfect screenshot. Here's a quick look at these underused options."

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up vote 4 down vote

If you don't want to remember the shortcut keys, you can also use the built-in Preview app.

Just launch Preview, then from the menu, select File, Take Screen Shot, then choose

  • From Selection - you will get a crosshair to drag
  • From Window - you will get to choose which window to grab
  • From Entire Screen - it will give a countdown first, so that you can get back to whatever app you want to take a picture of

It will then display the screenshot in Preview, and you can save, copy, paste, crop, etc. from there.

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up vote 2 down vote

If you also need editing capabilities (e.g. like Windows Paint or however it's called these days), Skitch is a good add-on (and it's free).

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up vote 1 down vote

Easycrop, or start with the insanely great (and free) SnapNDrag, from Yellow Mug — http://www.yellowmug.com/

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up vote 1 down vote

You may like Snip, I used it for a while and I found it fantastic. You can download it from Mac App Store for free

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