I want to create two file types with the screenshot command(s), is this possible?
I know how to change the output file type via terminal: defaults write com.apple.screencapture type PNG is the default. How do I add a second file output for JPG?
Is there a proper terminal syntax for saying “and JPG?”
Also, I did create an automator service to quickly duplicate a PNG to JPG but automatically creating a second output file would be much more efficient.
I don’t think that’s possible as what you are doing in terminal is changing a file setting, not a behaviour.
May I ask, what’s the use case for always wanting two formats generates? With no context, it seems quite inefficient.
Sure! Here is my use case. I use a Chrome Extension for Instagram. That extension only accepts uploads of.JPGs. My default screenshot output is PNG and I want to keep it that way because of most other tasks. The .JPGs are only for my shirt business (i.e. that Chrome Extension). And of course, I don’t want to resort to using software like PS for such a simple thing. As I said, I did successfully create an Automator service (which I’m very proud of) for this task.
I was just looking for a way to take out a few more clicks.
Okay, let me reframe this a little if I may?
The initial workflow is one where you take a screenshot, and then have to, on occasion, change the format of the image so that you can use it with a particular web service. You have an Automator-based way of converting the file format, but you would like to streamline it further so you don’t have to manually trigger the format change. You also wan to retain your default image format.
Your proposed, ideal workflow, would always produce both image formats; but this would potentially leave you with few duplicate images over time, or at least extra deletions to carry out on a regular basis.
What if we took these as two different workflows? One where you want to take a typical screenshot, and one where you want to take one in a different format? That way you choose a different trigger for each different process.
You already have something built in Automator to convert a PNG to a JPG. Did you know Automator also has a ‘take screenshot’ action step? Did you also know that you can assign keyboard shortcuts (like the ones you use for screenshots) to Automator actions?
With this in mind, you might find these two blog posts of interest.
Thank you for your guidance and the links. Just what I needed.