We all take screenshots on our iPhones. Maybe you want to share an Instagram post outside of the app; maybe you want to keep the receipts in the dispute you have; maybe you accidentally took a screenshot for the millionth time. Whatever the reason, screenshots are second nature to most iPhone users. But there are more screenshots than you might think. Let’s take a look at how screenshots work on your iPhone, including some hidden tips and tricks that I find particularly useful.
How to Take a Screenshot on iPhone
You probably know how to take a screenshot on your iPhone, but, just in case, let’s start with the basics: all you have to do to take a screenshot is press the buttons at the same time. increase in volume and lateral. (If your iPhone still has a home button, press and release the power button and home button simultaneously to take a screenshot.)
You can also configure your device to take a screenshot by various means using the options in the Accessibility menu; for example, go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap and you canpower socket screenshot via tapping the back of your phone two or three times in quick succession. (Warning: Jthis will likely exponentially increase your accidental screenshot rate until you get used to it.)
All the things you can do with it screenshot thumbnails
In the past, when you took a screenshot on iOS, you’d only see a flash (and, if your sound was on, hear that iconic camera shutter). If you wanted to see your screenshot, you had to dive into the Photos app. From iOS 11however, asscreenshot preview has appeared in the lower left corner of the screen with each image you capture. Far from a mere acornwhat you typed, this popup adds a lot of functionality to screenshot process.
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The thumbnail previews stay around five seconds before automatically disappears. If you can’t wait that long, you can sweep them away immediately. However, if you press the preview, you’ll expand it in the screenshot editor (more on that later).
These are the basics surrounding thumbnail previews, but there’s more to it than meets the eye here. If you take another screenshot while the thumbnail is still present, the new screenshot will stack on top of the previous one. You can continue like this as many times as you want; previews will continue to stack until you stop taking screenshots while this five-second interval elapses (or you sweep them away).
Whether you have one screenshot in the stack or 20, here’s another tip: if you hold down the thumbnail previews, you can drag them across your screen. You can ddrop them anywhere you can usually add an image, like in a text field, a note, or in an image downloader. If you need to open another app, keep one finger (thumb works fine) on the preview image and use a second finger to swipe, scroll, and tap to find the program you need. (I often do this for drag them into iMessage conversations.) Note that wWhen using preview in this waythe screenshot will not saved in your Photos app, which can help you maintain the size of your Photo library under control.
But wait, there’s more: If you long-press the thumbnail and then release, you skip the editor screen and go straight to the share sheet, which lets you send the screenshot wherever you want. However, if you’ve never used the share feature on a screenshot, you might not know: you can rename the screenshot whatever you want here, rather than worrying about the name by default long and boring that Apple always assigns. Tap “Rename,” plug in the name you want, then tap “Submit.”
Screenshot editor is good, actually
So you pressed the screenshot preview, and now you are in the editor. Here you can transform the screenshot as you see fit. VShang it up by dragging one of the corners or sides of the screenshot; if you regret a crop, you can either drag the corners in the opposite direction to restore the image or use the Undo button at the top of the screen to fix it. If you long press the undo button, you can choose to undo all the changes you have made so far.
Remember: you can zoom in on the screenshot by pinching, the same way you would zoom in on a photo.
At the bottom of the screen, you will see different tools that you use to annotate the screenshot. From left to right, you have the pen, the highlighter, the marker, the eraser (to erase your annotations), theasso (to blur all annotations and move them freely), a ruler (which acts as a digital ruler), and a color picker (with virtually every color option in the visible light spectrum).
But we are not done. Tap the (+) on the right side of these tools to see even After tools, including “Description”, which allows you to edit the description of the image; “Text”, which adds a text box to the screenshot; “Signature”, which allows you to add your signature to the screenshot; “Opacity”, which allows you to add a white filter to the image; and “Loupe”, which adds a magnifying circle to part of the image. At the bottom of this submenu, you will find four different shapes that you can add to the screenshot, including a square, a circle, a dialog box, and an arrow.
Markup is on by default when opening the screenshot editor, but you can turn it off by tapping the marker icon at the top of the screen. When you do, you’ll see the Live Text button in the lower right corner, which lets you copy screenshot text, translate text or perform instant conversions. To the right of the markup icon is a trash can, which allows you to delete the screenshot currently on screen, and the share icon, which displays the same share sheet we discussed earlier.
If you tap “Done” on the top left, you’ll see five options (at least from iOS 16): “Save to Photos”, “Save to Files”, “Save to Quick Note”, “Copy and Delete” and “Delete Screenshot”. This penultimate option is a game-changer, as it allows you to copy the screenshot for use elsewhere without saving it to your photo library.. If you prefer not to drag and drop the screenshot, this option is for you.
Tapping “Done” isn’t the only way to exit the editor. If you swipe up from the bottom of the screen (or press the Home button), the screenshot or screenshots will revert to their thumbnail previews.