How to Crop a Screenshot on Mac

Do you want to crop a screenshot on Mac? It’s super easy! In this article, you’ll learn all the ways to crop out unnecessary parts of your image easily and quickly.

Most of these ways require only the apps that you already have on your Mac computer. They're right at your fingertips and completely free!

With their help, you’ll be able to instantly crop a screenshot you've just taken. Also, they are ideal for a simple kind of cropping when you just need to get rid of the edges of your image.

There’s another option in a form of free online image cropping services. What’s good about them is that they are dedicated solely to cropping JPG, PNG, GIF and other types of images. Therefore, they tend to offer a wide functionality and options. For instance, an image cropping service can process multiple images at once and have built-in templates with various aspect ratios and pixel dimensions.

Let's take a closer look at each of these methods.

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Take a Screenshot on Mac Using Keyboard Shortcuts

But first! Let’s see how to take a screenshot; in case you are new to Mac and don’t know how to do it.

The easiest way is to use the following keyboard shortcuts:

  • Shift + Cmd + 3 – to take a screenshot of the entire screen
  • Shift + Cmd + 4 - to select a specific part of the screen and take a screenshot
  • Shift + Cmd + 4 + Space bar – to take a screenshot of a window or menu only

Please, note! Once a screenshot is taken, its thumbnail will appear in the lower right corner of the screen for a few seconds. If you click on it, you will immediately go to the editing window, where you can crop your screenshot. If you weren’t quick enough and the thumbnail disappeared, don’t worry. All the screenshots are saved to your desktop and you can access the editing window from there.

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How to Crop a Screenshot on Mac

Now it’s time to move on to cropping your screenshot. There are several ways to do this. They are all quite simple and similar to each other. The main differences are the number of steps that you need to take; how the cropping area is created; how the cropped version is saved.

How to Crop a Screenshot on Mac Using Cropping Tool

To crop a screenshot using the cropping tool, follow these steps:

  1. Click on the thumbnail of your screenshot and go to the editing window.
  2. Click on the “Show the markup toolbar” icon. It sits in the top right corner and looks like a pen. how to crop screenshot on mac
  3. Select the "Crop" icon in the menu. how to screenshot on mac and crop
  4. Move the borders of the cropping area to adjust it. crop screenshot on mac
  5. Press “Done” when you are happy with the cropping.

The cropped image will be saved to your desktop to the same place where your original is. In other words, you will have both the cropped version and the original.

How to Crop a Screenshot on Mac Using Preview

To open the Preview, double-click on the necessary screenshot in the Finder. A cross will appear on the image, and you will have the ability to select the area you need.

how to take a screenshot on mac and crop

With the Cropping tool, the borders of the cropping area appear right away. However, with the Preview, you need to create the cropping area yourself with the help of your cursor. This task might be easier if you use a touchpad instead of a mouse.

Select the necessary part of the screenshot. Then, in the menu at the top, go to Tools > Crop. Alternatively, you can use the Cmd + K shortcut.

how to screenshot and crop on mac

Once you do this, the original image will be replaced with the cropped one. In other words, the original will not be saved.

This is different from the first method where the cropped screenshot is saved alongside its original.

How to Crop a Screenshot on Mac Using Photos App

First you need to open the Photos app. By default, it is located in the Pictures folder in Finder.

After launching the Photos app, follow these steps:

  1. Go to File > Import, select your screenshot and upload it to the app. how to crop and screenshot on mac
  2. Open the image in the full screen mode by double-clicking on it, then choose Edit in the top right corner. how to take screenshot on mac and crop
  3. Click on the Crop button in the menu in the center, then adjust the cropping area the way you want. how to screenshot on mac and crop
  4. Click on “Done”, once you are ready.

Please be aware that the cropped screenshot will replace the original in the Photos app.

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

Aside from built-in editing apps, you can also make use of free, online, image cropping services that are available on all operating systems. For example, you can crop your screenshots with Watermarkly photo cropper.

how to crop screenshot on mac

The interface is very uncomplicated and user-friendly. Cropping doesn’t take much time or effort. It is enough to upload your screenshot into the app, adjust the cropping area the way you need and click on “Crop Images”. Your image will be processed within mere seconds.

What are its main advantages compared to the built-in apps?

  1. Crop several images on Mac at a time. You won’t need to upload and crop each image separately. What’s more, you can select all screenshots in a folder, then drag and drop them straight into the app. Watermarkly allows you to crop up to 2000 images at once. If you have to crop screenshots quite often and in large quantities, this app will definitely be of great use to you.
  2. Different shapes for cropping. With this app, you can crop your images into a circle, rectangular or square. This will surely provide you with more creative freedom.
  3. Ready-made templates with aspect ratios and pixel dimensions. Watermarkly will be incredibly useful if you want to get rid of the edges of your screenshot and save the cropped version with a specific aspect ratio or pixel dimensions. To achieve this, you can choose one of the ready-made templates in the app. Moreover, if you can’t find the template that you need, you can enter your own pixel dimensions or aspect ratio. It is possible to change the size of your screenshot before cropping it, as well.
  4. Your originals won’t get replaced. Watermarkly never overwrites the original files. Instead, it saves the processed images to the Downloads folder.
  5. Crop one image in different ways. To do this, you need to upload your screenshot and click on “Add Crop”. This will duplicate your image, and you’ll be able to adjust the cropping area differently on the duplicated version. Thus, you’ll crop one screenshot in different ways in one go.
  6. Available on any device. Since Watermarkly works online, it can be used on any device and any operating system. The interface and the entire process of cropping are the same – no matter if you use a computer, laptop, phone or tablet.

Does this app have any disadvantages?

Watermarkly allows you to crop your screenshots for free. However, the company’s logo will be added to the processed images at the bottom. You can remove it only by purchasing the paid version of the app.

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Summary

All these methods are quite simple and easy to master. Try each of them and choose the one that is the best for you. Your choice will probably depend on how often you need crop screenshots on Mac and how high your requirements for cropping are.

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