Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

macOS screenshot tricks to impress your co-workers

sal.dev

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 332 posts

Re: macOS screenshot tricks to impress your co-workers

#192

Post by Smoosh »

lawgimenez wrote: post #174
Hammershaft wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Mac OS has the most inaccessible hidden hotkey shortcuts out of every OS I've used. Even essential functions like showing hidden files in a directory is uniquely done through an hidden shortcut in Mac OS.

There should be a compilation of every hidden tricks and shortcuts.

Perhaps this will help: https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201236

Of course, this can only cover Apple's own software and 3rd party software which adheres to Apple conventions.

Re: macOS screenshot tricks to impress your co-workers

#193

Post by Smoosh »

jagged-chisel wrote: post #164
susam wrote: post #45

Here is a key sequence I use very often. It takes a screenshot of a chosen window without the window's shadow. - First, type command + shift + 4 (the mouse pointer turns into crosshair). - Then type the space bar (the crosshair turns into a camera icon). - Hover the mouse pointer (a camera icon now), to highlight the chosen window. - Finally, hold the option key and click. This sounds like a lot of steps but it becom…

What does the option key do in this case? I'm familiar with all the other steps, but the option key's purpose eludes me.

It captures the window without the drop shadow.

Re: macOS screenshot tricks to impress your co-workers

#194

Post by zeroimpl »

jagged-chisel wrote: post #164
susam wrote: post #45

Here is a key sequence I use very often. It takes a screenshot of a chosen window without the window's shadow. - First, type command + shift + 4 (the mouse pointer turns into crosshair). - Then type the space bar (the crosshair turns into a camera icon). - Hover the mouse pointer (a camera icon now), to highlight the chosen window. - Finally, hold the option key and click. This sounds like a lot of steps but it becom…

What does the option key do in this case? I'm familiar with all the other steps, but the option key's purpose eludes me.

Apparently it hides the shadows when you screenshot an individual window. Neat trick, although I think I'm going to apply the trick from the article, since I don't think I ever actually want the shadows.

Re: macOS screenshot tricks to impress your co-workers

#195

Post by pxc »

jacobsenscott wrote: post #139
nsonha wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

people love to talk about how many useful features MacOS has and how user-friendly it is but too many are buried behind a keyboard shortcut with no other way to access. And no "read the manual" isn't it. From certain scale the manual should be out of the window and UI should accomodate for people to learn while using it.

I've been using computers too long to be able to "see" them through the eyes of a new user. But being user-friendly doesn't mean making every single feature user friendly or discoverable through visual manipulation. It means making the most common tasks user friendly and discoverable. The vast majority of users can be productive on macos without ever using a single keyboard shortcut. I think macos does this better th…

> being user-friendly doesn't mean making every single feature user friendly or discoverable through [using the software]

Why not?

> The vast majority of users can be productive on macos without ever using a single keyboard shortcut.

If you're not using keyboard shortcuts you definitely do not have flow. Again, why should the standard be so minimal ('can eventually complete a task') and not involve efficiency, fluidity, joy, mastery, etc.?

It's not hard to do better when you leverage searches that simultaneously expose functionality and alternative ways to invoke it (e.g., keybinds, menu paths, app names, etc.). The example that blew my mind is Emacs with a nice fuzzy filtering search like you get pre-configured with Spacemacs or Doom, but macOS also has two great examples built in: Spotlight and the global app menu search.

Re: macOS screenshot tricks to impress your co-workers

#199

Post by pxc »

itstomkent wrote: post #173
jagged-chisel wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) Are you going to share the shortcut? 2) macOS does the clipboard thing (helluva chord): shift + ctrl + cmd + 4

Win+shift+S brings up the screenshot tool, then you can just box around whatever you want and it auto-throws that into the annotation tool. You are also able to paste either the pre-annotated screenshot or the post annotated screenshot from the clipboard into other apps without any fiddling about. No need to change default behavior for this extremely common use case. If you are doing it over video, it conveniently fr…

The default is the same on Plasma. By default it's bound to the PrintScreen key, and I think to at least one alternative binding.

Re: macOS screenshot tricks to impress your co-workers

#200

Post by [deleted] »

gkop wrote: post #124
dylan604 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is entering the name in advance as you're requesting really any less cumbersome than renaming a generically named file after the fact? In your request, you must provide a file name every time. In the current method, you can just take the snap and not waste time with the filename unless you really just need/want to do it for reasons.

I didn't say in advance. After the fact is likely best, but in a seamless flow that doesn't require using Finder, the terminal, or any other tool. Indeed Gnome solves after the fact, allowing you to just accept the default generated filename, or specify your own, with zero friction. As others in the thread mention, once you've taken the screenshot, it helpfully dumps you in "the editor" (is this Preview.app? I don't…

[deleted]
Post reply on HN