How to remove the grey space on either side of a screenshot in Monterey?

[macarthurdent]

This seems to be new to Monterey because I didn't experience it in Catalina or Mojave. I want to take two screenshots on my MacBook Pro 2017, place them side by side with no space between them and then screenshot that combined image. But each screenshot has a grey space/panel on either side of it and I can't find a way to remove it. So when I place my two screenshots side by side there is a double grey space between them plus a grey space on either side of the combined image. Hopefully someone knows a workaround but why does it happen in the first place? It's very annoying!

 

[jcscol]

If you hold the 'Option' key down when you click to take the screenshot (when the camera icon has appeared), it should take it without the drop shadow.

 

[macarthurdent]

Thanks jcscol but I'm not sure what you mean. I use 'Shift-Command-4' to screenshot a selected part of the screen and there's no camera icon with that process -just the crosshairs and grey selected area. That results in a screenshot of the selected area with drop shadow. Even when I hold the 'Option' key down when I click. If I do the whole screen using 'shift-command-3' then 'Option' key I still get the drop shadow.

 

[jcscol]

Use the new screenshot app with 'shift-command-5'. That enables you to select part of the screen / window / whole screen as required.

If you select an area of the screen to record, it shouldn't give you a drop shadow.

If you select a window or full screen to capture, it will give a drop shadow by default. Holding down the 'option' key when taking it will stop the drop shadow forming.

If you need to use the 'shift-command-4' option, you could try the following commands in the Terminal:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow true
killall SystemUIServer

This doesn't seem to work anymore for 'shift-command-5' method

 

[joevt]

When you press command-shift-4 , press the space-bar to switch between window capture and rectangle capture modes.

 

[MajorFubar]

If you don't have photoshop you could always merge them in an online editor like Pixlr

 

[Ruggy]

It isn't really a grey space either side of it that's the background of the window it's displayed in on Preview.
Resize the window so it's the same size as the image then put them side by side
You can also try View>zoom to fit and that might make a difference.

Otherwise, if you really have a problem on an image like that, import them into Photos >edit>crop

 

[macarthurdent]

It isn't really a grey space either side of it that's the background of the window it's displayed in on Preview.
Resize the window so it's the same size as the image then put them side by side
You can also try View>zoom to fit and that might make a difference.

Otherwise, if you really have a problem on an image like that, import them into Photos >edit>crop

 

[macarthurdent]

"But if for some reason you do try the same process without hitting the space bar to switch to window capture mode. Still use the Option key."
I imported the image into Photos>edit>crop. The resulting image also had a drop shadow so that didn't work.

 

[halledise]

shift command 4 works for me just fine

 

[Ruggy]

I've been trying to find where this problem is coming from.
I use screenshots a lot and I don't have a drop shadow so I must have switched it off somewhere but I can't see how.
I always use the app though. If you go into 'applications' you can open the screenshot app there and I keep that in the dock. You have more options with the app like where to save.
I don't know if that's it but it may be a general setting for panes, or images or for finder.

 

[Aggedor]

Pretty sure this is Preview putting in its own drop shadow.

If you take the screenshots and paste them into something else, like a Word doc, or a PowerPoint slide, or similar, you'll see they are just pure, unshadowed, unbordered images. Maybe put your screenshots together in a Word doc (or Pages?) and then screenshot that to get what you want.

 

[MajorFubar]

I did suggest a few posts up he try merge them in Pixlr. He would be able to crop and merge as desired. But it got ignored.

 

[macarthurdent]

I did suggest a few posts up he try merge them in Pixlr. He would be able to crop and merge as desired. But it got ignored.

Sorry majorFubar that your post was ignored. The merging is not the problem -it's the taking a screenshot of a selected area without getting the drop shadow that is the problem. There will be workarounds using other Apps but I'm hoping to find a fix for the problem without using other Apps. Because I take a lot of screenshots and it would be a nightmare to have to use another App for each screenshot with a drop shadow.

 

[macarthurdent]

Pretty sure this is Preview putting in its own drop shadow.

If you take the screenshots and paste them into something else, like a Word doc, or a PowerPoint slide, or similar, you'll see they are just pure, unshadowed, unbordered images. Maybe put your screenshots together in a Word doc (or Pages?) and then screenshot that to get what you want.

Yes, I've tried that, Aggedor. But after I've pasted the screenshots into a Word doc I screenshot the resulting image and get a drop shadow on it. I need to be able to create an image using a screenshot that doesn't have a drop shadow. The merging isn't the problem -that's easy to do in Word.

 

[fisherking]

i get no drop shadows on screenshots.

are you sure you're talking about a drop shadow, and not just the preview background? try changing the preview app background color to white, then at least (in word, for example), you won't have a grey border.

just a thought!

 

[macarthurdent]

If you hold the 'Option' key down when you click to take the screenshot (when the camera icon has appeared), it should take it without the drop shadow.

When you wrote this, jcscol, I couldn't get it to work because I don't see the camera icon when I do Command + Option + 5. But I've just done it fine by holding the Option key down when I choose "capture the selected portion" on the toolbar that pops up with Command + Option + 5. So the problem is solved and no third-party apps required. Thanks for your help!

 

[macarthurdent]

i get no drop shadows on screenshots.

are you sure you're talking about a drop shadow, and not just the preview background? try changing the preview app background color to white, then at least (in word, for example), you won't have a grey border.

just a thought!

Thanks fisherking -I'll check that out.

 

[macarthurdent]

Thanks fisherking -I'll check that out.

fisherking I would like to try that in Preview but I can't find where to change the app background colour. Could you please help?

 

[fisherking]

fisherking I would like to try that in Preview but I can't find where to change the app background colour. Could you please help?

open preview, open preferences; first thing there: 'window background'. click the color box, the pick a color...

 

[halledise]

shift command 4 works for me just fine
View attachment 1967286

command. shift. 4. draw an outline and boomshanka