OS X Mountain Lion: Shortcuts for taking pictures of the screen
Pictures of the screen (screenshots) are saved as files on the desktop, but if you prefer to put a screenshot in the Clipboard, hold down the Control key while you press the other keys. You can then paste the picture into a document.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Take a picture of the whole screen | Command (⌘)-Shift-3 |
| Take a picture of part of the screen | Command (⌘)-Shift-4, and then drag the crosshair pointer to select the area. Continue to press the mouse button, release the keys, and then press Shift, Option, or the Space bar while you drag to resize the selection area. When you are ready to take a picture, release the mouse button. To cancel, press Escape before you release the mouse button. |
| Take a picture of a window or the menu bar | Command (⌘)-Shift-4, press the Space bar, move the camera pointer over the area to highlight it, and then click. To cancel, press Escape before you click. |
| Take a picture of a menu, including the title | Click the menu to display the menu commands, press Command (⌘)-Shift-4, and drag the crosshair pointer over the area. To cancel, press Escape before you click. |
| Take a picture of the menu without its title | Click the menu to display the menu commands, press Command (⌘)-Shift-4, press the Space Bar, move the camera pointer over the menu to highlight it, and then click. To cancel, press Escape before you click. |
Press Command+Control+Shift+3. This method works exactly like the one above, except the screenshot does not immediately create a file. Instead, the image is saved to the clipboard, the same temporary storage area where your computer remembers the text that you have copied.
You can also take pictures of the screen using the Grab app.
- You can also take a portion screenshot with this method usingCommand+Control+Shift+4 and dragging your reticle over the appropriate part of your screen, exactly as the portion screenshot method.
Press Command+Shift+4 and hit Spacebar. The cross-hair will turn into a small camera. You can press Spacebar again to switch back to the reticle
Move your cursor over the window you want to capture. The camera will highlight different windows blue as it moves over them. You can use keyboard commands such as Command+Tab to shift through your windows while still in this mode.
Click on the window. The picture of the window you selected will be saved to the desktop by default just like the other screenshot methods.
Go to Applications > Utilities > Grab. This opens the Grab application. You will see the menus shown in the upper left of your screen, but no windows will open.
Click the Capture menu and choose between the four different options.
- To take a picture of your entire screen, click on Screen (or just use the keyboard command Apple Key + Z). A window will pop up telling you where to click and letting you know that the window will not appear in the shot.
- To take a picture of a portion of your screen, click on Selection. A window will pop up instructing you to drag your mouse over the portion of your screen you'd like to capture.
- To take a picture of a specific window, select Window. Then, click on the window you'd like to take a picture of.
You can also take pictures of the screen using the Grab app.
