If you own a Mac, and you use it for work, sooner or later, you are going to need some type of a screenshot software. Don’t worry; we have you covered with these three absolutely free screenshot tools. Also worth noting, this isn’t a promotional article. I found these three tools, and I am using one of them. Also worth noting, my company hasn’t built any of these tools. We did build a screenshot API, which is for taking website screenshots and thumbnails programmatically.
Screen capture software for mac free download - Mac Screen Recorder Studio, Ondesoft Screen Capture, Apowersoft Mac Screen Recorder, and many more programs. The FireShot software allows its users to screen capture a selected section of the page, an extended screenshot of a full web page, or across the visible area of the browser window. It’s compatible with all major browsers like Firefox, Chrome, and the Internet Explorer. List of best screen capture software and screen capture tool. Screenshot software or tool which allows you to quickly capture screenshots of a selected region, window, or entire computer screen that can be saved as a graphics file. Skitch is a free screen capturing tool for Mac and Windows OS; It offers easy to use with a user-friendly. Here is a list of the best free software to screen capture MAC.There are a number of inbuilt software to help you capture screen on MAC. You can make use of different applications, like: Grab, Preview, and Screen Capture tool to take the screenshot. You can also make use of Terminal to take screenshot using commands. There are several other software as well that let you take screenshot on MAC. Best Free Screen Capture & Video Recording Software TinyTake is a free screen capture & video recording software for Microsoft Windows & Mac. With TinyTake, you can capture images and videos of your computer screen, add comments and share them with others in minutes. TinyTake is built by MangoApps and is available for free.
Now that we have full disclosure out of the way, we can get to the article itself. First I would love to talk about the screenshot capture tool I am using myself. I am using it almost on a daily basis, and I think I use pretty much all the functionalities it provides. Then I would like to review other competing software. But before we get into that, I hope that you do know that Mac offers basic screenshot capability with a simple hotkey combination?
Mac hotkey for a screenshot
If you are a Mac user and would like to take a screenshot, there are two options. Followed by two different hotkey combinations. For a complete and entire screenshot, you need to press Command-Shift-3. If you are using two or more active screens (monitors), Mac OS will screenshot all of them, and save them on your desktop. The dimension of the screenshot will be the same as the screen resolution itself. Furthermore, the screenshot will be titled with a timestamp of the exact time the screenshot was taken. For example “Screen Shot 2018-02-21 at 1.33.40 PM”.
If on the other hand, you would like to screenshot only a portion of your screen, you need to press Command-Shift-4. After you have pressed this combination, Mac OS will present you with a different cursor. With this, you need to use your mouse and do a left click to select the part of the screen you want to screenshot. You are clicking to hold, and releasing when you are satisfied with the selection. If you want to repeat the process, simply press “escape” button to cancel the screenshot and press the hotkey again.
Command-Shift-3 for entire screen – Command-Shift-4 for selected partial screenshot
One of the features during the screenshot portion selection is pixel size of the screenshot. This means you can also use this screenshot tool to measure width and height of some graphics, banners or other web properties. Now that we have this out of the way, it is time to review the 3 free screenshot tools for Mac.
3 free screenshot tools for Mac OS users
- MONOSNAP
- SKITCH (skipped)
- LIGHTSHOT SCREENSHOT
- JING
These are the screenshot tools I will be covering in this post. I personally user Monosnap. I use it because it also includes recording or as some call it screen capturing. But, as you will see LighShot Screenshot and Jing are also great! I’ve been using Monosnap for a few years now, but it doesn’t hurt to see what you are missing out. This is not a monogamous relationship; you can try other software.
Monosnap review – download here
I currently have installed version 3.4.9 on my MacOS High Sierra. The app is stable without any crashes. In 2018, it is completely free, without any ads, popups or similar adware. After you install Monosnap, after clicking on the icon you will have options to:
- Capture area
- Capture fullscreen
- Record video
- Open from clipboard
- Upload to: Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, FTP, Monosnap and many other
If you capture an area or a fullscreen Monosnap then presents you with several options. You can type text on the screenshot, leave arrows, borders, circles and what not. These come in handy when you are working with a distributed team and want to explain something. The screenshot below is a bit metaphysical. I took a screenshot of a screenshot tool while taking a screenshot… Yeah, it’s difficult to wrap your mind around that. It’s like staring at yourself in a mirror, while another mirror is behind you.
As I have already mentioned, Monosnap is a smart choice for taking recordings as well. For example this screen recording and a screenshot with notes I posted recently about Yoast SEO review and on-page SEO I used Monosnap. If you click on this link, you will see that the video and screenshot quality are of high quality. In my honest opinion, this free tool produces excellent results! P.S. There’s also a Windows option, just in case you need one.
Skitch review
From what I’ve seen online, many bloggers put Skitch in the top 5 section. I even list them below. So this was an easy pick for me to try. Although when I dug deeper I wasn’t happy to see the background of the story. Evernote bought Skitch back in 2011, enraging some users with unpopular updates, and then killing support for Windows, Android, and iOS! I find it hard to recommend a tool if I there’s a chance of shutting it down. So although I recognize Skitch (and even installed it locally for testing), I am going to skip it in this review.
Skitch is hopelessly busted on High Sierra, and Evernote is not going to fix.
Looking for recommendations for screenshot apps that can:
1) Annotate with arrows and text
2) Repeat the previous screenshot’s screen area
2) Repeat the previous screenshot’s screen area
Monosnap and Lighshot can’t do #2 ?
Thanks!
— Rob Jones (@sugarfreejones) January 11, 2018
You can read about Skitch on links below. They all list and review Skitch as one of the top free screenshot tools for Mac:
Lighshot Screenshot review – download here
Lightshot is installed via Apple’s App Store and is completely free. It is very lightweight, fast and easy to operate. You can take entire screenshots and selected screenshots. It allows the usual actions such as leave pointers, circles, rectangles and text. A feature that immediately stands out is the option to do a Google search. This means that you can take a screenshot, and with a single click of a button (Google icon) this image is being Googled. This is a fast track to the “search by image”. Your image is automatically uploaded and compared to entire Google’s index.
I suppose not much more can be said about LightShot. It doesn’t have the screen recording like Monosnap but it does have the option to automatically upload the image to a file sharing service (also owned by LightShot Screenshot tools). Another advantage is that you don’t have to register since some services require you to do so. And don’t forget, compared to Skitch, you don’t have some board members possibly deciding to shut it down.
Screen Capture Software For Mac Free Download
Jing review – download here
There are other tools out there like Snagit that are very interesting (also from TechSmith) but with a price tag of $50 and you had Little Snapper that was mentioned on LifeHacker but is now gone. So with some hesitance between Captur and Jing I decided to go with Jing. Back in 2007 when Jing was launched, it was described by TechCrunch as a 3 legged dog. Like that stopped me to try this service. However, I do like the fact that Jing is around more than 11 years. Let’s see what this tool can do!
From the start, I have to say I didn’t like the fact that I had to register. Another nagging thing I noticed before I even tried the software was that there was a “yellow sun peeking out from the edge of my screen.” This yellow sun is there all the time, whether I need the tool or not. Luckily I later found an option to move the “sun” to the bar. What is cool about Jing is that it also does video recordings like Monosnap. Only Monosnap doesn’t limit the video to 5 minutes (which Jing does). Also, audio quality appeared to be slightly better on Monosnap.
With Jing, you can immediately share your screenshot with the world. Like with other free screenshot tools in this review, with a click of a button, it is uploaded to a file sharing service (this time it is screencast.com – also owned by TechSmith). Now mind you, to put things into perspective, compared to LightShot Screenshot and Captur, TechSmith is a corporation founded over 30 years ago with more than 30 million customers (according to their website). You do notice this throughout the entire experience. Visiting their website, downloading the software opening the dashboard and using their interface.
Now it’s your turn
When I started writing this post, I was planning to review 3 screenshot tools, and I hope that I ended up giving you much more than that. To give you a better perspective, I told you my company created a screenshot API that’s great for JavaScript developers that want to programmatically take website screenshots or thumbnails. But from a user’s standpoint (my personal) I use Monosnap almost every day, and sometimes I even record videos. Although the two are quite similar (screenshot API for websites and screen capture software) they are two very different services.
Anyway, I hope that I covered enough for you to make a decision and use one of these tools. If you thought that this post was helpful, please share it with a fellow Mac user. Maybe they could also use a good free screenshot tool for Mac.
Taking a screenshot can prove to be quite a necessary thing, especially when you want to share something that’s on your screen right now with your friends or workmates. On top of that, screenshots can also be used as a testament of things you achieved, be it while playing a game or programming something. That is why using a screenshot taking application can save you from all the hassle by allowing you to take fast, great screenshots in a matter of seconds, without too much effort. Yes, there are numerous screenshot tools that require you to pay in order to use them, but in this article we will focus on the best screenshot software available free of charge.
Retrieved January 20, 2015. Arment, Marco (January 4, 2015). From the original on January 16, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2015. Install os x yosemite on mac. Hockenberry, Craig (January 6, 2015).
Free Screenshot Tools for Win/Mac
1. LightShot
(Windows/Mac/Browser) – LightShot is one of the best free applications when it comes to taking screenshots fast and easily. It allows you to select any area on your desktop and share the screenshots via Internet or save them to your computer. What’s more, it can also perform similar image search, and it provides a powerful editor, suitable for those times when you need to edit the images. It’s fast, reliable, and it works without problems, so it’s definitely recommended.
2. Webpage Screenshot Capture
Webpage Screenshot Capture (Online) – If you need to capture a website as JPEG or PDF, instead of trying to take a screenshot with a normal tool, then you need to use the Web Capture service. It doesn’t require a lot of effort, you just have to enter the URL of the page you need to capture, and then select the output format. These include JPEG, PDF, TIFF, BMP, PNG and others. The service also provides a preview prior to downloading the output file, so you can see the result immediately. As a personal note, the output quality is amazing, and the tool captures the whole website, which is surely great.
3. TNT Screen Capture
(Windows) TNT Screen Capture – TNT Screen Capture is amazing. While capturing a screenshot, be it fullscreen or area capture, it applies a photorealistic touch, making the whole screenshot look a lot better than the original image. This is a great choice for people that want a reliable and professional screenshot tool. Also check into the specific review of screenshots software for Windows 7 and choose the one that suits you best.
4. Sp Grab
(Windows) – Sp Grab is a screenshot taker that also integrates a powerful sharing component. This basically means that it can easily be used at the office, to share screenshots between colleagues, or at home, if you want to create screenshots and share them with friends.
5. Greenshot
(Windows) – Greenshot is a free and open source tool, which basically means that you can also access the source code as well. It allows you to capture regions, windows, fullscreen, as well as configure external commands, if needed. It can be accessed from the system tray and it worked like a charm during out test.
6. Jing
(Windows) – Jing is a product developed by TechSmith, featuring all necessary functions you need in taking screenshots. This tool gives users the privilege of sharing screen captures to others via internet. But it also lacks some premium editing options, find alternative to Jing if you need more functions.
Conclusion:
As you can see, there are numerous screenshot taking apps, and each one caters to different types of audiences. What you do need to take into account when looking for such an app is what you use it for, as well as how often do you plan on using it. On the other side, most of these free apps are lightweight, so they won’t require a lot of disk space, so go ahead and browse the list in order to find one that suits you needs. Last, as for reading extension, don’t forget to check into the computer screen capture for more feasible screenshot solutions to facilitate your works. Also, there’re more reviews of nitty screenshot tools coming up, check them below:
Computer Screen Capture Software – reviews of tools that provide the general solutions on capturing screen on your computer.
Free Screen Grab Software – are you looking for free yet efficient tools to grab the screen and result in annotated images for you? Emulator mac for pc. This article has picked up the best ones from the web.
Image Capture Software Free – another list of free screen capture software to assist users in creating snapshots for various purposes.
Mac Screenshot Tool
Free Alternative to Snagit – Snagit is an awesome screenshot tool though it’s not for free and the interface may be saturated with options. This article has reviewed free alternatives to this well-known software.