Best Mac App For Snippets
Snipping Tool on Windows is a powerful built-in utility that features various screen capture modes and markup tools. On Mac, we have many applications that have the same functions and do even more (for free).
In this article, I will firstly show you how to use the default snipping tool on Mac – you can do a lot without installing an additional software.
Then, if you want a snipping tool that has more features, I will show you the list of 10 apps for capturing and marking up screenshots for your Mac.
How to use the built-in snipping tool on Mac
Before we dive into the best alternatives to snipping tool for Mac, we would want to give you a bit of a background on how to use your Mac’s default utility.
There are actually a couple of keyboard shortcuts to bring out your device’s screen capture tool. Just make sure that you have enabled your print screen key shortcuts
Publisher's Description. Snippets is an application for Mac OS X that stores the most valuable pieces of your code you can re-use in different projects many times. The main idea is to make the process of re-using as easy as possible to avoid wasting your valuable time to write the same code again. Oct 02, 2019 Preview, open, copy, or paste directly. Use keyboard shortcuts to preview your snippet, open in the main window, copy the content, or even paste straight into the active app. Jan 23, 2019 What is the best Snipping tool for Mac? Mac OS snipping tool is so baked into the operating system that it doesn’t even have a name. It just well, works, mirroring the Snipping Tool you’ve grown accustomed to on Windows almost to a T. Plus, there’s not just one snipping tool on Mac — there are dozens.
- To capture the whole screen, hit command + shift + 3.
- To capture a part of the screen, hit command + shift + 4 / To cancel hit esc
- To capture an active window, hit command + shift + 4 + space bar.
Capturing a screen or a window automatically saves your screenshot on your desktop in PNG format. You can then use the Preview app to view the images and add some basic markups.
If you wish to copy the screenshot to the clipboard instead of saving it, just press control + command + shift+ 3.
Mac App Downloads
Best Alternatives to Snipping Tool for Mac
Now it is time to get to the bottom of this article. We’ve broken down the 10 best Snipping Tools for Mac devices.
1. Skitch – Editor’s choice
Price: Free [Download]
Whether you want to use a snipping tool at home, at school, at work, or at events, as long as you are looking for a cool, fun, and attractive way to screenshot stuff, Skitch could not be a better choice. And because it is visually striking, Skitch can be a great tool to inspire you to save big ideas you find on the vast internet or share them with friends, colleagues, and family.
If you happen to be an Evernote fan, Skitch is a fancy snipping tool for Mac that you can add to your arsenal. Its selling point is the app’s ability to take a screenshot, make annotations, and save it on Evernote. However, it requires a premium Evernote account for you to take advantage of the of the PDF markup feature.
Your Skitch screenshots can be easily added to your desktop’s Photos, whiled editing Skitch images using extensions from Photos are also available. Its drag-and-drop feature also comes in handy for easy transfer and sharing of files.
2. Lightshot
Price: Free [Download]
Lightshot is a personal favorite of mine merely because it gets the job done without you shelling out a dime. Its interface looks plain and simple and works pretty straightforward, so it is the best option if you are looking for a no-frills snipping tool for Mac.
Its editing options include a pen, line, arrow, rectangle, marker, and text. In addition, Lightshot supports one-click uploading to prntscr.com, image searching, and social sharing. And of course, it has a copy and save buttons as well. Lightshot, however, does not have a free-form shape.
You can trigger Lightshot by hitting the print screen key on your keyboard. For your convenience, you can assign a hotkey for this snipping tool. On top of all these, Lightshot allows you to customize its output, including the file format of the screenshot and inclusion of the cursor in the shot.
3. Snagit
Price: $49.95 [Download]
Snagit is a premium full-featured screen capture tool developed by TechSmith Corporation, one of the industry-leading software companies based in the United States. As a premium software, Snagit provides the most advanced functionalities that you will only find in the best snipping tools for Mac.
Of course, it has all the basic functionalities of a snipping tool for Mac. That on top of its advanced image editing ability, allowing you to build custom graphics with text, highlights, arrows, and more. It also has a shortened URL in case you intend to share your screenshots and screen recordings over your social media accounts or via email.
Not only does Snagit has a screenshot function, but it also has a screencast feature that allows you to video-record your screen. Screen recording lets you capture your Mac’s full-screen desktop, a certain region on your screen, a window, or even when scrolling.
Snagit is the perfect choice for those who are in the business of creating video tutorials, training materials, and documentation. However, this best-in-class snipping tool for Mac does not come without a hefty price tag. If you are on the fence, try it free for 15 days.
4. Jing
Price: Free [Download]
Another snipping tool for Mac from TechSmith, Jing is the free screenshot tool variant of Snagit. Since it comes at no cost to you, Jing offers only the basic elements of a snipping tool in editing, like adding lines, arrows, and texts. You can either save your screenshots on your Mac or upload it to screencast.com.
Unlike Lightshot and some other free snipping tools for Mac though, Jing allows you to record your screen for 5 minutes or less, which is pretty nifty if you are going to use it for short, rough and ready video tutorials and documentation.
However, TechSmith might retire Jing soon in 2019 as it is on track to release a new, free snipping tool for Mac and other operating systems.
5. ScreenCloud
Price: Free [Download]
ScreenCloud is another simple yet unique snipping tool that is available as a desktop app and as a browser extension. Not only does it allow you to capture your screen but allows you to quickly save it on your desktop or easily share it with friends through cloud sharing websites.
ScreenCloud also captures can be shared as well on popular image sharing websites like Dropbox and Imgur. Links to your screenshot are automatically copied to your clipboard. Additionally, ScreenCloud supports the print screen key on your keyboard or any assigned hotkey for your convenience.
If you want to cut down on the amount of your local storage space, the browser extension of ScreenCloud is the best snipping tool for Mac that you can use since it does not take up so much space. However, the browser-based tool is restricted to snipping the screen only when the browser is in use.
ScreenCloud is too basic compared to the other free snipping tools for Mac. But if you are working with a team and are constantly using Safari, Chrome, Firefox, or other browsers, ScreenCloud is a great option.
6. Apowersoft
Price: Free [Download]
Apowersoft is a full-fledged snipping tool that is fairly simple and easy to use. Its intelligent window detection is especially useful for fast-paced workflow.
Apart from taking snapshots, Apowersoft comes with custom editing options, allowing you to add annotations such as arrows, rectangle, brush, and text. It also has a built-in uploaded so sharing screen captures are readily available.
The most distinct feature of Apowersoft is its screen magnifier to improve readability. This is particularly helpful if you want to enlarge small text and objects found on your screenshots. On top of that, Apowersoft has multiple screenshot outputs.
Whether you want to use a snipping tool for Mac on illustrations and tutorials, games, or documentation, Apowersoft
7. Nimbus
Price: Free [Download]
Nimbus is not the best snipping tool for Mac, but it will give your premium snipping tool for Mac a run for its money. Why? Because Nimbus has a video recording feature that is available at no cost to you.
Available as a desktop app and browser extension, Nimbus makes it easy for you to crop your screenshots and blur sensitive information without the need of a third-party image editing tool. Adding objects and freehand drawing on your screenshots are also possible.
The post-snipping functionalities such as saving, copying, printing, and sending to Google Drive are also there to make your experience more convenient. Screenshots can be saved in various formats.
Its user interface is something you will take delight in with its simplicity and practicality. You can use the print screen key on your keyboard to trigger the snipping tool, or set up a custom hotkey to be used with Nimbus.
Nimbus Pro is available if you want to increase the maximum note size (from 50 Mb to 1000 Mb), single attachment size (from 10 Mb to 1000 Mb), and monthly upload traffic (from 100 Mb to 5000 Mb). Nimbus Pro has more features you can enjoy.
Apart from MacOS, Nimbus is also available on Windows and Android and browsers Safari, Chrome, Edge, Opera, and Firefox.
8. MonoSnap
Price: Free [Download]
MonoSnap is yet another free and easy-to-use snipping app for Mac that does not only allow you to take screenshots but record your screen as well.
What makes it distinct is its amazing magnifier that allows you to crop or zoom in on your shots and still get a pixel-perfect result. Add to that the delayed or timed screenshot function.
You can either use your keyboard’s print screen key or a custom hotkey to prompt the snipping tool. Editing using details like pen, arrows, shapes, and text and blur effect is also available. You can directly launch your screenshots in your favorite third-party image editing tool.
And of course, on top of it all, the screencast function of MonoSnap to record video tutorials, documentation, training materials, and more. You can even highlight details while recording your screen.
If you are not just looking for the best alternatives to snipping tool for Mac that allows you to do screen recording, you can never go wrong with MonoSnap.
MonoSnap can be connected to Evernote, Dropbox, CloudApp, Yandex.Disk, Box.com, Google Drive. If you wish to upload your video tutorials on YouTube, MonoSnap will not disappoint. MonoSnap gives you a free cloud storage space once you sign up an account
9. Snip
Price: Free [Download]
Snip is a free snipping tool for Mac that has all the basic functionalities for your screenshot needs. Its fundamental features include the ability to screenshot active window or custom areas, zoom in and zoom out a screenshot by dragging, adding annotations like texts and shapes.
The one thing that makes Snip a different snipping tool for Mac is its ability to do draw and handwrite anything using the available brushes. For editing texts and special tags like ellipse, rectangle, and arrow, you can choose from the built-in color tab and customize their sizes. Snip also supports custom location.
Overall, Snip is a great free snipping tool for Mac that is very flexible when it comes to functionalities.
10. Tipard Screen Capture
Price: $39.00 [Download]
Just like Snagit, Tipard Screen Capture is a premium, full-fledged tool for Mac that does not only have a screenshot tool but a screencast feature as well. As a premium snipping tool for Mac, Tipard Screen Capture boasts a high-quality screenshot and screen recording output.
If you are recording tutorials and instructions, Tipard Screen Capture is guaranteed to give you a smooth and fluid flow and movements on your screen. It also supports the recording of audio files both from your Mac or a third-party microphone.
Of course, a screencast tool is not fully beneficial without support for video and audio formats. Tipard Screen Capture supports not only a variety of video and audio formats but multiple online video sites where you can directly share your recordings. Tipard Screen Capture allows you to customize screen size as well, set capture time and cursor, among other advanced functionalities.
Mar 25, 2015 To get started, you’ll first need to download Windows 10 ISO from Microsoft and get VirtualBox. The rest is just a matter of following the simple instructions, and soon you’ll have Windows running in MacOS X in no time. How to Run Windows 10 on Mac with VirtualBox for Mac OS X. Download VirtualBox from its own official page – And install on your Mac computer. Download Windows 10 ISO file from Microsoft official site. At least you should have a speed computer with enough RAM and CPU. Install VirtualBox on MacOS. I mentioned for you that in order to install Windows 10 on VirtualBox. Firstly, you need to Download. That’s because Apple doesn’t support installing High Sierra or other macOS versions without Apple computer which is Mac. Related: Download macOS Catalina VMware. How to download mac os iso. Mohamed Tarek. Nikiink instructions are correct but need some modifications setup under Windows 10 / VirtualBox 6.0 using Microsoft PowerShell. MacOS 10.15.3 Catalina Final ISO by Geekrar (7 of 7 – Google Drive) — While macOS Catalina ISO for VMware & VirtualBox is a huge one, we’ve split it into several parts. This is however compressed, zipped and encrypted that is completely safe, secure and much easy to approach. Download windows 10 iso for virtualbox for mac.
Tipard Screen Capture is best used by professionals who do video tutorials for a living or companies that need to document online team meetings. It is a cheaper option compared to Snagit.
Snippet For Mac Free
Conclusion
That is all for the best alternatives to snipping tool for Mac. We hope you learn something from this list. If you do, we would love it if you can share, or leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
Dan is a web developer, a digital nomad, and a lifelong Apple fan. At iPhonebyte, his job is to help you get the most out of your iOS and Mac devices. Read the story about him and the website here.
Screenshots have become so ubiquitous nowadays that we don’t give them too much thought anymore. Yet every day we use them to show, explain, and communicate. Whether it’s sending an image of a software bug to customer support, a quick how-to GIF to a colleague, or a heartfelt joke a loved one, screenshots help us enrich and liven up our daily communication patterns.
Naturally, for creating and editing screenshots, Windows PC has its widely respected Snipping Tool. In fact, if you’ve recently switched your PC for Mac, at some point you’re guaranteed to wonder where and what is Snipping Tool for Mac.
Rest assured, you’re not left without screenshots forever. A snipping tool for Mac does exist. Moreover, just like on Windows, it’s built right into the operating system — which is the answer to the common question of where to download snipping tool for Mac. In addition, there are plenty of third-party snipping tools out there that considerably expand on the functionality of the pre-installed option.
Mac Snipping Tools: get the full pack for free
A superb edition of best apps that take your snipping on Mac to the new level. All in one pack.
What is the best Snipping tool for Mac?
Mac OS snipping tool is so baked into the operating system that it doesn’t even have a name. It just … well, works, mirroring the Snipping Tool you’ve grown accustomed to on Windows almost to a T.
Plus, there’s not just one snipping tool on Mac — there are dozens. Below, we’ll compare the default screenshot snipping tool Mac offers to its Windows alternative, and introduce third-party tools like CleanShot, Dropshare, and Capto as well.
How to use Snipping tool on macOS
What is the shortcut key for Snipping Tool? The shortest answer to “How to snip on Mac?” is to press ⇧⌘5. The shortcut calls up a small menu in the lower part of the screen with lots of options to choose from.
This menu is new to Mac, as it first appeared in macOS Mojave in 2018. Before then, Mac users were limited to either using ⇧⌘3 to take a screenshot of the whole screen or ⇧⌘4 to select an area (these shortcuts still work the same). If you’re using one of the macOS versions before Mojave, make sure to update to the latest macOS available to make full use of the snipping tool on Mac.
So the menu for the Mac OS snipping tool features the following options:
- Capture Entire Screen,
- Capture Selected Window,
- Caption Selected Portion (area),
- Record Entire Screen,
- and Record Selected Portion (area).
Besides, there is also an Options dropdown, where you can change where to save the resulting image, set a timer, and choose whether to show the mouse pointer.
BTW, did you know that you can use Mac Snipping tool also to taking screenshots of the Touch Bar itself?
- To save a screenshot of Touch Bar as a file on your desktop press ⇧⌘6
- To copy what you see on Touch Bar to your clipboard press ⌃⇧⌘6
You can customize your keyboard shortcuts by going to System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Screen Shots.
Right away you can see how similar the functionality of a snipping tool on Mac is to its Windows counterpart. Let’s compare screenshot capabilities side by side:
- Full screen: Mac and Windows
- Single app window: Mac and Windows
- Area: Mac and Windows
- Freeform: Windows only
- Video: Mac only
- Delay: 5 or 10 seconds on Mac, 1 to 5 seconds on Windows
- Editing: full toolkit on Mac, limited on Windows
Diving into details, you might notice that the snipping tool on Mac doesn’t allow for a freeform capture. Likewise, its Windows alternative can’t record video and only offers limited annotation options. So naturally, this default screenshot grabber on Mac would be your go-to in most cases. However, if you need to be able to capture screenshots with a freehand selection or you’re just eager to use something more powerful, third-party Mac apps have a lot to offer.
Snipping tool alternatives
Download apps that allow to customize and enjoy screenshotting on Mac – better than default programs.
Snipping tool to capture your screen without distractions
While Mac’s default snipping tool can create basic screenshots, a professional utility like CleanShot seamlessly enhances its functionality. It allows you to hide all desktop icons to capture your screen with no distractions, change the wallpaper, preview screenshots before you save them, copy the resulting image or video into your clipboard, annotate images with ease, and much more.
Get Snippet App
To give yourself an example of what CleanShot is truly capable of, choose Capture Area within the app (notice how desktop icons disappear), drag your mouse to make a screenshot, and click the pen icon to edit the result before it gets saved.
To be able to always capture your screen without all the desktop icons getting in your way, set and use custom hotkeys in the Preferences menu of the CleanShot app. And if you wonder what’s the most effective way to share your screenshot with others, you need to know about one more app.
Share screenshots with others instantly
Unlike the default snipping tool on Mac, we have a tool approaches the problem of screenshots as a sharing problem first and foremost.
Dropshare is a Mac snipping tool alternative that allows you to choose between capturing a specific area, capturing and editing, and recording an area or full screen. After you done, all URLs would be saved automatically and ready to share with your team. Every time you take a screenshot, Dropshare swiftly uploads it to the cloud and gives you a short link to share with others. It’s also robust in its uploading options, offering you a choice between 10 GB of its own storage or any of the cloud providers you already use, such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Rackspace, Amazon S3, etc.
However, if you want to make 100% freehand selections or take webpage screenshots of any length, you need to combine Dropshare with another brilliant utility.
How to capture freehand region on a Mac
Compared to other tools discussed above, Capto is in a league of its own and virtually redefines how to snip on Mac. It lets you capture full screen, circle area, rectangle area, freeform area, single app window, menus, webpages, and more. Besides, it features a robust editor to help you modify the results.
To create screenshots of any type, simply choose Freehand and draw out the shape.
Similarly, the options for instantly taking seamless screenshots of long webpages are available under the Web tab, where you can choose to use a built-in browser to search for the website or open the current URL.
This feature completely eliminates the need for the old-school way of taking screenshots as long as your display allows and then somehow stitching them all together by hand.
Does Mac have a snipping tool for me?
Yes, and lots! As you can see, your Mac has a wide array of snipping tools to cover every need possible. And hopefully, by reading this far, you’ve come a long way from wondering whether “Mac has snipping tools at all” to “how to use snipping tool for Mac” to “omg, which snipping tool do I choose.”
Your choice in using a specific snipping tool should correlate to your needs. It’s probably a good idea to disregard the default Mac OS snipping tool and instead use CleanShot right away, as it features more functionality and much cleaner experience. But if communication is key, turn to Dropshare, which enables you to stay in the loop in a super-productive and visual way. And finally no screenshot functionality is too complicated for Capto, which brings all custom screenshot needs under one roof.
Best of all, you can try and download all these apps, and decide which one you like the most for free because all of them are available through Setapp, a platform for over 150 best-in-class Mac apps for any job. Taking screenshots with unique apps from Setapp will bring you the most beautiful results of the highest quality in no time. Screenshot away!