music
OSdata.com: programming text book 

OSdata.com

screencapture

summary

    This subchapter looks at screencaptures, a Mac OS X-only command.

    screencapture creates an image of the screen or a portion of the screen.

free book on UNIX/Linux System Administration

Teach Yourself UNIX/Linux System Administration and Shell Programming

free computer programming text book project

table of contents
If you like the idea of this project,
then please donate some money.
more information on donating

Google

screencapture

    This subchapter looks at screencaptures, a Mac OS X-only command.

    screencapture creates an image of the screen or a portion of the screen.

from the graphic user interface

    The normal method for obtaining a screen capture is through the graphic user interface. Command-Shift-3 takes a screenshot of the screen and saves it as a file to the desktop under the name of “Picture 1” (or next available number if there are already screenshots saved there).

    If you have multiple monitors connected, each monitor is saved as a separate picture, named “Picture 1”, “Picture 1(2)”, “Picture 1(3)”, etc.

    With Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) the default name changes to “Screen shot YYYY-MM-DD at HH.MM.SS XM”, where YYY=year, MM=month, DD=day, HH=hour, MM=minute, SS=second, and XM = either AM or PM.

    The basic screen capture options:

    In Mac OS X 5 (Leopard) or more recent, the following keys can be held down when selecting an area (with either Command-Shift-4 or Command-Control-Shift-4):

    Different versions of Mac OS X have different default file formats for saving the screenshot:

changing defaults

    The following methods use Terminal to change the default file format and location where the screenshot is saved from the graphic user interface.

    In Mac S X 10.4 (Tiger) or more recent, the default screencapture format can be changed in Terminal by using the defaults command. In Mac S X 10.4 (Tiger), the new default does not take effect until you logout and log back in (from the entire computer, not just from Terminal — a full restart will also work) unless you also use the killall command.

    $ defaults write com.apple.screencapture type ImageFormat
    $ killall SystemUIServer

    The ImageFormat can be png (Portable Network Graphic), pdf (Portable Document Format), tiff (Tagged Image File Format), jpg or jpeg (Joint Photographic Experts Group), pict (Macintosh QuickDraw Picture), bmp (Microsoft Windows Bitmap), gif (Graphics Interchange Format), psd (Adobe Photoshop Document), sgi (Silicon Graphics File Format), or tga (Truevision Targe File Format).

    JPGs are saved at quality 60%.

    To change the default location where the screenshot file is saved (the default is Desktop), use the following Terminal command (where PathName is the full path to a directory.

    $ defaults write com.apple.screencapture location PathName
    $ killall SystemUIServer

    The normal default location would be reset with the following command (where UserName is the current account’s user name.

    $ defaults write com.apple.screencapture location /Users/UserName/Desktop
    $ killall SystemUIServer

command line screenshots

    You can also take screenshots from Terminal.

    I needed a screenshot of the CONTROL-TAB selection of a program, but in the graphic user interface, I couldn't simultaneously run Command-Tab and Command-Shift-4, so I used the following command in Terminal to set a 10 second delay and save the screenshot selection:

    $ screencapture -T 10 -t png controltab.png

    You can add this command to your Mac OS X scripts.

    The format is screencapture options filenames. List more than one file name if you have more than one monitor. You can use the options in any combination.

    You can use the filename to change the file name from the normal default and to set a relative path to a directory/folder of your choice.

    $ screencapture [-icMPmwsWxSCUt] [files]

    The basic use, which takes an immediate screenshot in the default format and stores it with the designated filename (in this case “Picture1”) in the user’s home directory (not the desktop).

    $ screencapture Picture1

    Force the screenshot to go to the clipboard (the equivalent of the Command-Shift-Control- choices).

    $ screencapture -c [files]

    Capture the cursor as well as the screen. This applies only in non-interactive modes (such as a script).

    $ screencapture -C [files]

    Display errors to the user graphically.

    $ screencapture -d [files]

    Capture the screenshot interactively by either selection or window (the equivalent of Command-Shift-4). Use the CONTROL key to cause the screenshot to go to the clipboard. Use the SPACE key to toggle between mouse selection and window selection modes. Use the ESCAPE key to cancel the interactive screen shot.

    $ screencapture -i [file]

    Use the -m option to only capture the main monitor. This does not work if the -i option is also set.

    $ screencapture -m [file]

    Send the screenshot to a new Mail message.

    $ screencapture -M [files]

    Use the -o option in window capture mode to only capture the window and to not capture the shadow of the window.

    $ screencapture - o [file]

    After savng the screenshot, open the screen capture output in Preview.

    $ screencapture -P [files]

    Use -s to only allow mouse selection mode.

    $ screencapture -s [files]

    Use -w to only allow window selection mode.

    $ screencapture -w [file]

    Use -W to start interaction in the window selection mode.

    $ screencapture -W [file]

    Use the -S option in window capture mode to capture the screen rather than the window.

    $ screencapture -S [files]

    Set the format with the -t option. The Format can be png (Portable Network Graphic), pdf (Portable Document Format), tiff (Tagged Image File Format), jpg or jpeg (Joint Photographic Experts Group), pict (Macintosh QuickDraw Picture), bmp (Microsoft Windows Bitmap), gif (Graphics Interchange Format), psd (Adobe Photoshop Document), sgi (Silicon Graphics File Format), or tga (Truevision Targe File Format)

    $ screencapture -tFormat [files]

    Set a delay time in seconds. The default is five seconds.

    $ screencapture -TSeconds [files]

    Prevent the playing of sounds (no camera click sound).

    $ screencapture -x [files]


comments, suggestions, corrections, criticisms

please contact us

your name:
email address:
phone number:
message:

free music player coding example

    Coding example: I am making heavily documented and explained open source code for a method to play music for free — almost any song, no subscription fees, no download costs, no advertisements, all completely legal. This is done by building a front-end to YouTube (which checks the copyright permissions for you).

    View music player in action: www.musicinpublic.com/.

    Create your own copy from the original source code/ (presented for learning programming).


return to table of contents
free downloadable college text book
free downloadable system administrator and shell programming book

view text book
HTML file

Because I no longer have the computer and software to make PDFs, the book is available as an HTML file, which you can convert into a PDF.

previous page next page
previous page next page

free book on UNIX/Linux System Administration

Teach Yourself UNIX/Linux System Administration and Shell Programming

free computer programming text book project

Building a free downloadable text book on computer programming for university, college, community college, and high school classes in computer programming.

If you like the idea of this project,
then please donate some money.

send donations to:
Milo
PO Box 1361
Tustin, California 92781

Supporting the entire project:

    If you have a business or organization that can support the entire cost of this project, please contact Pr Ntr Kmt (my church)

more information on donating

Some or all of the material on this web page appears in the
free downloadable college text book on computer programming.


Google


Made with Macintosh

    This web site handcrafted on Macintosh computers using Tom Bender’s Tex-Edit Plus and served using FreeBSD .

Viewable With Any Browser


    †UNIX used as a generic term unless specifically used as a trademark (such as in the phrase “UNIX certified”). UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Ltd.

    Names and logos of various OSs are trademarks of their respective owners.

    Copyright © 2012 Milo

    Created: August 24, 2012

    Last Updated: August 24, 2012


return to table of contents
free downloadable college text book
free downloadable system administrator and shell programming book

previous page next page
previous page next page