News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

Ask HN: Has anyone else found themselves using more screenshots?

I've been screenshotting a lot lately. It's really useful for sharing context. More often because getting ahold of an image is just three more steps than I want to take.

Today I wanted to download an image attachment in gmail on iOS, but it wasn't possible so I just took a screenshot and went on with my day. It's also the fastest way to copy an image after its been pasted in a google doc. Google is pretty aggressive about not letting people copy photos.

But I've also been using screen shots in weird ways. For instance, if I want an image to be smaller, I open the image, zoom out then screen shot. It's faster than opening a dialog and typing numbers.

I often screenshot text because copy/paste might lead to formatting issues and I'd really rather not.

It's gotten to the point where I often don't even think to right click an image anymore. So many sites do weird stuff, it's just faster to snip the screen.

Is anyone else falling into these habits? It seems funny to me.

( 13 comments | 8 points | on HN )
Re:Ask HN: Has anyone else found themselves using more scree... by f0e4c2f7 on Monday January 15, 2024 @07:34PM (#39007938)
Seems like there is an opportunity here for a workflow involving clipboard management and GPT-4V or another vision model.
Re:Ask HN: Has anyone else found themselves using more scree... by frantzmiccoli on Monday January 15, 2024 @07:04PM (#39007743)
Same thing here. Another reason is that, often, when I share something I don't know if people have access to the content (paywal / authwall), with a screenshot I know they do. Moreover the experience of the receiver is better anyway: no extra loading, no ads, no bloated interface.
Re:Ask HN: Has anyone else found themselves using more scree... by LibrarySeph on Monday January 15, 2024 @07:09PM (#39007773)
Funny how much goes into these very specific arrangements of pixels, just to become a low-res photo.
Re:Ask HN: Has anyone else found themselves using more scree... by defrost on Monday January 15, 2024 @07:18PM (#39007832)
Totally not guerilla marketing then?

The matched pair of meconium accounts seems like a tell.

Re:Ask HN: Has anyone else found themselves using more scree... by LibrarySeph on Tuesday January 16, 2024 @02:14PM (#39017575)
I was kind of upset when someone popped in to advertise something. I have no clue why anyone would pay for a screenshot tool, they're built into every modern OS.
Re:Ask HN: Has anyone else found themselves using more scree... by dgunay on Monday January 15, 2024 @07:19PM (#39007836)
Yeah I do that pretty frequently. Screenshot to crop things out, or resize, or even just not spend so damn long tapping through mobile sharing interfaces.
Re:Ask HN: Has anyone else found themselves using more scree... by zackerydev on Monday January 15, 2024 @07:08PM (#39007769)
Absolutely - Especially because Screenshot software has come a _long_ way

CleanShotX[1] is one of - if not _the_ best - piece of software I've ever payed for. It does one thing, and does it extremely well.

1. https://cleanshot.com/

Re:Ask HN: Has anyone else found themselves using more scree... by LibrarySeph on Tuesday January 16, 2024 @02:15PM (#39017604)
Be gone! Your software sucks and you should feel bad for shilling it.
Re:Ask HN: Has anyone else found themselves using more scree... by gaws on Tuesday January 16, 2024 @06:04PM (#39020431)
> best - piece of software I've ever payed for.

You know there's screenshot software that's better and free?

Re:Ask HN: Has anyone else found themselves using more scree... by nateb2022 on Monday January 15, 2024 @07:02PM (#39007728)
I find myself doing the same thing a lot on mobile
Re:Ask HN: Has anyone else found themselves using more scree... by LibrarySeph on Monday January 15, 2024 @07:10PM (#39007782)
Mobile phones are a weirdly un-file-centric way of interacting with a computer. It always feels like I'm breaking the rules when I try to download, open, or move a file.
Re:Ask HN: Has anyone else found themselves using more scree... by walterbell on Monday January 15, 2024 @07:33PM (#39007926)
iOS will auto-OCR text in screenshots for search and copy/paste.
Re:Ask HN: Has anyone else found themselves using more scree... by MonaroVXR on Monday January 15, 2024 @09:33PM (#39008727)
And for Android users the stock photo app on Samsung does the same?

And we had https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-screenshotgo-ca...