Sometimes you copy an image to your clipboard but don’t know how to save it to your computer. Here are four methods to save an image on your clipboard as a JPG or PNG file.
How many times has it happened that you copied something, closed the program from where it was copied, and are now left hanging with something on your clipboard without knowing how to save this as an independent file?
If you take a lot of screenshots, you must have encountered this problem multiple times. Fortunately, the problem isn’t difficult to solve.
Here are four methods to save an image on your clipboard as a JPG or PNG file on your computer:
Save a clipboard image as a JPG or PNG file
1. Save images as is
If you want to save the image on your clipboard as is, without any modifications, you can visit the website called Paste.photos which is built exclusively for this purpose. Its interface is intuitive and execution flawless.
After going to the website, you have to press the keyboard shortcut Cmd + V (on Mac) and Ctrl + V (on Windows). Your image will be automatically downloaded to your downloads folder.
Alternately, you can also click the humongous box you see in the center of the website.
Clicking it may prompt your browser to ask for permission to access your clipboard. Once you grant that request, the rest is handled by the website and your image is saved automatically to your default download location.
2. Compress before saving the image
If you want to compress the image on your clipboard before saving it, go to redketchup.io. The advantage of Redketchup.io over the paste.photos is that Redketchup.io allows you to compress your images before downloading.
What’s even more pleasant is that the compression algorithm of redketchup.io isn’t a slouch either. I’ve seen it reduce the file size of images by up to 70% without any discernible loss of quality.
Using the website couldn’t be simpler: just paste the image on your clipboard (Cmd + V or Ctrl + V) right after opening the website. It shows you the file size along with the image dimensions. Below this information, you get a few -.
You can tweak these settings or simply press the download button at the very bottom to use the default settings. This will take you to the preview of the compressed version of your image which you can then download.
3. Annotate the image on the clipboard before saving
If you want to annotate your image before saving it as a file, you can try online whiteboarding tools like Excalidraw. These tools usually provide you with an infinite canvas on which you can paste any number of photos/images.
As I have covered in this blog post, Excalidraw comes with all the essential tools you need to annotate your diagrams. You can also use Excalidraw to give a custom background to your images or aspect ratio without cropping them.
Once you are ready to download your annotated image, simply select it → click on the hamburger (≡) icon to the top-left → Export image, and then click on PNG to download it as a PNG file.
4. Using the Dropover tool
If you are on a Mac, you also have the option to save the image on your clipboard directly as a file using the app called Dropzone.
As the name suggests, this app provides you with a temporary shelf on which you can put (or paste or drag-n-drop) any number of files from multiple different sources. After that, you can drag them to different applications or any specific folders per your requirements.
The plus side of this tool over the other top 3 is that it works offline. You don’t have to be connected to the internet to use it.
Another app that works similarly to Dropzone is Yoink.
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Wrap UP
This was a round-up of four methods using which you can save an image copied to your clipboard. The best method for you depends on your exact requirements but I hope this article helped you in some way.
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Thanks for reading!