There are quite a few ways to take a screenshot of a specific scene of any YouTube video. Sometimes, I need to get a screenshot for work, for instance to use an image as a teaser for an article.
Other YouTube users may have different reasons for wanting to capture a specific frame. Maybe because they like what they see, want to save a copy for eternity, or get a new wallpaper image.
Whatever the reason, there are several options to do that. While many require an extension, not all do.
The not-so-secret shortcut
Did you know that you can take screenshots of any YouTube video in any modern desktop browser? Here is how that works:
- Open the desired video in your browser of choice.
- Use the settings to set the video quality. The screenshot will always be in that quality.
- Play the video or use seek to jump to the right frame.
- Hold down the Shift-key, right-click twice on the video, and select “save video frame as” from the context menu that opens.
- Save the image to the local system.
The process described above should work in all Chromium-based browsers. Firefox users need to select “take snapshot” instead from the context menu to save the frame to the local system.
Second option: browser extensions
There is not really any need for using an extension to take a screenshot. The only exception is mobile use. Some browsers, Firefox for example, support extensions. This allows you to capture YouTube screens on your mobile as well, as the not-so-secret shortcut does not work on mobile.
Here are some suggestions:
- Screenshot YouTube Video (Chromium).
- YouTube Screenshot Button (Firefox)
There are plenty more on the official extension stores.
I have Enhancer for YouTube installed–once recommended by Martin; it works for me, but it seems to “hide” the native capabilites of YouTube.
YShot?
3rd option: MSI Afterburner. Screenshots, video capture, and a lot more.
https://www.guru3d.com/download/msi-afterburner-beta-download/
(You can get the stable version on the same page)
It works with Nvidia, AMD, and integrated Intel. Currently it can only monitor, not overclock, ARC gpu’s. RivaTuner is packaged with it.
Note: guru3d is the only official hoster of the software other then MSI.
Apparently Microsoft are planning to sabotage MSI Afterburner and similar programs from running on Windows.
I generally trigger the video full-screen option, press ‘Space’ to pause and copy the screen with the keyboard’s dedicated keypad.
The problem is that you may not get the desired resolution in that case. Works, if that is not an issue.
OK, Martin, that explains the arguable quality of the bmp which sometimes surprises me.
Good to know, thanks for the info.
I’ll try saving the video frame next time and compare results, even if, given the power of the old desktop PC, max video quality I use is 1080.
PicPick 7.3.4 (free for personal use) best meets my various requirements.