Mac OS X screen shots

[Dave2002]

We recently had an exchange about taking screen shots on a Mac.

Here are five ways of doing this - http://www.wikihow.com/Take-a-Screenshot-in-Mac-OS-X

Some seem to involve some form of digital contortions with the keyboard.

[Richard Barrett]

Command-shift-4 is pretty easy!

[Dave2002]

Command-shift-4 is pretty easy!

If you use two hands, yes!

Crossing hands exercise ....

Gets worse going to Clipboards

... Command-Ctrl-Shift 3 or 4.

[Richard Barrett]

If you use two hands, yes!

I'm lucky enough to have two hands so it's ok, but actually (checks to be sure) normally I use the right hand, with thumb on command, index on shift, and ring on 4.

[Dave2002]

I'm lucky enough to have two hands so it's ok, but actually (checks to be sure) normally I use the right hand, with thumb on command, index on shift, and ring on 4.

Are you left handed?

Do you have a keyboard with a number pad?

I don't think the finger exercises work with the large keyboards with the numbers on the number pad.
Trying to use the right hand on my MBP the way you've described won't work, I think.

Using the right hand side - now there's a thought. But I'd still need to use my LH to pick up the 3 or the 4..

Alternatively I'd use the LH on the LHS, with my RH index finger to pick up the 3 or the 4.

If I wanted to use the mouse or trackpad as well that could be a pain. Might be better to see if there's a way to re-assign the keys - it might be possible.

BTW - I also have two hands, but I don't think they can stretch the way yours might!

[Richard Barrett]

Do you have a keyboard with a number pad?

Yes but the 4 is also on the row of numbers above the letters. Or am I missing something?

[Dave2002]

Yes but the 4 is also on the row of numbers above the letters. Or am I missing something?

No - you're not missing that.
I can only get the screen shots to work with the numbers above the letters. The number pad doesn't seem to do anything, which is quite often the case.

I just don't see how you can use the hand/finger combination you mentioned - it's even more contorted than I'd imagined.
Are you using the LH side of the keyboard for that? I could only do that combination with my right hand if I bend my forefinger and perhaps use my knuckle!
In that case I might even prefer to use my little finger on the 3 or 4.

**Using two hands seems easier.

PS: Now returned to laptop.
I can just do the +3 combination if I cross my RH over to the LH side of the keyboard, though then I have to move my LH out of the way.

Re the +4 combination using the little finger is easier with the right hand and then I'd have to use the track pad to select the screen area.

Using the RH in that way, I do have to twist my wrist round quite a bit.

See ** above!

[french frank]

I use two hands: LH - Index on Shift, thumb on CMD, and RH - Index on 4 (figures above the letters, not the key pad, which I don't use at all)

That's on the iMac, but I do exactly the same on the MacBook. I think.

Key 3 instead of 4 to take an instant grab of the entire screen.

[jayne lee wilson]

Always the Grab app for me - quick and easy.

[french frank]

Always the Grab app for me - quick and easy.

How does it work?

[Anastasius]

But the Grab app doesn't capture pop-ups (see the other thread).

But since I usually end up annotating screen grabs, Preview does the biz for me.

[french frank]

How does it work?

I've now used it. It seems fussy: Open (from dock), choose Selection (or whatever), select portion of screen, choose various options to Save. And, as Anastasius says, no pop ups - for which Shift + CMD + 3 couldn't be easier. Then you can open and crop the bit you want.

[jayne lee wilson]

How does it work?

Applications > Utilities > Grab... from the menu bar choose "Capture" and then choose from Selection, Window, Screen and Timed Screen... and try them out....

Just seen above replies... violins, kleenex etc., but holding several keys down at once is tricky if you lack much sensation in your right hand... texting went out the window years ago, except as a hilariously typo-rich slo-mo display of dysfunction....

[Dave2002]

The +4 configuration also can be used to crop the required image to size without even bothering to save the whole screen first. Very slightly trickier with a track pad, but here's one I did a few million microseconds earlier -



In practice one might still want/need to reduce the size of the captured image further, as you can see.

The +4 does also capture the pop-ups..

Surely with an expression like that he should have a bubble saying "Ay, Ay Captain!"