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Macbook OSX: Change the default image type of your screenshots from PNG to JPEG, GIF or PDF

CloudScale AI SEO - Article Summary
  • 1.
    What it is
    This article explains how to change the default file format of macOS screenshots from PNG to other formats like JPEG, GIF, or PDF using Terminal commands.
  • 2.
    Why it matters
    PNG screenshots don't display properly in some applications like WhatsApp, and other formats may be more suitable for different use cases or file size requirements.
  • 3.
    Key takeaway
    You can customize your Mac's screenshot format by running simple Terminal commands to better suit your workflow and app compatibility needs.

There are a few things that I tweak when I get a new Macbook, one of which is the screenshot format (mainly because it doesnt natively render in Whatsapp). So I thought I would share the code snippet that you can run in Terminal to alter the default image type of your screenshots:

For JPEG use:

$ defaults write com.apple.screencapture type JPG

For GIF use:

$ defaults write com.apple.screencapture type GIF

For PDF use:

$ defaults write com.apple.screencapture type PDF

For PNG use:

$ defaults write com.apple.screencapture type PNG