In the earlier days of Windows, you had to use the less-than-intuitive method of pressing the Print Screen key and pasting into a graphics program if you wanted to add markup and save a screenshot. Then Microsoft included a utility called the snipping tool in Windows Vista and later Windows versions to make capturing screenshots much easier.

Snipping tool Mac: A snipping tool is a utility tool that was introduced by Windows from Vista and its further versions. It can take still screenshots of an open window or entire screen and then edit that basic image via different options, like cropping, changing background colors, highlighting a particular portion etc.

Check Also: 5 Best Screenshot Extensions for Google Chrome Steps for Using the Windows Snipping Tool Step 1: Click ‘Start’ present towards the left hand bottom most corner of the screen. Step 2: Type ‘Snipping Tool’ in the search box and then click on the result.You may also think about right-clicking on the result to ‘Pin to the Start Menu’ for future access.
Mac devices come with inbuilt screenshot capturing tools and thus there is no need left for any snipping/ picture capturing and editing tool. Though we have mentioned the approach to download a snipping tool in a Mac based device but it has been told keeping in mind the requirements of a new Mac user only.

Of course, there are many free screen capture tools for all versions of Windows if your needs are more complex than taking a simple shot of your screen now and then. But if you don't want to or have to go to that trouble, here's how to capture a screenshot with the snipping tool.

These instructions apply to Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7.

Here's How to Use the Windows Snipping Tool Drag Box

Select the Start Menu or press the Windows Key and type 'snipping' into the search box.
Select the Snipping Tool in the search results. The snipping tool window will appear on your screen.
You can move it to an edge of the screen so it's not in your way, but it will also disappear when you start dragging a selection area.
The snipping tool assumes you want to create a new clipping as soon as you open it. Your screen will dim and you can click and drag your cursor to select an area to copy. The selected area will be darker as you drag and a red border will surround it if you've never changed the snipping tool options.
When you release the mouse button, the captured area will open in the snipping tool window when you release the mouse button. Select the New button if you want to try again.
Press the second button to save the screenshot as an image file when you're happy with your clipping.

Tips

If your screenshot contains a limited number of colors and you want to retain crisp lines and keep the file size small, save it as a GIF file.
If your screenshot contains many colors and you want to retain crisp lines and full quality, save it as a PNG file.
If your screenshot contains many colors and you want to make the file size small, save as a JPEG file.
You can use the pen and highlighter tools in the snipping tool toolbar to add markup to your screenshot before saving it. The eraser tool removes marks made with the pen and highlighter tools.
You can email a screenshot without saving it first by using the 'Send To' button on the snipping tool toolbar.
Select the Options menu to change the way the snipping tool operates. You can change the color of the selection outline by selecting a new ink color, or turn the outline off entirely by unchecking the box for 'Show selection ink after snips are captured.'

Active1 year, 8 months ago

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.

gentmatt

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Snipping Tool For Apple Mac

Atul GoyalAtul Goyal

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8 Answers

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.

Holding control in addition to any of the sequences above causes the image to be copied instead of saved to the desktop.

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

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

gentmattgentmatt

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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.

JKubeckiJKubecki

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.'

john1975john1975

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).

nohillside♦nohillside

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

AntonyAntony

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

ZHENJiNG LiANGZHENJiNG LiANG

Of course, the most convenient way to snapshot on Mac

Picture Snipping Tool For Mac