5 Screen Capture Tips for Mac OS X

A common issue, especially with users new to Mac, is how to create screen captures. There are several different ways of creating screen captures depending on what you’re trying to do. Whether you’re trying to get an entire screen, just a portion, or perhaps record what is happening on your screen.

This step-by-step tutorial will show you the different methods of how to record a screen capture, and some neat tips and tricks that you might not be aware of!

1. Capturing the Entire Screen
2. Capturing a portion of the screen
3. Recording a Video Capture
4. Alternative Software To Use
5. The Grab Application in Lion

1. Capturing the Entire Screen

Capturing the entire screen with any version of Mac OS X is really quite simple. By utilizing a simple keyboard shortcut, you can create an image of your entire screen that shows everything, exactly how you see it.

1: Just hold Command+Shift+3 on the keyboard.
2: Your screen capture will appear on the desktop.

Your image will be titled “Screen Shot” by default, and also in the title will be the date and time when the image was taken. This allows you to differentiate between several screen shots.

2. Capturing a Portion of the Screen

Another useful method for screen captures, and one that I use for my tutorials, is capturing only a portion of the screen. This allows you to save the image in a smaller file size, and focus on a specific area that you’re trying to capture.

1: Just hold Command+Shift+4 on the keyboard.
2: Your mouse arrow will change to an icon with crosshairs.
3: Select the area that you’re trying to capture, and release the mouse button.
4: Your screen capture will appear on the desktop.

Just as explained in the previous section, your image will be saved in the same format to your desktop. You will notice the file size will obviously much smaller as your picture’s dimensions are only what you selected.

3. Recording a Video Capture

Recording a video capture is a great tool that can be used for a variety of reasons. If you’re having issues with your computer that can’t be explained over the phone or in an email, if you want to explain how to do something to a work colleague, or just show a friend something cool you did, a video capture is a great tool.

1: Open Quicktime.
2: Click on “File” from the top menu, and go to “New Screen Recording”.
3: Quicktime will then give you the option of recording the entire screen, or just a portion.
4: You can stop the screen recording at any time by pressing the Stop button from the menu.
5: By default, the file will be saved to the Movies folder in your user home folder as soon as you press the stop button.

4. Third Party Software

You may find that Apple’s built-in options or software to be limiting depending on what you’re trying to do. Luckily, there are a variety of options out there available to you. These are just some of the popular Apps:

Skitch
SnapzPro
Screenshot Plus (Dashboard Widget)
Paparazzi

5. Grab

Grab is an Application found in the Utilities folder (/Applications/Utilities).
It works much the same as the keyboard shortcuts explained above, but also provides you the option to set timed screenshots.