# Printing selections with a mac **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 16, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printing-selections-with-a-mac/284958 "2005-01-16T02:05:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zahava424](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/76d3ee/32.png) [@Zahava424](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zahava424)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printing-selections-with-a-mac/284958/1 "2005-01-16T02:05:05Z")
I just switched from a PC to a Mac. On the PC, I used to be able to highlight a portion of the screen and then choose the “Print Selection” option to only print what I had highlighted. The Mac seems to have only two print options: Print everything or print by page. Is there a way for me to print only a selection with my mac? Please note that all responses should be geared towards someone with a tech savvy level of zero. Thanks, everyone. Zahava424 ---
**Author:** ![Ninja\_Pizza\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f04885/32.png) [@Ninja\_Pizza\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ninja_Pizza_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printing-selections-with-a-mac/284958/2 "2005-01-16T03:26:08Z")
Looks like it depends on which program you’re in. Safari doesn’t seem to have a “print selection” option; Word does. You might look at [Print Selection Service](http://macupdate.com/info.php/id/15601). Of course, then you have to figure out Services, which I haven’t really done yet. As I understand them, they let you sort of mix & match functions between programs (spell-checking, speech, print functions, etc). [This link](http://discussions.info.apple.com/) (look in "Mac OS X and Related Software) might be useful for that. In general, I would recommend getting a copy of [Mac OS X: The Missing Manual](http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/macxmmpanther/) if you’re using Panther (1.03.x); if you’re using Jaguar (10.2.x) I’ll give you my old copy, if you want it. ---
**Author:** ![Argo84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b19c9b/32.png) [@Argo84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argo84)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printing-selections-with-a-mac/284958/3 "2005-01-16T03:30:40Z")
> [@Zahava424](#): > > I just switched from a PC to a Mac. On the PC, I used to be able to highlight a portion of the screen and then choose the “Print Selection” option to only print what I had highlighted. The Mac seems to have only two print options: Print everything or print by page. Is there a way for me to print only a selection with my mac? > > Please note that all responses should be geared towards someone with a tech savvy level of zero. > > Thanks, everyone. > Zahava424 You’ll want to use the “grab” application. This application enables you to take screen shots of all or part of the screen you’re viewing and subsequently print them. Here’s how to get there: Open the Mac Help Center and enter the word grab. Click on the first result. It will explain how to use the grab application. Let me know if you need further explanation and congrats on getting a Mac! ---
**Author:** ![Argo84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b19c9b/32.png) [@Argo84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argo84)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printing-selections-with-a-mac/284958/4 "2005-01-16T03:34:11Z")
> [@Ninja Pizza Guy](#): > > Looks like it depends on which program you’re in. Safari doesn’t seem to have a “print selection” option; Word does. The grab function that I spoke about in my other post works with all other apps including Safari. It saves your screen shots as .tiff files. Its pretty useful…give it a try. ---
**Author:** ![Ninja\_Pizza\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f04885/32.png) [@Ninja\_Pizza\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ninja_Pizza_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printing-selections-with-a-mac/284958/5 "2005-01-16T03:46:04Z")
> [@Argo84](#): > > The grab function that I spoke about in my other post works with all other apps including Safari. It saves your screen shots as .tiff files. Its pretty useful…give it a try. I never thought about screen captures. Yeah, that’d work. Snapz works, too, but it’s not built in, nor is it free. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printing-selections-with-a-mac/284958/6 "2005-01-16T04:08:28Z")
Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but are you asking about making a screen capture of only part of the screen? If so, you don’t need anything extra or downloaded. Pressing Command + Shift + 4 should give you a little crosshairs-symbol for your cursor, which you click and drag to define the capture area. A whole-screen capture you can get with Command + Shift + 3. the image you’ve captured will automatically be saved somewhere on your hard drive - probably on your desktop in OSX, probably on the hard drive top-level folder itself in OS 9. ---
**Author:** ![Argo84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b19c9b/32.png) [@Argo84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argo84)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printing-selections-with-a-mac/284958/7 "2005-01-16T04:28:58Z")
> [@emilyforce](#): > > Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but are you asking about making a screen capture of only part of the screen? If so, you don’t need anything extra or downloaded. Pressing Command + Shift + 4 should give you a little crosshairs-symbol for your cursor, which you click and drag to define the capture area. A whole-screen capture you can get with Command + Shift + 3. the image you’ve captured will automatically be saved somewhere on your hard drive - probably on your desktop in OSX, probably on the hard drive top-level folder itself in OS 9. That’s interesting…the first time I tried your method it seemed to have captured a portion of the window that I specified, but I couldn’t find the resulting file. Susequent tries of comm+shift+4 actually took me to another website that I have bookmarked, [audible.com](http://audible.com). Comm+shift+3 takes me to Ebay. Go figure! ---
**Author:** ![Zahava424](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/76d3ee/32.png) [@Zahava424](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zahava424)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printing-selections-with-a-mac/284958/8 "2005-01-16T23:17:00Z")
Wow. Dopers really do know everything. Thanks so much, everyone! ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printing-selections-with-a-mac/284958/9 "2005-01-17T02:22:58Z")
> [@Ninja Pizza Guy](#): > > I never thought about screen captures. Yeah, that’d work. Snapz works, too, but it’s not built in, nor is it free. FreeSnap, on the other hand, does what Snapz does (except for the movies), does it less intrusively, and it’s free.