How to extract a Still Frame from a Video Clip in Photos 6 in Big Sur

by: léonie

Last modified: Dec 4, 2020 6:05 AM

12 3216 Last modified Dec 4, 2020 6:05 AM

You may have noticed, that the editing tools for videos have been vastly improved in Photos 6 after the Big Sur upgrade. We can now use the full Edit dialog for videos as well - straighten the video, crop it, add adjustments. However, the very useful gears icon in the video controls, with the command to save a still frame, is gone now.

There are two options to save a still frame:

Save the current keyframe as the still frame (this may have a lesser resolution then the video itself):
- Double click the video to open it enlarged. Click "Edit".
- Use the video controls to find the frame you want and click "Make poster frame".
- Click "Done".
- Select the thumbnail of the video, use ⌘C to copy it and paste it into a Finder window. You will now have a new JPEG saved to the Finder.
Use Quicktime Player as an external editor. This way you can save a still frame in the same resolution as the video.
- Select the thumbnail of the video in Photos and use the command "Image > Edit with > QuickTime Player.
- When QuickTime Player opens, use the video controls to find the frame you want to save.
- Use the command "Edit > Copy" or the keyboard shortcut ⌘C to copy the frame you want to save to the clipboard.
- Now open Preview and use the command "File > New from Clipboard" to save the copied frame as a new image in Preview. This will open a new image with the name "Untitled"
- In Preview use the command "File > Export" to save the "untitled" document as an image file in a high quality.

Import the new still image to Photos, if you want to save it there.