A digital Fax for your desktop

Often times I need to make a quick screenshot, maybe to compare something, or just to keep a reminder around. My workflow goes something like this:
1. press hotkey (Cmd-Ctrl-Shift 4)
2. locate screen capture file on the Desktop
3. open it in Preview

Here a little script which, when executed will perform the screen capture, and open the saved file in Preview:

#!/bin/csh
rm -f /Users/your_username/grab.jpg
screencapture -i /User/your_username/grab.jpg
open /Applications/Preview.app /Users/your_username/grab.jpg

Make sure to chmod +x the file so it is executable. This is really a simple, single-purpose script – one could extend its functionality by numbering the screen captures to preserve older ones.

Using a launcher application, preferably LaunchBar, to execute the script. You can also use OS X’s Spotlight search to start the script.

You should see your mouse pointer turning into a crosshair. Click-drag the area on the screen you like to capture. Now Preview should open you captured image. You just send yourself a digital fax! (woot 21st century!)

Here a screen capture of my blog post writing the code for the screen capture script after I executed the screen capture once – I feel dizzy…