Cali,
Contrary to your answer on GB #305, you *can* change the default location (and format) for Mac screen captures. Here’s how:

To change the default location for screen captures so they get saved in a specific location instead of cluttering the desktop, you need to use the defaults command in the Terminal to change the path. It can be done like this:
1. Create the folder in which you want the screen captures to be saved in the location of your choice.

2. Open a Terminal window and type this:
3. defaults write com.apple.screencapture location /Full/Path/To/Folder
4. Log out and log back in, and the change will have taken effect.
Note: You have to put in the path properly. Using ~ to indicate your home folder will not work. The path must be entered starting from the root of the hard drive. For example, if you wanted to save them to a secondary partition, your path would start with /Volumes/SecondPartition/.

To change the format, type the following in terminal:
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type pdf
or you can substitute pdf for png, jpg, tif, jpeg, or tiff
Again, you’ll need to log out and log back in for this to take effect.
Cheers,
Rhet

Hi Cali,

Actually, Shift-Command-4 isn’t a shortcut for Grab. This screenshot feature is built into Mac OS X itself. Grab offers some additional features, such as the ability to do timed screenshots and the ability to capture the mouse pointer in the shot. That’s why someone might use it, but for basic screenshots, the built-in capability (triggered by the Shift-Command-3 and -4 hotkeys) is usually sufficient.

Dave

When you discussed InstantShot, you said it “opens on your task bar.” DId you mean the menu bar? The task bar is a Windows thing, I believe. I’ve never heard of it for the Mac.

Cali is the best girl in the world :)