Your All-Important Guide to Taking Different Kinds of Screenshots with Mac

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Those who are more familiar with Windows will tell you that it’s very easy to take a screenshot – after all, it’s a simple matter. All you have to do is press the “print” key and the shot is ready. However, users of the Mac don’t have this key, and may be confused or wondering how the screen shot can be taken. It’s slightly more difficult, but here’s the good news: you have more options when it comes to taking screen shots on your Mac, and it’s very easy to get the hang of it. Here’s your all-important guide to taking different kinds of screenshots with your Mac.

Getting the whole screen

If you want to capture the whole screen, all you have to do is press “command + shift + 3”. This will immediately create a graphics file that is automatically stored on your desktop (PNG file). In essence, the file will store a picture of your whole screen – so beware of sensitive information.

Getting part of the screen

Luckily, you don’t necessarily need to take a picture of the whole screen and then do some cutting with graphics programmes if your purpose is to capture just part of the screen – all you have to do is press “command + shift + 4”. This will change your mouse cursor to a little cross-hair item, with which you can select the part to be captured (just press the left mouse button).

Getting a single window shot

Did you get the part about getting only a portion of the screen? Here’s what you should do to capture only a single window screenshot on Mac: repeat the procedure above and then press “space”. You’ll be able to select the window you want, and capture only that.

No need to save on the desktop

You may not want to save the image of your Mac screenshot on your desktop – you may just want to save it on a clipboard so that you can use it directly into the document or graphics programme without dealing with unnecessary trash. Simply press “command + shift + control + 4”.

Thinking out of the box

If you’re still looking for something more sophisticated when it comes to capturing screen shots, remember that there are other programmes out there to assist you – think of Captur or Shot.

Taking that perfect screenshot with your Mac may seem like it’s a little more work than with other systems – but remember, you do have various options and this makes the process much more exciting. Using screenshots to send to people, or to use in manuals, is always a good idea and with the Mac you are sure that the type of screenshot you have is always the right one for your purpose.