This works for MacBook and MacBook Pro computers.

Rather than clicking on the Apple menu item and then selecting Sleep, Restart or Shut Down with your mouse, all you need to do is the following.

Step 1

Press the Power Button briefly, and then let go. (The photo was shot with a Canon XSi / 450D at ISO 1600 and edited using Adobe Photoshop CS3 and spotlight effect with Skitch).

Step 2

Select the desired option: Restart, Sleep, Cancel, Shut Down.

Not for the faint hearted way

And finally, there is a combination that will shut down your Mac without any prompting whatsoever.

Do this only if you’re sure you want to shut down your computer as fast as possible, or you’re in a real hurry to do so.

Any unsaved changes in open applications or running programs will not be saved.

The combination is: control + option (alt) + command + eject (if you’re using a MacBook, pressing the power button instead of eject also works).

I couldn’t find a one-click method of spotlighting areas of interest on my Skitch screen captures, so I had to use a few of the tools found in Skitch to achieve the desired effect shown below.

Here’s how I did it.

Steps 1 and 2

With your screen capture already in Skitch, decide on the area, or areas you wish to spotlight.

The area outside of the spotlit sections will need to be darkened:

• Click on the Translucent Gray color.
• Click on the Circle (oval) tool.

Steps 3 and 4

• Drag an oval shape around the area you wish to spotlight.
  Do the same for other areas if there are any.
• Click on the Fill area tool to activate it.

Step 5

• Click anywhere outside the oval(s).
• The photo will darken because you’re in effect painting the image with a gray that’s semi-transparent.
• If you wish to darken the photo further, just click as many times as necessary. Each click darkens the photo further.
• The oval shape protects the internal area from being “painted” by the Fill area tool.

Here’s the final result, once again