What is the best snipping tool I can use on my mac?

For users looking for a command-line alternative to a snipping tool on mac, macOS includes the built-in screencapture utility. It can save screenshots directly from Terminal and is also useful when screenshot commands need to be included in scripts.

1. Select the content you want to capture

• To capture the entire screen
• open Terminal and run:

screencapture screenshot.png

• The screenshot will be saved in the current terminal directory with the filename screenshot.png.

2. Only specific areas

• Use interactive selection mode:

screencapture -i screenshot.png

• After executing this command, select the desired area or use the interactive controls to select the content you want to capture.

3. You need to select a window.

• Run:

screencapture -w screenshot.png

• This will launch an interactive window screenshot workflow, allowing you to select the window you want to save.

Unlike using graphical snipping tool on mac, this method allows you to call macOS screenshot functionality directly from the command line. This is particularly useful for repeatable workflows and scripts, although editing or annotation tasks must be handled separately.