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Updated: 11/13/04

Take Screenshots in MacOS X

Ever have something happen on your computer that you wanted to remember without having to write it down? Take a screenshot.

Screenshots are pictures of items on your computer screen. Most people who have used a Mac for some period of time are aware of the key command for a screenshot -shift - 3. This key combination takes a picture of your entire desktop and saves it as a .pdf file named Picture 1 on your desktop. (note - in OS 9 it was saved as a pict file)

Desktop screenshot

Advanced Screenshot Commands : While that is pretty cool, it would be nice to be able to isolate certain parts of the screen when you are taking a screenshot. Luckily, in MacOS X you can.

-shift - 4 : Typing in this key combination displays a cross hair that allows you to highlight a specific part of the screen that you would like to capture.

Cross hairs that are displayed when using the -shift - 4 key combination.

Once you see the cross hairs, move them to the area that you want to capture and then click, hold and drag with your mouse to select the entire area to be captured. You can tell what will be included in the capture because it will be shaded. Once you have selected the item you want to capture (take a screenshot of) simply realease your mouse button.

-shift - 4 - Spacebar : To capture a specific object (dock items, menus, etc) use the same key combination as before, except this time hit the space bar after hitting the 4. This will display the icon for of a small camera (image 1). You will notice, items that the camera is placed over are highlighted in blue (see image 2 and 3). This blue highlight is an indicator of what will be captured.

	Image 1 - When hitting the -shift - 4 - Spacebar key combination, a camera icon is displayed.
	Image 2 - This allows you to capture screen objects like menus, dock items, etc.
	image 3 - Dock item selected.

Again, once you have selected the item you want to capture, click your mouse. You will hear what sounds like a camera taking a picture and then see the file on your desktop.

Wrap Up : There are commercial screen capture products out there (Snapz Pro X, Copernicus) but unless you want to be able to capture video of your screen then these three key combinations are probably all you need.

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