Export still images with Final Cut Pro

You can save a still-image file of any video frame in your project or in any clip in the browser.

In the Final Cut Pro timeline or browser, position the playhead on the video frame you want to export as a still image.
Do one of the following:
- Choose File > Share > Save Current Frame.
- Click the Share button in the toolbar, then click Save Current Frame.
Important: The Save Current Frame destination doesn’t appear by default. To add it to your set of destinations and to the Share menu, choose File > Share > Add Destination, then double-click the Save Current Frame destination. See Create share destinations in Final Cut Pro and Intro to Destinations preferences in Final Cut Pro.
In the Share window that appears, do any of the following:
- Move the pointer over the image to skim the video.
  If you’re batch sharing (exporting multiple items), the image is replaced by a list of the items you’re exporting.
- In the Info pane, view and modify the still-image attributes, such as the title and description.
  See Change metadata for shared items in Final Cut Pro. All of the attributes associated with the project or clip are included in the still-image output file.
  Important: By default, the title field lists the project or clip name. Changing the title does not change the project or clip name, which is the name used for the exported file.
- At the bottom of the window, view information about the file that will be exported, including frame size and output file type.
Click Settings to confirm the export settings or make any necessary adjustments:
- Export: Choose an output file type for the still image you’re exporting.
- Scale image to preserve aspect ratio: Leave this checkbox selected unless your project uses a non-square pixel format (such as 1440 x 1080) and you want to use the exported still image in another video project with the same non-square pixel properties.
- Burn in captions: If you added captions to your project, you can choose a caption language to burn in to the output media file.
  Note: Burned-in captions are permanently visible in the output file and are not the same as embedded captions.
Click Next.
Enter a name and choose a location for the exported file, then click Save.

Note: The Save Current Frame destination creates a still-image file. If you want to create a freeze frame or hold effect in your project, see Create freeze frames in Final Cut Pro or Create hold segments in Final Cut Pro.

You can monitor the progress of the transcode in the Background Tasks window, and you can continue to work in Final Cut Pro while the file is transcoded.

When transcoding is complete, a notification appears. You can view and locate shared projects in the Share inspector. See View the status of shared items in Final Cut Pro.

Helpful?

Final Cut Pro User Guide

Export still images with Final Cut Pro