Best Screenshot Tool for Mac is an internet tool which has immense importance in our day to day life. Screenshot is a way to screen our important data on the computer so that it can be accessed later. Learning about the best free screen capturing tool is the first step that you need to make in order to capture your favorite images and important documents. It will help you
Are you looking for the best screenshot tool for Mac? Whether you want to grab a screenshot of your entire screen, want to take a screenshot of just an active window or prefer saving the entire desktop as an image file, there are many ways of accomplishing this task. This article will explain how you can capture screenshots on a Mac computer and suggest the top tools with their pros, cons and user reviews.
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Taking a screenshot is something that almost everyone does no matter if you’re a Mac user or Windows user. Screenshots are a great way to save important information, create images for tutorials, or even show off your design skills. There are tons of screenshot tools available for both Mac and Windows computers, but only a few rise to the top as the best.
How to Snip on Mac
When you transition from a Windows PC to a Mac, one question that might have you stumped is how to take a screenshot on the Mac. The Mac keyboard doesn’t have a Print Screen button but don’t worry; there are still plenty of tricks to take a screenshot when you need one fast.
CMD + SHIFT + 3
Probably the fastest way to take a screenshot, especially when time is limited, and you are trying to capture something temporary, is to use the CMD + SHIFT + 3 method. Hold down all three keys simultaneously; you will hear a camera sound and a screenshot of your entire screen will instantly be created and copied directly to your desktop. In macOS, these keyboard shortcuts are the Mac snipping tool, similar to the one used in Windows.
After you hear the camera sound, you will see a thumbnail preview of your screenshot in the lower, right-hand corner of the screen. If you click this tiny image, it brings up the entire snipping tool for Mac, and you can edit, annotate, rotate and make other changes to the image before it saves to your desktop.
CMD + SHIFT + 4
Another convenient way to take a screenshot on the Mac with even more precision is to use CMD + SHIFT + 4. This method allows you to select an area around the portion of the screen that you need to capture. You can get very specific about exactly what you want to be copied to the desktop. To use this method, follow the steps below:
- Hold down the CMD + SHIFT + 4 keys simultaneously. You will see a tiny bullseye on the screen.
- Now use your mouse or trackpad to click the top-left corner of the area you want to select.
- Hold and drag until you draw a rectangle around the entire area you want to be selected.
- Let go of the mouse, you will hear the camera sound, and the screenshot will copy to your desktop.
Again, you will see a tiny preview of the screenshot in the lower, right-hand corner of your screen. You have a couple of seconds to click that image to open up the snipping tool and make edits. If you make a mistake, close the box, and the original will be copied to your desktop.
1. Skitch by Evernote
Skitch by Evernote isn’t much different from Apple’s Mac screenshot tool when it comes to taking screenshots. It offers the ability to take screenshots from a selected area, full screen, window, and more. There’s also camera mode that lets. You take selfies with your Mac’s camera.
Skitch’s biggest strengths are on display when it comes to post-capturing. The app is packed full of unique features, including adding arrows, lines, shapes, callouts, pixelation, and highlights to the screen. You can save documents in eight different formats and share them through Apple AirDrop, Notes, and more. And if you’re an Evernote user, you can save snaps on its servers for access across other platforms.RECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU…CLOSE
2. CleanShot X
The makers of this app promise seven apps in one, as it extends beyond screenshots and also offers screen recording, text recognition (OCR), cloud integration, and much more. CleanShot X has the added advantage of being part of the Setapp subscription plan, which gives you access to more than 230 Mac and iOS apps for $9.99/month.
3. Monosnap
Monosnap is another well-received snapshot tool for Mac. Like Skitch, its strengths lie with its editing tools, including annotation, video recording, drag & drop, a blur feature, and more.
The free Monosnap version is for non-commercial use only and comes with 2GB of free cloud storage. The two paid offers add third-party integrations, more storage, team management, and other extras. New users can try either premium version free for 30 days. Skip advert
4. Snagit by TechSmith
Workplaces often select Snagit as its preferred screen capture and recording tool since it works on Windows and Mac. The tool allows you to import images from scanners and cameras and provide the traditional screenshot tools. For Mac users, Snagit lets you capture text from an image and paste it into an editor.
Snagit integrates nicely with some of the biggest apps around, including Microsoft 365, Box, Slack, Dropbox, Gmail, and more.
The multi-functional tool is only available as a paid version, although you can use it as a free trial for a limited time.
5. LightShot
LightShot is the fastest and simplest screen capture tool for Mac on this list. It’s free and has a simple interface that makes it very easy to use. With it, you can choose to either capture the entire screen or take a screengrab of a particular area on the screen.
Captured screenshots get saved to your Mac’s local storage, and you can share them on Twitter or Facebook using the share option. Just like other snipping tools, LightShot also includes an editor—albeit a barebone one—that lets you add lines, arrows, and text to your screenshots to highlight important elements/convey your message better.
Talking about additional features, LightShot comes with a (sort of) reverse image search feature that lets you search visually similar images—as your captured screenshots—on the internet. And, you also get an option to generate a shareable link for your captured screenshot using LightShot’s printscr tool.,
LightShot is available for Mac and Windows and offers one of the easiest-to-follow interfaces around.
6. CleanShot X
CleanShot X is a powerful snapshot tool that’s a worthy replacement for the built-in macOS screenshot utility. It requires a subscription to use and offers a plethora of features that you probably wouldn’t find on other screenshot tools.
Starting with capturing screenshots itself, CleanShot X lets you grab full-screen, windowed, timed, and scrolling screen screenshots. Plus, there’s the option to choose the background type and adjust padding and shadow. If you want more control over screenshots, you also get crosshair and magnifier options, which let you capture screenshots more precisely.
Similarly, CleanShot X’s screen recording functionality also offers several capture modes and lets you control different aspects of your video recordings like the frame rate, quality, and output format, among others. And, of course, you can also bring in your webcam feed while recording the screen if need be.
When it comes to editing, CleanShot X has a pretty extensive set of tools (crop, highlight, pixelate, counter, etc.), which allow you to annotate and edit your screenshots and screen recordings to your will.
Talking about advanced features, the tool allows you to combine multiple images into one with just a few clicks, capture non-selectable text from any media using OCR, and keep a reference of the captured content by pinning the screenshot to the screen so that it’s always on top of other windows.
7. Markup Hero
Markup Hero is another screenshot and annotation tool for Mac. It’s free to use for the most part and offers an array of advanced features that you usually get to see on paid apps. With it, you can capture, edit, and share ideas with anyone, all within one app. And, if required, use its Chrome extension to capture scrolling screenshots of any tab on the go.
Annotations are immensely helpful in making your points clear. To help you with the same, Markup Hero offers you all the necessary tools such as text, arrows, lines, shapes, blurs, pens, and highlighters to use on your screenshots. Moreover, you also have the option of adjusting the colors of your annotation or flipping/rotating an image. And, of course, you can always add extra pages or crop content as needed if you need to.
Lastly, stepping things up a notch, Markup Hero brings integration support for most of the popular tools out there. So you can integrate it with your Google Drive (or other Google tools like Docs, Sheets, etc.) and annotate them on it without having to jump back and forth between apps/browser tabs.
Besides Google’s app suite, you can also integrate Markup Hero to Slack: for quick annotation access inside channels or your own web app using the annotation API: to offer markup and annotation features.
8. ScreenToLayers
ScreenToLayers is a screenshot utility for Mac that’s a bit different from some of the other screenshot apps on this list. The idea behind it is to let you capture screenshots in the PSD format, where each element is a separate layer, so you can edit them in Photoshop with greater control.
Similarly, ScreenToLayers also offers a menu bar icon, which lets you perform most operations quickly and efficiently. As for screenshotting capabilities, the tool lets you capture the entire screen, a particular area/element, and even delay the capturing of screenshots. Moreover, there are also options to enable shadow and framing for better presentation.
Moving onto post-processing, ScreenToLayers works with all major editing platforms, including Pixelmator, GIMP, Photoshop, and Acorn. So you can easily import them to any one of these and edit your screenshots more effectively.
9. Shottr
Shottr is a relatively new screenshot app for Mac designed to cater to the needs of creative professionals. It’s lightweight, fast, and relies on a bunch of hotkeys to simplify screen capturing.
With Shottr, you can take full-screen screenshots and capture a predefined area, just like most screenshot utilities. In addition, you can also take scrolling screenshots, delayed screenshots, and capture the active window, which can come in handy at times. And, when required, use its powerful editing tool to edit your screenshots right inside the app.
Besides, Shottr also includes a built-in OCR functionality, which lets you copy text from images. It gives you the freedom to set your capture hotkeys, choose screenshot background, set capture format, among others, which enable you to customize its various settings to your liking.
Honorable Mentions
1. Xnip
Xnip is a handy and minimal screenshot tool for Mac that lets you capture the screen in different modes: full-screen, windowed, multi-app, and scrolling. It has a neat menu bar icon that makes accessing different app operations easy and offers quick access. Plus, you also get the ability to pin images as an always-on-top floating window on your screen.
2. Airsketch
Airsketch offers one of the fastest screenshot capture experiences on Mac. It has a simple interface and a menu bar icon. Both of which make taking screenshots quick and easy. Aside from that, Airsketch also offers various annotation options and the ability to share them with others over different mediums. You may need a premium subscription to access some of the app’s features.
3. Screenie
Screenie is a screenshot manager for Mac with a tonne of features. With it, not only can you take screenshots but also manage your captured screenshots with ease. Similarly, you can also choose where to save screenshots, preview screenshots right from the menu bar, and search text inside captured screenshots using OCR.
Taking Screenshots on Mac Simplified
With the screen capture apps on this list, you can take screenshots or screen recordings of your Mac’s screen with greater control and accuracy than the native screenshot tool. Similarly, you can also annotate and edit your captured screengrabs in a much better way on these tools and get your idea across more clearly.
While there are several other screenshot tools for Mac that can take screenshots and screen recordings, we feel the ones on this list do the job pretty well and should, therefore, suffice your requirements.
Conclusion
Have you ever captured a screenshot on Mac OS X and wished you could have done something to it before sharing or saving it? Maybe you’ve wanted to annotate and highlight something of interest in the screenshot. Maybe you’ve wanted to add lines, arrows and shapes. Maybe you’ve wanted to blur something that was unexpected captured in the screenshot. There are indeed many things that I wish I could do with my screenshots — things that would help me share what I saw easier and faster.
Taking a screenshot has never been easier than it is today. Why? Because there are tons of free tools available on the internet which help you to effortlessly manage different tasks. However, these tools are rendered useless if they are not easy to use. And that’s what we’ve covered in this article. The best free Mac screenshot tool is an immensely powerful application that allows you to edit, save and upload your screenshots without any hassle. The best part about taking a screenshot with this tool is that it can be done using just one click! The tool saves your screenshots directly in the HDD so you can freely tweak them as per your requirements. There’s no need for any external software to do the job for you.