How To Save Mac Screenshot As Jpg

05-10-2021
 |  [RAND-100] - Comments

By default the screenshot you capture on Mac is in .png file format. The .png file format supports lossless data compression which means that the screenshot size is on the higher side, well thats not bad for some but for those who are uploading them to web would not prefer it. The good news is that you can change the default file format to any other file format of your choice like gif, jpg or even pdf. In this guide, I will share how you can change the default file format of screen captured on Mac.

Changing screenshot file format

  1. Answer (1 of 3): If you’re on a Mac, you can File Print it, and in the dialog that follows: Select “Open in Preview”. Then, in Preview, File Export, and then you’re allowed to export it in a variety of different formats (PDF, JPG, TIFF, PNG, etc).
  2. Using the Screenshot tool. There are different ways to bring up the macOS Screenshot tool. On every Mac, you can press the 'Shift' + 'Command' + '5' keys or launch the Screenshot tool through.
  3. I've OnyX in several Mac OS X. I've not re-set the default from.png to.jpg in my Mavericks 10.9.5 system. Too easy for only a few screenshots to change the suffix.png to.jpg. My older Mac that runs 10.5.8, I have set the default to.jpg because that's. Helpful to edit images on desktop. Also in older Mac, I use ToyViewer editor.

The default file format for macOS screenshots is.PNG, but that may wind up being more of a nuisance than you'd prefer. That's why I set my MacBook to take screenshots as JPGs, as those are better. When you take a screenshot on your Mac, you will notice that MacOS will automatically save the screenshot file as a PNG (Portable Network Graphics) format by default. While the PNG format is a lossless file format that retains the quality of the image, it tends to be larger in size than other formats such as JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group).

How To Save Mac Screenshot As Jpg

To change the default file format, you need to use the Terminal (also referred as command line) on Mac. To open terminal go to Applications ❯ Utilities ❯ Open Terminal.
To demonstrate I’m changing the default file format to jpg. To change from .png to .jpg type the following command in terminal and hit enter.

Now verify the change by taking a screenshot, press Command + Shift + 3 and that will take the screenshot of full screen and save it to the desktop in a .jpg file format.

Similarly to change in other file formats, type the following commands in terminal.

Change to .gif

Change to .pdf

You can switch between these file formats any number of times as per your requirement.

Reverting the changes

If at some point you choose to go back to .png file format then type the following command in terminal:

Need to preserve what you’re seeing on your Mac’s screen? You can do that easily by taking a screenshot. However, you may still need to cut out some parts of the screenshot to hide some sensitive information or keep only what you need.

If you’re not sure where to find the cropping tool or how to crop a screenshot on a Mac, you can try different methods including using the Preview app, third-party tools and online services.

How to Crop a Screenshot on Mac Using the Cropping Tool

Normally, when you want to take a screenshot on your Mac, you’d use hotkeys or keyboard shortcuts such as:

  • Command + Shift + 3 to capture a full screenshot
  • Command + Shift + 4 to capture a portion of your screen
  1. Once you’ve taken your screenshot, you can tap on the thumbnail that appears on the bottom right side of your screen to edit the image.
  1. Next, select the Crop tool.
  1. Drag the crop handles of the screenshot to create a selection of the area you want to keep.
  1. Select Done to save the cropped screenshot.
  1. Alternatively, you can wait for the screenshot to appear on your desktop, open it and then drag the cursor to select the area you want to keep.
  1. Next, select Tools > Crop.
  1. Select File > Save to save the screenshot.

How to Use Preview to Crop a Screenshot on Mac

You can use the Preview app for simple viewing of image files like JPG and PNG, various documents, and editing PDFs. The app has several editing and markup features, including a cropping tool.

If you’ve taken a screenshot or you received one that you can’t open in a photo editing app, you can use Preview to crop the image.

  1. Open the screenshot you want to crop in Preview and then select Show Markup Toolbar button. (On a Mac running Big Sur, it’s the button with the pencil tip icon while on other macOS versions, it’s the button with the toolbox icon).
  1. Click and drag on the screenshot to create a selection and drag the blue dots to resize it if you want.
  1. Next, select Tools > Crop to crop the screenshot.

How to Use Photos App to Crop a Screenshot on Mac

The Photos app on your Mac helps you find and organize all your photos, but it also has intuitive, built-in editing tools you can use to resize, crop, zoom, GIF, warp and even collage your photos.

Screenshot on pc
  1. Right-click the screenshot and select Open with.
  1. Next, select Photos. If you don’t see Photos among the list of apps in the context menu, select Open with > Other and find Photos from the Applications list.
  1. Your screenshot will be imported into the Photos app.
  1. Select Edit at the top right corner of the Photos app.
  1. Next, select the Crop tab.
  1. Drag the sides and crop handles of the image to crop it.
  1. If there are any changes you’d like to undo, select Revert to Original at the top left side.
  1. Select Done to save the cropped screenshot.

How to Crop a Screenshot on Mac Using Third-Party Tools

You can also use third-party tools like Skitch for Mac to crop screenshots on a Mac. For this guide, we’ll show you how to use Skitch for Mac to crop your screenshot.

Skitch is a simple app that can easily replace your Mac’s own built-in screenshot functions. You can perform basic cropping and annotate your screenshot with shapes, text, arrows and stamps.

How To Save Mac Screenshot As Jpg Files

  1. Download and install Skitch for Mac, select the arrow next to Screen Snap and then select Open an image or PDF.
  1. Select the Crop tool on the left pane, drag the crop handles of the image to crop it and select Apply.
  1. Next, select File > Export and save your screenshot in the desired location.

Other tools you can use include Snagit, which is one of the best snipping tools for Mac and Adobe Photoshop (see our full guide on how to crop in Photoshop).

How to Use Online Tools to Crop a Screenshot on Mac

If you prefer not to download a third-party app, you can use online tools like IMG2Go, Picresize, ResizeImage or Cropp.me to crop your screenshot. For this guide, we’ll show you how to crop a screenshot on a Mac using IMG2Go.

IMG2Go is a free online tool that lets you crop, edit, and convert images in several different formats securely.

  1. Go to the IMG2Go website, select Choose File to upload your screenshot from your hard drive. You can also upload the image file from cloud storage or via a URL.
  1. Select the cropping options from the top navigation.
  1. Next, select Apply to apply the changes to the preview.
  1. Select the arrow under Save as to choose the format, filename and quality you’d like to save the cropped file in.
  1. Select Save.

How To Save Screenshot As Jpg On Mac

  1. Wait for the tool to complete cropping your image and then click Download to download the converted image.

Focus on What Matters

Cropping screenshots helps you cut down to a more favorable size and focus on the details that matter. Whichever method or tool you choose, you should be able to customize your images and strengthen the key points directly.

How To Capture Screen On Mac Jpg

Do you have a favorite way of cropping your screenshots on Mac? Share it with us in the comments.