In one way, Windows users have it easy: to copy a picture of their computer screen to the clipboard, all they have to do is press the Print Screen key. Mac users have to press the arcane combination Command+Shift+Control+3. Three years ago, O'Reilly's MacDevCenter discussed that technique and more in Screenshot Hacks for Mac OS X. It's an easy-to-follow tutorial, which I'll summarize below.

Since 2003, though, new developments have made capturing the Mac screen easier and more flexible. In this article, I'll look at several free programs that will pump up any screenshooter's utility belt. I'll also share a hack I developed for capturing OS X windows with custom shadows.

Table 1 shows the built-in Mac screenshot commands discussed in the "Hacks" article. The main change since then, introduced with OS 10.4 (Tiger), is that the default screenshot file format is now PNG instead of PDF. (To change the default, you can run a utility like Bruce Phillips' free Screenshot Settings.) Another Tiger change is that it's now possible to capture screenshots of individual desktop icons—complete with their titles—and Dashboard widgets (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. To take screenshots of widgets or desktop icons, use the same technique as for capturing windows: press Command+Shift+4 and then the Space bar. The cursor will turn into a camera icon. Then hover the camera over the item you want to capture and click the mouse. Oddly, this method captures a widget's shadow as well.

One handy trick to know about when using the dragging methods (Command+Shift+4) is how the cursor crosshairs work. To delineate an exact pixel region, the cursor crosshairs should overlap the top and left edges of the area you want to capture, but extend one pixel below and to the right of it (see Figure 2). This technique works with the selection crosshairs in other applications as well.

Get With the Program

Figure 2. When dragging out an area to make a selection, move the crosshairs one pixel farther to the bottom and right than the area you want to capture. (The image on the right is magnified 200% to show the cursor positioning.)

There are some limitations to the key commands in Table 1, such as the inability to capture cursors. For that, you can fire up Apple's Grab utility, which is explained more fully in Screenshot Hacks for Mac OS X. There are several third-party programs that offer even more features, though. As mentioned in that article, the king of all Mac screenshot utilities is Ambrosia Software's Snapz Pro—and since that article came out, Snapz Pro has gained even more features. I used it intensively for years under System 7, but never got around to ponying up the $29 for the OS X version. Instead I've been using a variety of freeware and donationware programs. I'll cover my favorites here. (See Table 2 for download links.)

One of the slickest third-party screenshot utilities is Steven Chaitoff's Screenshot Plus, which is actually a Dashboard widget (see Figure 3). In the initial window, you choose what to capture: the full screen, a selection, a window or icon, or another widget. After you take the snap, Screenshot Plus expands to show you a preview, which you can save in a variety of file formats.

Figure 3. Two views of the Screenshot Plus widget—before (top) and after (bottom) grabs. The "after" window lets you save a screenshot to the desktop or a pre-designated folder, or even export it to Photoshop.

The utility I use the most is Yellow Mug's SnapNDrag (Figure 4), which has the unique ability to offload images directly to other programs or folders without creating intermediary files. Add-on utilities let you make custom frames or crop your shots.

One challenge when taking screenshots is sweeping away the clutter that can build up on your desktop, such as icons and other windows. Left in the frame, they end up looking as ugly as telephone wires in a portrait. For instant cleanups, I keep Katsura Shareware's Screenshot Helper a keystroke away. This brilliant utility blanks the screen with a single color or the image of your choice so you can focus on the item at hand.

Another tricky situation is taking shots of long web pages that don't fit on the screen. Instead of taking multiple shots and pasting them together, I use Paparazzi!, a straightforward program that transforms almost any URL you paste into it to a screenshot. The latest version can even save the web page as a PDF with resizable text. Of course, you can also try to print the page and save the print as a PDF, but Paparazzi! is quicker and more flexible.

Figure 4. With SnapNDrag, you simply drag the screenshot preview where you want to use the image, be that a folder or another program. You don't have to monkey with saving intermediate files.