How To Edit Screenshots On Mac - Guiding Tech

Quick Tips

• Though third-party screenshot apps offer more features, the Preview app packs enough punch to tackle your needs.
• To screenshot the entire screen, use the Cmd + Shift + 3 keyboard shortcut.
• If you want to capture a portion of the screen, use the Cmd + Shift + 4 keyboard shortcut.

Capture Screenshots on Mac

Just like Windows, macOS comes with a built-in screenshot-capturing tool that you can summon with keyboard shortcuts. While you might be capturing screenshots, read on to know how to crop, resize, or even annotate them.

Step 1: To screenshot the entire screen, use the Cmd + Shift + 3 keyboard shortcut. If you want to capture a portion of the screen, use the Cmd + Shift + 4 keyboard shortcut.

You will notice that your cursor has changed into a crosshair. Drag it on the part you want to capture.

Step 2: To screenshot an app window, use the Cmd + Shift + 4 keyboard shortcut. Then, tap the space bar to turn your cursor into a camera icon and highlight the app window.

Step 3: Hit Enter or tap anywhere on the trackpad to capture the screenshot.

Step 4: To summon the screenshot capture tool, press the Cmd + Shift + 5 keyboard shortcut. This launches the screenshot interface, which lets you capture the entire screen or a part of it with a visual interface.

Crop and Delete Parts of Your Screenshots

Before sharing a screenshot, sometimes you might want to crop it to remove unnecessary content or delete a portion of the screenshot to hide personal information. Here’s how to do it.

Step 1: Double-click on the screenshot to open it in Preview, and click on the Markup tool at the top-right corner.

Step 2: To crop or delete a portion of the screenshot, click on the selection tool. Then, choose the shape of the selection tool, which is rectangular by default.

Step 3: Hold and drag the cursor to select the screenshot area you want to crop or delete.

Step 4: Hit the Cmd + K keyboard shortcut to keep the cropped area and delete the rest.

Step 5: To delete a selected area, use the keyboard shortcut Cmd + Delete or click on the Edit menu and select Delete.

Markup Your Screenshots Using Shapes

If you want to draw the viewer’s attention to specific areas of screenshots, use shapes. In Preview, you can access arrows, squares, circles, and many more shapes.

Step 1: Open the screenshot in the Preview app and click on the Markup tool.

Step 2: Click on the Shapes tool to see the list of shapes you can use. Let’s choose a square for now.

Step 3: The Border Color tool will let you add a color to the shape’s border.

Step 4: Click on the Shape Style tool to change the shape’s look and width.

Step 5: You can click and drag the blue dots on the shape to resize it. Click and drag anywhere else on the shape to reposition it.

Add Text Blocks to Screenshots

If you want to add your thoughts before sharing a screenshot, use a text block to add text to your screenshots.

Step 1: Open the screenshot in Preview and enable the Markup tool.

Step 2: Click on the Text tool to add a text box.

Step 3: Click on the Text Style tool to change the fonts, font size, and color of the text box.

Step 4: Click inside the text box and write what you want.

Step 5: Like with shapes, click and drag the blue dots to resize. Then, click and drag elsewhere to reposition the text box.

Draw and Sketch on Screenshots

Use these tools to mark up your screenshots.

Step 1: Double-click on the screenshot to open it in the Preview app and click on the Markup tool.

Step 2: Click on the Sketch tool to sketch any part of the screenshot.

Step 3: You can change the sketch’s color with the Border Color tool.

Step 4: Similarly, click on the drawing tool to draw on your screenshots.

The main difference between the draw and sketch tools is that the sketching tool automatically recognizes a standard shape and converts the sketches into it.

Resize Screenshots

Once you have marked up your screenshots, it’s time to share it. But, depending on the file size, you might want to consider resizing the screenshots before sharing.

Step 1: Like before, open the screenshot in the Preview app and click on the Markup tool.

Step 2: Click on the Resize tool.

Step 3: You can change the screenshot dimensions and resize it per your needs.

Tip: Learn more about cropping a screenshot on Mac.

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