command-shift-4 shadow overlay

Question

Level 1

8 points

command-shift-4 shadow overlay

I've looked around and not found an answer to my specific question. With OSX 10.12.6 (and probably previous versions) I get a darkish overlay on top of screen cuts using command-shift-4. I have seen numerous posts about the shadow around the edges of screenshots, but I'm talking about how the color of the entire screenshot is changed when capturing/cutting. Is there a way to use command-shift-4 without it changing the color of the resulting image? It's very odd to me that this seems to be the default and I wonder why anyone would want it.

As an example, I have attached an image I took using command-shift-4. On my computer it is white above and below the thin horizontal line, grey in the lowest horizontal bar and black on the side. As you can, the screen cut has made the white areas grey. Is there a way to permanently disable this "shadow" feature in screen shots? What is the purpose or advantage of this color change? I want the screenshot images to mirror the source of which they were taken.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OSX 10.12.6

Posted on Nov 28, 2017 12:03 PM

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Answer 1

Kurt Lang

Level 9

69,673 points

Nov 28, 2017 12:41 PM in response to fusionx86

A screen shot is supposed to automatically be saved with your monitor profile as the embedded color space. So, it should appear identical to the screen when opened in Preview.

What profile is your monitor using? If you change it to something else, does the color problem persist with screen shots?

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Answer 2

Kurt Lang

Level 9

69,673 points

Nov 28, 2017 2:02 PM in response to fusionx86

Also, I copied your screenshot down to my computer and opened it up in preview. It also shows white and grey as it should.

That's still helpful. Basically, it tells me at least one profile in use is damaged. Or, it's one possible cause.

For all three screens, change the monitor profile to Adobe RGB. It's meaningless to the device in use, but the test is to see if a screen shot will display correctly when using a different profile.

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Answer 3

Kurt Lang

Level 9

69,673 points

Nov 28, 2017 2:26 PM in response to fusionx86

Yup, that's what I wanted to see. It was to prove or disprove if the profiles in use were the problem. Your test screen shots show they're not. So that's a dead end, but still helpful since it completely eliminates that avenue. No sense spending any more time there.

Next most simple test. Is it just your user account, or anywhere? Create a new user account. Standard is fine. Login to it and do a screen shot.

1) No problem. Something in your normal account is the cause.

2) Same problem. System wide issue.

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Answer 4

Eric Root

Level 10

685,317 points

Nov 29, 2017 7:55 AM in response to fusionx86

Try running this program in your normal account, then copy and paste the output in a reply. The program was created by etresoft, a frequent contributor. Please use copy and paste as screen shots can be hard to read. On the screen with Options, please open Options and check the bottom 2 boxes before running. Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy Report” and then paste into a reply. This will show what is running on your computer. No personal information is shown.

Etrecheck – System Information

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Answer 5

fusionx86 Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 28, 2017 1:11 PM in response to Kurt Lang

Thanks for the reply Kurt. I hadn't thought of display profiles so I checked that. I work with two external ASUS monitors in addition to the built-in retina display. The profiles for the external monitors are the same which is "ASUS VS247". The retina display profile is "Color LCD". I did try taking screenshots on both external monitors and the internal one. I get the same discolored results on all three.

The interesting thing is that the change in color matches the color of the box that is used to select the area that is captured. So rather than retaining the original colors, it's keeping the box overlay color that is used to grab the screenshot. Another example of a screen capture taken of this page on the internal retina display.

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Answer 6

Kurt Lang

Level 9

69,673 points

Nov 28, 2017 1:27 PM in response to fusionx86

I get the same discolored results on all three.

That's pretty bizarre. As a quick test, how does this screen shot appear on your monitors? It should be white with same gray elements.

I'm just wondering if you'll see gray where it should be white in this post, even if the screen shot is from another Mac. Also, drag the screen shot out to your desktop and display it in Preview. Does it still display white where it should be, or does it now display as gray?

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Answer 7

fusionx86 Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 29, 2017 7:28 AM in response to Kurt Lang

Hi Kurt,

Good idea on trying another user. I did that and didn't have the problem with the new user. So it is my user, but not sure what I would have done to cause this. Maybe as a start, I should go through and remove any apps I'm not currently using.

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Answer 8

fusionx86 Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 28, 2017 1:56 PM in response to Kurt Lang

Your screenshot shows white and grey as you described. That's the odd thing. I've never noticed my monitors displaying colors incorrectly. It's only when I take screen shots. And other than installing a few apps for work, I don't customize the OS much at all.

Also, I copied your screenshot down to my computer and opened it up in preview. It also shows white and grey as it should.

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Answer 9

fusionx86 Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 28, 2017 2:17 PM in response to Kurt Lang

I wonder if you misunderstood my comment about opening your screenshot in preview. Your screenshot looks correct when I open it directly from my computer. Does that still indicate a problem with one of my profiles? However, I did what you asked by setting the profile for all three to Adobe RGB and taking a new screenshot. The results are the same with the discolored screenshot.

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Answer 10

fusionx86 Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 29, 2017 12:35 PM in response to Eric Root

EtreCheck version: 3.4.6 (460)

Report generated 2017-11-29 13:00:17

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 4:00

Performance: Good

Click the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

Problem: No problem - just checking

Hardware Information: ⓘ

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro11,2

1 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 (i7-4980HQ) CPU: 4-core

16 GB RAM Not upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Handoff/Airdrop2: supported

Wireless:
en0: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 121

iCloud Quota: 4.63 GB available

Video Information: ⓘ

Intel Iris Pro - VRAM: 1536 MB

Color LCD 2880 x 1800

ASUS VS247 1920 x 1080 @ 60 Hz

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APPLE SSD SM0512F disk0: (500.28 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk0s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted>
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(disk0s2) <not mounted>
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Recovery HD (disk0s3 - Journaled HFS+) <not mounted>
[Recovery]: 650 MB

USB Information: ⓘ

USB30Bus

VIA Labs, Inc. USB3.0 Hub

ASIX Elec. Corp. AX88179

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

VIA Labs, Inc. USB2.0 Hub

USB2.0 Hub

C-Media Electronics Inc. USB PnP Sound Device

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Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Virtual disks: ⓘ

Macintosh HD (disk1 - Journaled HFS+) /
[Startup]: 499.10 GB (216.32 GB free)

Physical disk: disk0s2 499.42 GB Online

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macOS Sierra
10.12.6 (16G1036) - Time since boot: less than an hour

Configuration files: ⓘ

/etc/hosts - Count: 1

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/Applications/VMware Fusion.app

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[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmnet (8.5.8) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmx86 (8.5.8) [Lookup]

/Applications/zoom.us.app

[not loaded] zoom.us.ZoomAudioDevice (1.1 - SDK 10.8) [Lookup]

/Library/Application Support/Fortinet/FortiClient/nke

[not loaded] com.fortinet.fct.kext.avkern2 (1.0 - SDK 10.11) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.fortinet.fct.kext.fctapnke (1.0 - SDK 10.11) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.fortinet.kext.fctrouternke (1.0 - SDK 10.11) [Lookup]

/Library/Application Support/VirtualBox

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[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (5.1.22) [Lookup]

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[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (5.1.22) [Lookup]

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[loaded] 186 Apple tasks

[running] 92 Apple tasks

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[running] 101 Apple tasks

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[failed] com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a2 3d420d.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-01-12) [Lookup]

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[loaded] com.fortinet.forticlient.fssoagent_launchagent.plist (Fortinet, Inc - installed 2016-11-04) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-09-27) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (? cbae2233 72ac4dde - installed 2017-10-24) [Lookup]

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[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_desktop.plist (TeamViewer GmbH - installed 2016-05-02) [Lookup]

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[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-01-12) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-01-12) [Lookup]

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[running] com.carbonite.launchd.carbonitedaemon.plist (? e953575f 61b5c707 - installed 2017-09-20) [Lookup]

[running] com.cleverfiles.cfbackd.plist (Justin Johnson - installed 2016-04-08) [Lookup]

[failed] com.fortinet.forticlient.appfw.plist (Fortinet, Inc - installed 2016-11-04) [Lookup]

[running] com.fortinet.forticlient.epctrl.plist (Fortinet, Inc - installed 2016-11-04) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.fortinet.forticlient.fmon.plist (Fortinet, Inc - installed 2016-11-04) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.fortinet.forticlient.fssoagent_launchdaemon.plist (Fortinet, Inc - installed 2016-11-04) [Lookup]

[running] com.fortinet.forticlient.servctl.plist (Fortinet, Inc - installed 2016-11-04) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.fortinet.forticlient.vpn.plist (Fortinet, Inc - installed 2016-11-04) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.fortinet.forticlient.wf.plist (Fortinet, Inc - installed 2016-11-04) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-10-13) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2017-04-12) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2015-12-06) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (Shell Script e3fefdd2 - installed 2017-09-05) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.teamviewer.Helper.plist (TeamViewer GmbH - installed 2016-05-02) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist (TeamViewer GmbH - installed 2016-05-23) [Lookup]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.startup.plist (Shell Script 700b9385 - installed 2017-05-20) [Lookup]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[loaded] com.citrixonline.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate.plist (Citrix Online LLC - installed 2017-10-26) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.logmein.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate.plist (Citrix Online LLC - installed 2017-10-26) [Lookup]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist (Oracle America, Inc. - installed 2017-05-20) [Lookup]

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iTunesHelper Application (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-11-01)

(/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

[redacted]$ Volume - Hidden

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Music Manager Application - Hidden

(~/Library/PreferencePanes/MusicManager.prefPane/Contents/Helpers/MusicManagerHe lper.app)

VMware Fusion Start Menu Application

(/Applications/VMware Fusion.app/Contents/Library/VMware Fusion Start Menu.app)

Breeze Application

(/Applications/Breeze.app)

FortiClientAgent Application

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Simple Screen Shade LIH SMLoginItem - Hidden (Apple, Inc. - installed 2016-05-30)

(/Applications/Simple Screen Shade.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/Simple Screen Shade LIH.app)

SystemMonitorMenu SMLoginItem - Hidden (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-10-11)

(/Applications/SystemMonitor.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/SystemMonitorMenu.a pp)

(null) SMLoginItem - Hidden (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-11-07)

(/Applications/Dashlane.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/P72E3GC48.com.dashlane.D ashlaneAgent.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

FlashPlayer-10.6: 27.0.0.187 (installed 2017-11-14) [Lookup]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-11-08)

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 17.012.20098 (installed 2017-11-17) [Lookup]

AdobePDFViewer: 18.009.20044 (installed 2017-11-17) [Lookup]

Flash Player: 27.0.0.187 (installed 2017-11-14) [Lookup]

o1dbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 (installed 2015-12-16) [Lookup]

SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.7.3 (installed 2017-04-12) [Lookup]

googletalkbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 (installed 2015-12-11) [Lookup]

MeetingJoinPlugin: Unknown (installed 2017-03-17) [Lookup]

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 151 build 12 (installed 2017-10-24) Check version

User internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

WebEx64: 1.0 (installed 2015-03-27) [Lookup]

ZoomUsPlugIn: 4.0.36452.0616 (installed 2017-06-26) [Lookup]

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

Carbonite Pro (installed 2017-09-20) [Lookup]

Flash Player (installed 2017-10-25) [Lookup]

Java (installed 2017-10-24) [Lookup]

MusicManager (installed 2015-11-17) [Lookup]

Time Machine: ⓘ

Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

211%
ScreenSaverEngine

8%
WindowServer

5%
kernel_task

3%
com.bresink.app.systemmonitormenu

1%
mds_stores

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

981 MB kernel_task

386 MB mds_stores

366 MB WindowServer

357 MB loginwindow

195 MB ScreenSaverEngine

Top Processes by Network Use: ⓘ

Input Output Process name

1 MB 44 KB mDNSResponder

127 KB 94 KB kernel_task

71 KB 4 KB netbiosd

10 KB 10 KB apsd

144 B 144 B ntpd

Top Processes by Energy Use: ⓘ

202.96 ScreenSaverEngine

9.96 WindowServer

2.38 com.bresink.app.systemmonitormenu

0.76 SystemUIServer

0.62 P72E3GC48.com.dashlane.DashlaneAgent

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

12.11 GB
Available RAM

9.44 GB
Free RAM

3.89 GB
Used RAM

2.67 GB
Cached files

0 B Swap Used

Software installs (last 30 days): ⓘ

Fotor Photo Editor: 3.4.1 (installed 2017-11-01)

Sync Folders: 3.3.9 (installed 2017-11-02)

Evernote: 6.13 (installed 2017-11-03)

SonicWall Mobile Connect: 5.0.0 (installed 2017-11-07)

Adobe Flash Player:
(installed 2017-11-14)

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (18.009.20044):
(installed 2017-11-17)

Kindle: 1.21.1 (installed 2017-11-20)

QuickShade: 1.2.2 (installed 2017-11-20)

Slack: 2.9.0 (installed 2017-11-20)

VideoPad Video Editor: 5.30 (installed 2017-11-20)

Jump Desktop: 7.1.1 (installed 2017-11-27)

App Cleaner & Uninstaller: 4.6 (installed 2017-11-29)

Install information may not be complete.

Diagnostics Events (last 3 days for minor events): ⓘ

2017-11-29 12:58:33 ScreenSaverEngine.app High CPU use [Open] [Details]

2017-11-29 09:38:28 Microsoft Outlook.app High CPU use [Open] [Details]

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Answer 11

fusionx86 Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 30, 2017 3:35 PM in response to Kurt Lang

Hi Kurt,

I've been busy and unable to work on this, but I will soon.

So, the Fortinet software is a VPN client with AV and web filtering. The two latter functions caused me a lot of problems so I disabled them already. Unfortunately, I cannot remove it altogether as the VPN client piece is a requirement.

I will try to clean up everything else I don't need and report back.

Reply

Answer 12

Kurt Lang

Level 9

69,673 points

Nov 29, 2017 4:00 PM in response to fusionx86

Yikes! There's some true garbage bogging your Mac down.

Get rid of every bit of the Fortinet security software. Macs do not need this junk. Any of it. I've never seen AV software have so many pieces running at once. According to the vendor, this is how to remove it:

To Uninstall FortiClient for Mac OS X:

Ensure FortiClient for Mac OS X is not running. Click and drag the FortiClient application from your Applications directory to the Trash.

Both TeamViewer and LogMeIn are installed. Remove them. Never have remote access software installed without very good reason.

It shows you recently installed App Cleaner & Uninstaller. More junk. Virtually all such apps remove things they shouldn't. Or, incorrectly uninstall an app, leaving pieces of it running. The correct way to uninstall apps on the Mac:

1) If it's from the App Store, just put the app in the trash. It may leave some small support files around the app created, but they're nothing to worry about. They're just small bits of dead junk without the app that uses them.

2) For third party apps not from the App Store. Use the vendor's uninstaller if they provide one. Sometimes it's a separate app, and sometimes the choice to uninstall is right in the app's menu choices. If there is no provided uninstaller, go to the vendor's site and see the correct way to remove the app manually.

Removing all of this unnecessary software may fix the problem. But then, software of this type is really good at hosing the OS. After removing the junk, make a full backup of your Mac, then reinstall the OS.

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