Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
For example, to change the default screenshot file format to GIF, you can type
the following:
DEFAULTS WRITE COM.APPLE.SCREENCAPTURE TYPE -STRING GIF
Then log out and back in again.
To change back to the default PNG format, open a Terminal window, and type
the following:
DEFAULTS DELETE COM.APPLE.SCREENCAPTURE TYPE
Don't forget to log out and back in again afterward.
Changing the File Save Location
You can also alter the default save location where your Mac places screenshots
it captures. By default this is the desktop, but the following command will
save them to the
DOCUMENTS
folder, for example (replace
USERNAME
with your
username, which you'll usually find listed just before the $ prompt in the
Terminal window):
DEFAULTS WRITE COM.APPLE.SCREENCAPTURE LOCATION /USERS/USERNAME/DOCUMENTS/
You'll need to log out and back in again for the change to take effect. To revert
to the standard location (that is, the desktop), open a Terminal window, and
type the following, logging out and back in again afterward:
DEFAULTS DELETE COM.APPLE.SCREENCAPTURE LOCATION
Getting Rid of the Shadow
Screenshots of program windows taken by hitting
SHIFT
+
COMMAND
+
4
followed
by
SPACE
always have a shadow effect applied to them. You can turn this off
in two ways. The first is temporary and involves simply holding down
OPTION
while taking the screenshot. The second is permanent and involves altering
a secret setting. Open a Terminal window (open Finder, select the Applications
list, and then in the list of applications double-click Terminal within the
UTILITIES
folder), and type the following:
DEFAULTS WRITE COM.APPLE.SCREENCAPTURE DISABLE-SHADOW -BOOL TRUE
Log in and out for the change to take effect.
To revert to screenshots having shadows once again, open a Terminal window
again, and type the following, logging out and back in again for the changes
to take effect:
DEFAULTS DELETE COM.APPLE.SCREENCAPTURE DISABLE-SHADOW
