how to use python to capture screenshot mac m1

#!/usr/bin/env python3

# use screen capture to interactively select region of screen to
# capture, and then save that .png to the Desktop (default)

import subprocess
import sys


def main():
    try:
        subprocess.check_output(['screencapture', '-i', '-x', '-p'],
                                shell=False)
    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
        print('Python error: [%d]\n{}\n'.format(e.returncode, e.output))


if __name__ == '__main__':
    sys.exit(main())

Tested on macOS 11.2.3 with Python 3.9.2. Capture goes to the Desktop, though one can remove the '-p' argument and replace it with a file path to represent the captured image file.

The screencapture utility provides an optional -t argument that allows one to choose an alternative capture image format if the png format is unwanted.

Showing Microsoft C++ code that uses the Windows-only System.Drawing library is a far cry from Python which is what you originally requested. You might have more cross-platform success using the Python MSS package, provided you are using Python 3.5 or later. It provides for specific screen region capture. Otherwise, there is the optional Python Imaging Libraries (e.g. Pillow) that are also available for Windows and macOS.

Sure, Apple has imaging libraries that can be accessed via Objective-C, Swift, C++, and contingent on the installation of Xcode or the command-line utilities for the matching Xcode version. Using Apple's Cocoa scripting bridge, one can presently access the Cocoa frameworks from within either the Python 2.7.16 that Apple ships with Big Sur, or Python 3.9.2 after installing it and adding the optional pyobjc and pyobjc-core modules. That is tremendous pain and learning curve just for image capture, and why I used screencapture.

Apple mentioned in the Catalina release notes that it would be removing Python, Ruby, and Perl from a future release of macOS, and when they eventually do, the burden is on the developer to install their own builds of these scripting languages, with the modules necessary for the scripts to function.

And the Python code to capture an explicit area of the screen and write to a named file, or alternatively, a traditional date/time stamped screenshot file. This code captures the specific text string "Apple Support Communities Site Map" from the respective ASC Site map page.

#!/usr/bin/env python3

# use screen capture to interactively select region of screen to
# capture, and then save that .png to the Desktop (default)

# Coordinates (in Safari 14.0.3) set to capture "Apple Support Communities Site Map" from
# https://discussions.apple.com/productsitemap.jspa

import subprocess
import os
import sys


def main():
    outfile = os.path.expanduser('~/Desktop/captured.png')
    outcmd = "{} {} {} {}".format('screencapture', '-x', '-R332,330,770,75', outfile)

    # traditional date/time stamped screen capture file to the default desktop
    # outcmd = "{} {} {} {}".format('screencapture', '-x', '-R332,330,770,75', '-p')

    try:
        # ordinarily we would not use shell=True due to security concerns
        subprocess.check_output([outcmd], shell=True)
    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
        print('Python error: [%d]\n{}\n'.format(e.returncode, e.output))


if __name__ == '__main__':
    sys.exit(main())

Why not just use the shift+command+5 keyboard shortcut or the Launchpad > Other > Screenshot application?

I am guessing he wants to do it programmatically.

Yeah, I knew that… and tried to keep a tough problem simpler. 🤓

Yeah, I can imagine there is some cli command you can use with system(), or whatever the Swift equivalent is.

Part of it is that the Mac is much more privacy conscious.