Steps capture screenshot as PDF or JPEG in Mac OS X. Open Terminal: While you are in Finder press Shift,⌘,A to open Applications and then click on Terminal. You can also open Launchpad and search for Terminal. Now in terminal run below commands to change the screen-capture format to.pdf. Defaults write com.apple.screencapture type pdf. Grab, the built-in Mac OS X service that captures screenshots, might be sufficient for most people. If you're looking to pair an upload service to it, you can just add the great and free Cloud App. Screenshot a Portion of Your Screen 1. Press Command + Shift + 4. Your cursor will turn into a small cross-hair reticle. Click and drag your cursor to highlight the area you'd like to take a picture of. A grayed rectangle should appear. Let go of the mouse. You should hear a brief camera.
Use the Screenshot toolbar
To view the Screenshot toolbar, press these three keys together: Shift, Command, and 5. You will see onscreen controls for recording the entire screen, recording a selected portion of the screen, or capturing a still image of your screen:
Record the entire screen
- Click in the onscreen controls. Your pointer changes to a camera .
- Click any screen to start recording that screen, or click Record in the onscreen controls.
- To stop recording, click in the menu bar. Or press Command-Control-Esc (Escape).
- Use the thumbnail to trim, share, save, or take other actions.
Record a selected portion of the screen
- Click in the onscreen controls.
- Drag to select an area of the screen to record. To move the entire selection, drag from within the selection.
- To start recording, click Record in the onscreen controls.
- To stop recording, click in the menu bar. Or press Command-Control-Esc (Escape).
- Use the thumbnail to trim, share, save, or take other actions.
Trim, share, and save
After you stop recording, a thumbnail of the video appears briefly in the lower-right corner of your screen.
- Take no action or swipe the thumbnail to the right and the recording is automatically saved.
- Click the thumbnail to open the recording. You can then click to trim the recording, or click to share it.
- Drag the thumbnail to move the recording to another location, such as to a document, an email, a Finder window, or the Trash.
- Control-click the thumbnail for more options. For example, you can change the save location, open the recording in an app, or delete the recording without saving it.
Change the settings
Click Options in the onscreen controls to change these settings:
- Save to: Choose where your recordings are automatically saved, such as Desktop, Documents, or Clipboard.
- Timer: Choose when to begin recording: immediately, 5 seconds, or 10 seconds after you click to record.
- Microphone: To record your voice or other audio along with your recording, choose a microphone.
- Show Floating Thumbnail: Choose whether to show the thumbnail.
- Remember Last Selection: Choose whether to default to the selections you made the last time you used this tool.
- Show Mouse Clicks: Choose whether to show a black circle around your pointer when you click in the recording.
Use QuickTime Player
- Open QuickTime Player from your Applications folder, then choose File > New Screen Recording from the menu bar. You will then see either the onscreen controls described above or the Screen Recording window described below.
- Before starting your recording, you can click the arrow next to to change the recording settings:
- To record your voice or other audio with the screen recording, choose a microphone. To monitor that audio during recording, adjust the volume slider. If you get audio feedback, lower the volume or use headphones with a microphone.
- To show a black circle around your pointer when you click, choose Show Mouse Clicks in Recording.
- To record your voice or other audio with the screen recording, choose a microphone. To monitor that audio during recording, adjust the volume slider. If you get audio feedback, lower the volume or use headphones with a microphone.
- To start recording, click and then take one of these actions:
- Click anywhere on the screen to begin recording the entire screen.
- Or drag to select an area to record, then click Start Recording within that area.
- To stop recording, click in the menu bar, or press Command-Control-Esc (Escape).
- After you stop recording, QuickTime Player automatically opens the recording. You can now play, edit, or share the recording.
Learn more
- The Screenshot toolbar is available in macOS Mojave or later.
- When saving your recording automatically, your Mac uses the name ”Screen Recording date at time.mov”.
- To cancel making a recording, press the Esc key before clicking to record.
- You can open screen recordings with QuickTime Player, iMovie, and other apps that can edit or view videos.
- Some apps might not let you record their windows.
- Learn how to record the screen on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
How to launch and use Grab utility on macOS and Mac OS X?
Many Mac users are already familiar with the Utility folder and the useful tools it contains such as Terminal, Activity Monitor, Disk Utility, Console, Keychain Access, etc. Some of these apps are helpful when seeking solutions to problems you may have encountered.
Among these useful apps is Grab, which is based on capturing a computer screen image. The Mac OS has built-in functions for screen capturing, they are reached through keyboard combinations such as Command, Shift and 3 or 4, however, the Grab app is much more powerful, and includes different image formats, a timer screenshot function, and more. In this article, we will cover all types of screenshots, troubleshooting, and how to set up the Grab app to deliver good quality images.
Table of Contents:
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Capabilities of Grab
As mentioned, the Grab app has higher functionality than Mac's built-in screenshot function - here is a clear view of its potential:
Screen Capture Mac Os Terminal Software
- Is able to capture just a portion of the screen.
- Takes an image grab of a selected window.
- Performs a Timed Screenshot. This function allows you to take a screen grab after 10 seconds.
- Allows you to select a type of pointer (cursor) and also to show or hide it in screenshots. To set pointer settings, open Grab Preferences and select the type of pointer, or disable it.
- Takes a picture of the entire screen, including multiple-monitor screens.
- Saves pictures in various image formats such as JPEG, PNG, and TIFF.
- Owns a small 'tooltip' displaying the exact coordinate of your pointer, which transforms into the amount of pixels selected when selecting an area.
Use of the Grab utility
This app has a simple interface, however, some steps might be confusing. Here, we walk step-by-step though all Grab functions. There are several ways to launch the app. As mentioned above, the app is within the Utilities folder, so we can use Spotlight, launchpad, or finder to start Grab. In finder, go to Applications, choose Utilities, and select Grab. In launchpad, Grab is within Other.
Take a screenshot of selected area in your screen
When the app is launched, click on Capture on Grab's menu at top of your screen, and then choose Selection or simply press Shift, Command and A together on your keyboard. You will notice Grab's information message. Now select your desired area by dragging with your mouse. When you have finished selecting, the picture will appear in a new window where you can save the image in a specified destination folder with a filename you provide.
Take a picture of desired window
Mac Screen Capture Tool
Select Capture from Grab's menu, and then choose Window or simply press the keyboard shortcut Shift, Command and W. In the popped-up window, click Choose Window. Left click to select the window required to capture, and then save it.
Capture your entire screen
Select Capture from Grab's menu, choose Screen or simply press the keyboard combination of Command and Z to start capturing the whole screen. An information message will pop-up stating that the image will be taken when you left-click the screen anywhere (outside the message).
Perform a timed screenshot
To launch a timed screenshot function, go to Capture in Grab's menu and choose Timed Screen or use the keyboard shortcut Shift, Command and Z. The activation window will pop up and leave 10 seconds before capturing from the moment you clicked Start Timer. This function will take a picture of the entire screen - it is very useful when you need to take a screenshot of menus or menu options.
Check the details of taken screenshot
To look up information about the screen capture, click Window and choose Inspector, or simply press Command and 1 together. This information is available before image is saved, so you can check the dimensions and file size with the TIFF format, which is default Grab format for screen captures. You can change this format when you are not saving the screenshot.
Image quality
It is often useful to change the resolution of image. The Grab app usually captures images at high-resolution, however, this is restricted to your display resolution. To achieve a better quality of screenshot, ensure your display is at highest available resolution. To change your device display resolution, open the Mac's System Preferences and choose Displays. Check that the display is set to highest number of pixels available.
Change default screenshot format
The default format when saving captures is generally PNG and can be changed easily using terminal and a few simple commands. Mac supports PNG, JPG, TIFF, GIF, and PDF formats, so you can choose any of these. Launch terminal, which is under the Utilities folder or use spotlight.
- To set JPEG format as the default, type the terminal command: defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg
- To set TIFF, type: defaults write com.apple.screencapture type tiff
- To set GIF, type: defaults write com.apple.screencapture type gif
- Set PDF, type: defaults write com.apple.screencapture type pdf
- If you wish to return the format to PNG, type: defaults write com.apple.screencapture type png
The changes will not take effect until you restart the Mac. Alternatively, you can use the additional terminal command: killall SystemUIServer. The Mac will then be forced to reboot and the system will use the new settings.
Grab utility stopped working after macOS update
Occassionally, the app might fail to work after a system update. This issue can be due to a corrupted Grab preference file. To see if this is the case on your system, open Finder, choose Go from the Finder's menu at top of your screen, select Go to Folder, and type the following path: ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.grab.plist and press return. Move the selected file to Trash or your Desktop and restart the Mac. Once the computer has completely rebooted, attempt to launch Grab again. If this step helped, delete the old preference file. Otherwise, try reinstalling the Grab app using macOS Recovery. Finally, if none of these solutions fixes the problem, you could reinstall macOS.
Mac Os Screen
Detailed steps on how to reinstall macOS.
An alternative method to take a screenshot on the Mac is to use built-in screenshot function.