Learn How to Use a Snipping Tool for Mac Devices

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Snipping tools have become one of the most convenient functions on modern day electronic devices. Taking quick snapshots of your screen display is such a common occurrence in our daily digital lives that we often don’t give them much thought. We’re here to tell you that there is a way for Apple fans to augment their snapshot abilities by using a snipping tool for Mac.

Actually, there already is a snipping tool for Mac that is built-in to the system itself. While it is a great tool, there are many ways that you can modify it and turn it into a full-fledged snapshot system. Whether your mandate is editing, creating gifs, or any number of other customization features, you’re going to want to know more about these snipping tools and their extra features.

How to Access the Basic Snipping Tool for Mac

If you want to instantly bring up the snipping tool on Mac then simply press Up/Command/5. This little shortcut will summon a sub-menu in the bottom portion of your screen which will give you several options to select. This command shortcut is exclusive to more recent Mac devices with the newest OS or firmware updates.

This sub-menu features the following options: capture the entire screen, capture the selected window, capture the selected portion area, record the entire screen and record the selected portion area.

Windows users might remember using the dedicated “Print Screen” button, that copies the screenshot to the clipboard. Editing it in the proprietary Paint program was necessary to trim it down to whatever you wanted. Now, there are plenty of third-party options out there for Windows, and Mac also has them.

People who have experience with the snipping tools for Windows will notice right away the similarities and differences. The snipping tool for Mac comes with the benefit of having video recording, which is something that the default Windows tool does not possess.

While this default snipping tool certainly has some sold fundamental features, there is no reason to stop there. Many more advanced functions can be added onto the snipping tool for Mac by just taking a quick look at some third party apps that can augment the snipping tool.

Third Party Applications for the Snipping Tool for Mac

There are a ton of options for third-party apps, but here are some tried and true options that you can try out that we recommend.

CleanShot

When it comes to apps that can enhance your snipping tool the first one we will recommend is CleanShot. CleanShot allows you to, as its name implies, take screenshots of your monitor without any of the icons or user interface features getting in the way. CleanShot allows you to show off nothing but your wall paper, clipboard or whatever interesting scene you’ve found online.

CleanShot is also pretty easy to use. Its user interface is quite intuitive and allows you to easily capture your screen with custom hotkeys and other various preferences in its Settings menu.

Another third party snipping tool for Mac we have to suggest to you is Dropshare. This is a great choice for anyone who wishes to share their screen shots with other people. Not only does Dropshare give you some specific functions like capturing and editing specific sections it has the option to automatically save your results so that they can be uploaded to the Cloud.

It also provides a URL for you which you can send to people that will directly take them to your edited creations. You’ll be able to easily sync up Dropshare with a variety of cloud-based services such as Google Drive, Dropbox and more. This is super useful if you want to pass on charts and things of that nature to work groups, or share materials for school projects.

Now here’s where things get really advanced. If you are truly serious about taking your snipping tools to the next level of manual control and editing, you need to install the Capto app.

Capto App

It is loaded with an impressive tool set that gives you full control over the specific areas that you want to capture. We’re talking about the ability to draw specific shapes over any region of the screen that you wish. If there is a free form area that you want to capture only, then Capto will allow you to do just that.

All you need to do is select the “Freehand” option and you’ll be able to specifically select any region of just about any size and shape you want. Then you will be allowed to edit it however you wish, and even add things like captions to it.

Concluding Thoughts

While we have just discussed the default snipping tool options for Mac and a couple of great third party add-ons, that isn’t all. There are dozens of great snipping tools for Mac out there.

We can only cover so many in just one article but we absolutely encourage anyone with a passion for video or picture editing to go out there and experiment with as many snipping tools for Mac as you can.

Most snipping tools for Mac are loaded with potential for both novices and professionals. With so many different functions out there to make your screen sharing, screen capturing or screen recording easier, you would be doing yourself a huge favor by exploring all of these options and figuring out for yourself first-hand which ones work best for you.

Thank you for reading and we hope you now have both a greater understanding and a greater appreciation of snipping tools for Mac.