Taking screenshots on your iPhone and iPad is simple in principle. But you can do a lot more with this tool, including annotating or saving a browser screenshot as a PDF.
We’ll start with the perhaps least known but oh so handy function of the screenshot maker on your iPad or iPhone (in the examples below we use an iPad because that produces slightly more useful images). Before we can do anything with a screenshot, however, it is important to know how to take a screenshot. On an iPad or iPhone without a physical home button, you briefly press the power button and the volume up button. You then hear the well-known shutter sound of an old-fashioned camera. In the case of an iPad or iPhone with a home button, briefly press on/off and that Home button. The screenshot is now taken! A preview appears briefly in the lower left corner of the screen to confirm.
If you have taken a screenshot of a web page in Safari, it will be interesting. Tap the preview before it disappears. You will now see a larger version of the preview. Tap the button here full page at the top. You will now see a strip appear on the right with the complete auto-scrolled and captured web page in its completely original format. If you now tap the share button at the top right, you will see that this is a PDF file that you can share to, for example, your favorite PDF viewer. Or save the result in a folder.
Better not print, usually
The only downside – after all, there must be something to complain about – is that the PDF is not automatically chopped into bite-sized chunks for an A4 page. So there is a good chance that printing will result in a long strip of delicate text. Mainly intended for screen reading in a PDF viewer and archiving web pages without loss of formatting. This means that these are ‘real’ PDFs, in which you can select text and so on. So they are not glued together pictures! If you have saved a screenshot as a PDF, tap the button Ready. If you are asked what to do with the screenshot in question, you can delete it. After all, it has already been shared to an app or folder.
Notes and scribbles
The trick to capture a screenshot automatically scrolled only works in Safari and Mail for now. However, regular screenshots from other apps can also be treated with nice extras. You make them again as usual with the aforementioned keys. Tap the preview quickly before it disappears. You are now – just like in the other example above of course – in the screenshot editor. You can then quickly annotate a screenshot. Use the pen in the button bar at the bottom for this; you choose a writing color via the palette colors. You can write with your finger or a mouse, it is of course most pleasant to work with a Pencil. Erasing is also an option, while a highlighter is also available. The ‘strange’ pen with the shaded tip makes it possible to select and move a note or drawn part.
Don’t want to finger sign?
Handy tip: if you can’t draw with your finger, it’s best to tap the … button at the far right of the tools panel at the bottom of the screen. Then turn on the switch Draw with finger on and off you go. That switch is there for a reason, because if you want to get started with the Pencil, it is more convenient to turn that button off. This prevents you from accidentally drawing with a swabbing finger.
Shapes and more
By tapping the + button to the right of the color palette, you can choose from some additional tools including shapes. Make use of that, because they often look sleeker than hand-drawn copies. The arrows are also undoubtedly useful to point out parts in a screenshot! Furthermore, the magnifying glass is sometimes useful for making certain parts of a screenshot stand out; you can set the dimensions of the lens and the magnification factor via the green and blue dot on the lens. The edge is also adjustable in color and thickness as desired. Another practical option under the + button is the possibility to insert a signature. Can use the finger again, if necessary the mouse or better a Pencil. And oh yes: you can also adjust the cropping of a captured screenshot to your liking by dragging the handles (including the corner points) of the frame.
Missed preview, no drama!
The only ‘disadvantage’ that the screenshot maker has is that the preview disappears quite quickly. So you run the risk that you just miss it. An insurmountable drama? Usually not, luckily! In such a case, open the app photos, where you will find the screenshot you just made. Open the image and tap Change. Then tap the circled pin icon in the top toolbar. Then you can start adding notes, highlights, shapes and much more. The only thing that doesn’t work this way is the ability to capture a scrolling web page as a PDF. For that you really have to click on the preview as soon as it is shown.
You can also add notes and more to screenshots afterwards with this button.
Keyboard and Shortcut Keys
If you work a lot with your iPad linked to a keyboard (or even a cover with a built-in keyboard), there is also a key combination (shortcut) for taking screenshots. Press Command-Shift-3 and the screenshot will be taken. The keyboard shortcut Command-Shift-4 is ideal if you want to open a captured screenshot directly in the editor. This prevents a ‘missed opportunity’ by tapping or clicking on the preview at the bottom right of the screen just too late. Also keep in mind that when you use a mouse and keyboard, the mouse cursor is also captured in the form of a (usually) gray dot when it is displayed. If you don’t want that, then wait with moving your mouse before taking the screenshot: the dot will disappear. By the way, if the mentioned keyboard shortcuts look familiar to you, then you are probably a Mac user. The same key combinations are used there for taking screenshots. The only difference is that with one you capture the entire screen and with the other you can make a selection.
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