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Screenshot & Grab

Avatar John Elton-Wall
Anyone else infuriated by Screenshot? I seem to remember the vaunted benefit of the Mac was ease of use. My wife tried to use Screenshot and produced 12 sheets of unwanted prints before she had to shut down. Online posts produced many infuriated users and often vitriolic comments. One Mac officianado advised much use of multiple key pressing and finished with ADAPT. I know Macs can do marvellous things but the occasional element of simplicity would not come amiss.
Just as well I could install Grab via another older machine!

For me this might be "The straw that ..... " If I am constantly having to learn new things to carry out the simplest of tasks, I might just as well learn with another OS at very much less cost.

John

Re: Screenshot & Grab

Avatar Euan Williams
MacOS has been free for many years like the various Linux distributions, -- unlike Windows.

Screenshot keyboard shortcuts (with discussion) can be found here..

The shortcuts are comprehensive, easy to use and to memorise, 'Grab' is effectively redundant. Hope this is useful :)

Re: Screenshot & Grab

Avatar Mick Burrell
Are you able to describe her issue with Screenshot? I usually use keyboard shortcuts (in preference to Grab or Screenshot) but just had a look at it for the first time and didn't encounter a problem. Selecting one of the small icons at the bottom of the screen was simple - their function displays as you hover over them - and adjusting a rectangle for a "selected area" screenshot uses the normal "handles" on each corner. Clicking "Capture" saved the file to the desktop.

Re: Screenshot & Grab

Avatar Roy Rainford
I use SnapNGrab Pro. Review Here: https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/12087/snapndrag-pro
Allows accurate selections and files them. No keystrokes to remember. Simple and easy so ok for me! Bought in the App Store.

Re: Screenshot & Grab

Avatar Tony Still
Mojave has swept away the need for all those obscure key presses with a system app called Screenshot (found in Utilities, in Applications). I presume that's NOT the one you're using and it certainly does not print screenshots.

It's much more elegant and more capable than the key presses and can also be summoned with an obscure key press...

Re: Screenshot & Grab

Avatar Paul Collins
Hi
Try using Shift Command 5 it take you straight to Screenshot very simple.

Re: Screenshot & Grab

Avatar Rick Churchill
As my memory is not that good, on my desktop I have a file called MacTips. This is a section from it:

Capture Screen (See DVD Player for capture from movie)
Shift + ⌘ + 3 (Screen) takes the complete screen and saves it as a png file on the desktop
(Click + Alt(Option) excludes the window's shadow)

Shift + ⌘ + 4 (Selection) produces a camera symbol
Click and drag to highlight the area to be “photographed”
On release there is a camera shutter sound and a thumbnail appears on the desktop.

Shift + ⌘ + 5 produces a Capture Menu
The icons are in order: Screen, Window, Selection, Menu, Touch-bar

The resulting thumbnail image can be:
Sweep right or do nothing = Save to chosen location
Ctl + Click = Change default location/Paste into app/delete
Drag to location, document or trash
Click to open and edit or email (share)

Adding Ctrl to the key presses above when capturing saves to the clipboard instead. Use ⌘ - V to paste it into a document.

Re: Screenshot & Grab

Avatar Lionel Ogden
I use Screenshot as my default screenshot app. It is so simple.

Re: Screenshot & Grab

Avatar John Elton-Wall
Very many thanks to all who responded to my grumpy comments on Screenshot. Apologies for lack of response from me, particularly when so many were trying to be helpful! I have simply been very busy and away from home. My wife has less patience even than me when it comes to computer use so maintaining a familiar can-do environment on the Mac is important.

Mick, when I have more time I will persevere with the utility. It is not so much a screenshot per se that we want, but to 'capture' portions of documents in the course of research. But having just carried out another quick trial my basic gripe remains that this utility is not that user friendly.

For example, having clicked on the Screenshot icon in the Dock, I make a selection grab of a document, which saved as expected to the desktop, except that the little floating Screenshot palette only provided the option to Record. I'm puzzled by this, but hey-ho – new utility, new language, I surmise. But meanwhile I'm left with a significantly dulled desktop display and a bright portion where the grab took place. Problems: how do I restore the general brightness of the desktop/remove the bright portion and get back to work? Answer: i just happened to notice that an unfamiliar circular icon has appeared on the right hand end of the menu bar. Click on that and the problem disappears. Easy, but so far I've not found any reference to it in any Apple guidance material. And besides I've noticed that the screenshot file that appeared on the desktop ends with a .mov suffix, not png or jpeg.

Thanks Euan (and several others) for your contribution from Apple Support. The problem however is that accessing Screenshot as outlined there is all a matter of key pressing combinations. So I remain grumpy. Clearly I was mistaken in thinking years ago as a very early and keen adopter of the Mac that its GUi meant I could say good bye to the necessity of learning/remembering key pressing combinations. Key combination pressing for the occasional accent when I want to write in French is one thing, but Screenhot on early acquaintance seems destined to render me even grumpier.

Re: Screenshot & Grab

Avatar Mick Burrell
Record is (I assume) for recording what is going on on screen. You've selected the right most of the five icons - to make a recording of the selected area.

The first icon on the left will capture a still of the entire screen, the second will capture a still of the selected window and the third is I guess the one you want - to capture a still of a selected area.

Re: Screenshot & Grab

Avatar Lionel Ogden
If you wish to quit Screenshot without capturing the selection you have chosen, click the x at the left of the selection bar.

Re: Screenshot & Grab

Avatar John Elton-Wall
Thanks again Mick & Lionel for your kind responses.

Mick, I was using the option icon for a still of a selected area. I have just checked again and the only action available at the right hand end was record. To do this I had simply launched screenshot by clicking on the icon in the dock. Could this mean that the only way to launch and get the particular function you want is via combination key pressing? If so then surely this would represent a significant departure by Apple.

Lionel, unless I am "losing it", which is certainly possible, I am convinced that the X was not there; and I cannot but think I would have spotted it. Please see my para 3 as to what I did. However, you are correct in that I am now getting the X on the left hand end, and it works. Note that I have had an update to Mojave in the interim. Could my original upgrade to Mojave also be in question? The only action available after capturing a still portion of the screen still appears to be record – please see my reply to Mick's comment that it may only be possible to launch screenshot via key combinations in order to access a particular aspect of the utility.

Again many thanks, John

Re: Screenshot & Grab

Avatar John Elton-Wall
Thanks again Mick & Lionel for your kind responses.

Mick, I was using the option icon for a still of a selected area. I have just checked again and the only action available at the right hand end was record. To do this I had simply launched screenshot by clicking on the icon in the dock. Could this mean that the only way to launch and get the particular function you want is via combination key pressing? If so then surely this would represent a significant departure by Apple.

Lionel, unless I am "losing it", which is certainly possible, I am convinced that the X was not there; and I cannot but think I would have spotted it. Please see my para 3 as to what I did. However, you are correct in that I am now getting the X on the left hand end, and it works. Note that I have had an update to Mojave in the interim. Could my original upgrade to Mojave also be in question? The only action available after capturing a still portion of the screen still appears to be record – please see my reply to Mick's comment that it may only be possible to launch screenshot via key combinations in order to access a particular aspect of the utility.

Again many thanks, John

Re: Screenshot & Grab

Avatar Mick Burrell
In my version, the left three icons (capture screen, capture window and capture selection), when selected, show the word Capture on the right, icons four and five (record entire screen and record section) show Record.

Screenshot doesn't expect you to want a screenshot of the Screenshot controls! However, with a workround using a phone to actually photograph the Screenshot icon panel you can see here what mine shows with the third icon for a selection selected. Capture clearly shown on the right, NOT Record: (click the link below)

Screenshot Icons
 
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