Switch to Mac: Print Screen Tip
As a long-time Windows user, I’d frequently use the Print Screen key to capture screen shots to insert into emails or Word docs. Hey, there’s no Print Screen key on the Mac keyboard! With a little help from “The Unofficial Apple Weblog” I learned that the Mac has improved on the concept. Here’s how…Press Command + Shift + 4 and a little cross-hair icon will appear on the screen. Move it to one corner of the area that should be captured. Hold down the mouse button and stretch across the entire area to be captured. Release the button and a PNG of that area will be dropped on the desktop named Picture 1 (or 2, etc.). Drag and drop this into your document. Pretty cool. In Windows, I could use Print Screen to capture the entire screen or Ctrl-Print Screen to capture the active dialog box. Anything more required a special program like Snag-It. As mentioned, it appears the file format is PNG though the article referenced above (from 2005) says PDF. I’m using Leopard so that could make a difference.
You can also use the “Grab” feature…..Click it, then click capture…..drag the crosshair to specify the area, then let go and you have a picture. That’s in case someone might forget the method you mention.