Snagit is one of the top notch image capturing and video recording apps for Mac. Though you can use the default Screenshot app, processing of images need a quality app like Snagit. When using Snagit, you will be using certain functions like trimming the image frequently. Using keyboard shortcuts for such frequently used functions can save you lots of time.
Top 10 Keyboard Shortcuts for Snagit Mac
1. Command + Shift + O – Grab text from image
Do you know that Snagit has built-in tool for Optical Character Recognition? Yes, you can easily select the text portion on an image and grab the text with a keyboard shortcut. First, select a text on image using “Selection” tool and press “Command + Shift + O” keys. This will open a “Grab Text Results” box and show you the text content for you to copy.
2. Command + Shift + X – Trim image
Sometimes your image may have plain white or no background beyond the required portions. Simply press, “Command + Shift + X” keys to trim the image and remove the outside portion.
3. Control + Shift + T – Flatten All
Snagit allows you to create image with multiple layers. This means you can copy and paste one image on another and bring to front or back to adjust. The layering also allows to drag each element on the image like text, stamps, etc. to move independently. When you are done with the complete image, press “Control + Shift + T” to flatten all parts and make it a single image.
4. Command + Shift + Z – Save as to Select Image Quality
Quality of an image highly depends on the type of extension you choose to save. PNG is good for high quality images with transparent background. However, you can’t adjust the image size with PNG. On other hand, JPEG allows equal quality with an option to adjust the image quality thus reducing the size. When your image is ready, press “Command + Shift + Z” shortcuts keys to open “Save As” menu.
Select, “jpg” option from the “Format” dropdown on the bottom of the pop-up. Now you will see a quality slider which you can slide to reduce the quality of the image. We recommend you choosing 60% to 70% quality for the instructional images used on webpages. Since webpages need to load each image as a separate HTTP request, this size reduction will help a lot in improving the page loading speed.
5. Command + , – Preferences to Set Keyboard Shortcuts
If you don’t like any of the existing keyboard shortcuts on Snagit, you can customize it from the preferences section. Press, “Command + ,” and open Snagit preferences section. Go to “Keyboard” tab to change the hot keys for the available shortcuts.
Click on the button that shows the shortcut keys to completely remove the shortcuts or assign the previously used one. If you have messed up the setup, press “Restore Shortcuts” to reset the shortcuts to app default.
6. Hold Shift – Select Square or Circle Portion
The selection tool on the toolbar helps you to grab a portion of the image. You can then copy, move, blur or do other stuffs with the selected portion. You can hold and drag the mouse pointer to select the portion as per the selection tool properties. The problem arises when you want to select a perfect square or circle portion. First select the rectangle option and simply hold the shift key when selecting with mouse. This will help you to precisely select square portion from the image.
If you want to select a perfect circle portion then change the selection tool to ellipse from the properties.
Bonus Tip: you can choose the background fill as “Auto-Fill”. This will help to retain the background when you drag a portion of an image.
7. Command + 1 – Image Library
When you have hundreds of images processed over time, you may need to navigate to the “Library” to choose previously processed images. Pressing” Command + 1” will simply take you to the “Library” from where you can search and find your old images.
8. Command + Option + T – Toggle Recent Capture Tray
Snagit will retain some of the previously captured images in the “Capture Tray”. You can quickly select the images from the tray. However, this tray occupy considerable bottom portion of the editor. When you want to increase the editor area, press “Command + Option + T” to hide the tray. You can again press the same keys to show the tray for image selection.
If the sidebar distracts your attention, press “Command + 4” to hide or show the sidebar that shows the properties and effects.
9. Command + ] or [
When you have large number of images on the capture tray, it is difficult to find the image you are currently processing. Sometimes, you also need to capture few images in sequence and go to the next or previous image for processing.
- Press, “Command + ]” keys to highlight and select the next image.
- Similarly, press “Command + [“ keys to highlight and select the previous image.
10. Control + R – Open Favorite Quick Styles
Snagit offers hundreds of styles using different tools. For example, you can click on “Callout” button to select your favorite callout style. You can click the style in the sidebar and click on the star to add it to the favorite list. Now, press “Control + R” to open your favorite style list and choose the style. The advantage is that you can quickly collect all different styles like callout, text, arrows, stamps, etc. in a single place and use it quickly. For example, you don’t need to go to stamps and look for your favorite every time. Instead, add the stamp to favorite and use it quickly by using “Control + R” keyboard shortcuts.
Final Words
We thought above are the frequently used and most useful shortcuts when using Snagit on Mac. However, you can go to “Help > Keyboard Shortcuts” menu to find the complete list of shortcuts from the developer’s website.
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