MacOS Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, and Monterey have a built-in screenshot app that you can open by pressing Shift + Command 5. The button options on the left allow you to capture the whole screen, a selected window, or a menu item.
CleanShot X is another popular screenshot application. It has a free trial, and the price of the full version is $29 with 1GB of cloud storage and one year of updates.
Capture the whole screen
Many Mac users use their desktop’s built-in screenshot tool to take whole screen or curated snapshots. The tool offers an array of annotation tools that let you highlight, draw, and add text or arrows. It also lets you quickly share or save screenshots on a cloud storage service.
A few tips will improve the tool’s performance and make it easier to use. For example, the tool can save screenshots as PNG files rather than PDFs to improve image quality and file size. This feature is available in the Screenshot Options menu under Save to Preview.
Other efficiency enhancements include a shortcut key to change the capture file format, an option to remove drop shadows from screenshots, and the ability to automate or assign a keyboard shortcut for specific snapshots. In addition, annotating screenshots with features like arrows and highlights improves the effectiveness of your communication. It also allows you to select the exact frame you want to capture and remove unwanted elements.
Capture a selected window
The latest version of macOS offers easy ways to take a picture of an entire screen or just a single window. You can also add a floating thumbnail that floats in the corner of your screen for a few seconds so you can edit it or drag it into a document before it gets saved to a specific location.
To take a picture of just one window, press Shift + Command + 4. Your cursor will change to a crosshair. Move the cursor over a window, and when you click, the screenshot will be saved as a PNG file on your desktop.
The new version of macOS also includes a way to exclude UI elements, such as dropdown menus, from your screenshots. You can do this by pressing the Escape key when you are taking a screenshot or recording a video. This feature will allow you to create more precise images that are easier to edit.
Capture a specific menu item
The macos screenshot app lets you capture a specific menu item. This can be helpful if you’re trying to point out a bug or inconsistency. The screenshot can be edited afterwards to add arrows, highlight, or sequence annotations. This will make it easier for readers to understand what the problem is and how to fix it.
To take a screenshot, press the Command and Shift keys together. A floating toolbar appears at the bottom of the screen with buttons for different types of screenshots and a Capture button. The Options menu allows you to set a delay, show clicks or mouse movement, and specify where to save the screenshot.
Once you’ve captured your screenshot, it will appear as a thumbnail in the bottom-right corner of your screen. The thumbnail will remain visible for a few seconds so you can draw or write on it, crop it to a specific size, or share it with others before it disappears.
Save to the clipboard
A screenshot is a quick and easy way to share what’s on your screen. Whether it’s an error message that needs to be sent to tech support or a snippet of text you want to send to your followers, macOS has a few key shortcuts that make it easier than ever to capture and save.
The standard keyboard shortcuts will typically save your captured image as a new file on your desktop. However, if you tack on the Control key along with those shortcuts, they’ll copy the captured image to your clipboard instead. This makes it easier to paste into an image editing app or use Universal Clipboard on another Apple device.
There are several different macOS screenshot apps that are designed to be an all-in-one solution for capturing, editing, and sharing images on your Mac. Some of them, such as ClearShot X, offer a variety of features for creating and managing screenshots, including annotation and cloud-based storage. Others, like Skitch, are designed to help reduce response times for collaboration between colleagues.