In Mac OSX there are two built-in ways of taking screenshots, the first being keyboard commands and the second being an application/utility called Grab. Today we will look at the keyboard shortcuts.

If you are venturing to the Mac from the Windows world you probably noticed the lack of the “Print Screen” key on the keyboard. In Windows to take screenshots you would hit the Print Screen key to grab the entire window or Alt+Print Screen to grab just the active window. Mac OSX doesn’t have that feature but has many more built in which offer a wider array of options.

Command+Shift+3 will take a picture of the entire screen and put the output directly onto your desktop. If you hold the Control key down before hitting the 3 the screenshot will be stored to your Clipboard.

Command+Shift+4 will turn your cursor into a crosshairs icon which will allow you to make a selection, whatever is inside the grey box becomes your screenshot (seen in the picture below). If you hold the Control key down while making your selection the file will go onto the Clipboard instead of the desktop.

Command+Shift+4 then Spacebar will turn your cursor into a camera which then allows you to take a screenshot of the current screen and place the results on your desktop. Holding down the Control key while doing this will put the screenshot onto the Clipboard instead of the desktop for use elsewhere.

I use these commands while creating the screenshots for I’m A Mac, I also use Grab for some of the more advanced screenshots and this will be discussed in the next article.

A definite must have application for any owner of a Mac is AppZapper. In my previous post Installing DMG Files I mentioned that installing applications on the Mac is as simple as dragging the application into the Application folder, unfortunately uninstalling an application isn’t as easy. Enter AppZapper:

Not only does AppZapper have one of the coolest looking icons it’s also one solid little program. Most installations on a Mac will not only put files into your Application folder but also store preferences, support files and other types of files that you would have to dig around to find to completely remove the program (programs do this on Windows as well and their uninstalls also do not remove the program completely). With the use of AppZapper all you do is drag your application icon onto the AppZapper drop window (seen below) and the program does the rest.

From the AppZapper web site: “Drag one or more unwanted apps onto AppZapper and watch as it finds all the extra files and lets you delete them with a single click. A slick safety system remembers which apps you want to keep safe, and the log tracks all the files you’ve zapped. In one Zap you’ll understand it. In two you’ll fall in love.”

AppZapper allows you to try the program with five free zaps (I’ve currently used two). If you like the program it costs $12.95 US to buy. For those power users out there who like to install and try new applications all the time AppZapper is the perfect tool for helping to rid of all the extra files when you realize you no longer need some of your applications.

One of the first things I did on my new Mac was go online and download Firefox as it is my browser of choice. The download process was the usual download to your computer but the file had a DMG extension, something I wasn’t familiar with. Being from the Windows world I equated this with an EXE extension and clicked the file assuming the installation would begin. I assumed it was a general installation as an EULA appeared and I accepted then saw the following screen:

I clicked on the Firefox logo assuming this would launch the program and that this window was just showing me Firefox in a folder. I proceeded to use the program believing it was installed and removed the DMG file that was downloaded as I thought it was no longer needed (such as Windows install files). However the next time I went to use Firefox it wouldn’t load, the problem was I didn’t install it.

The DMG file actually “mounts” an image of the program onto your Desktop which looks like this:

If you click on this image it will open the same window as you saw above. What that window is showing you is to move the Firefox icon on the left into your Applications folder — you accomplish this by simply dragging the icon into your folder. You will then see the program start installing. After the installation is complete you are free to move both the DMG file and the Firefox drive image icon into the trash. When you drag the drive image to the trash the trash icon will switch to an eject button and this will be discussed in a later post.

Most programs downloaded from the Internet will have this DMG extension and will feature an install window which varies by program. Some are more intuitive on what you should do and some are a little more abstract such as the Firefox one. For example, below is the install window for Adobe Lightroom Beta 4.

As you can see, this install shows the movement of Lightroom into the Applications folder with a bolder arrow. However if you didn’t know that you actually had to drag the icon into the folder you still might make the same mistake I did when I first tried installing my first downloads on the new Mac.

Installation of programs is as simple as dragging the icon into the Applications folder, no further steps are needed. It really is that easy.

In Windows you’re used to the Start menu, anything you need to do you go to the start menu. In Mac OSX there is no start menu there is however a Dock. I don’t want to confuse by saying the Dock is the same as Windows’ Start Menu but if you get used to the Dock you’ll forget all about your old reliability on the Start Menu.

Pictured above is the current Dock on my system. I still haven’t fully customized it but I have removed programs I haven’t used and added programs I frequently use. The Dock is used as a launch pad for your programs. Any icon you click in the dock will open that program up, if you see a black triangle under the icon it means that program is currently running. For example, the icon for Firefox has a triangle under it as Firefox is currently running. If you open another program which isn’t in the Dock by default its icon will appear in the dock with a triangle underneath it.

Hovering over an icon and holding down the mouse button will open up an options window. The options window will vary depending on the icon selected (seen in the picture is the menu for the Firefox program icon). From here you have different options which are self explanatory. The top option “Remove From Dock” would say “Keep In Dock” if the program doesn’t currently have its icon in the dock by default.

The Dock has its own main menu which is accessible by clicking the Apple icon in the top left of the screen. From this menu you are able to position your Dock as well as set if you want your Dock visible at all times or only when you hover over the area where your Dock is positioned. Feel free to experiment with the options available in this menu to find a customization that works best for you. My Dock is very minimal in customization with the only feature I have turned on being hiding.

Spending a few minutes getting acquainted with the Dock will help you start to master your Mac.

Welcome to I’m A Mac.com.

This blog has actually been about two months in the making. I ordered my very first Mac, a 17-inch MacBook Pro and had the idea of documenting my transition from a PC user to a Mac user. The new I’m A Mac ads were coming out around the same time and I thought I’d play off those ads with buying the domain name ImNotAPC.com, it was available but I waited and decided to check www.imamac.com and to my surprise it was also available. Without thinking any more I bought the domain and put my plan into slow action.

I became busy with other side projects so the site was put on hold. I also slowed my exploration with the Mac until the site was up so I could properly document the learning curves that I would face and hopefully be able to help out other users. There are already a number of tips that I have picked up which are different in the Mac world compared to that in the Windows world and I’ll be providing those with the first couple of posts on this site.
I hope that I’m A Mac.com can become another resource for the people who are thinking of making the switch to Mac, who have just recently made the switch and also for the long time Mac users. I’m relying on long time Mac users to become involved with the site and help out by posting some guest editorials giving their own tips that they have picked up along the way.

Feel free to contact me with any site suggestions you may have or for anything else you’d like to say. Also feel free to comment, let me know you are out there and let me know if the tips were helpful or if you found alternate solutions or ways to go about everyday tasks.