Linux Guide 📓

Screenshots

Last updated: 2024, Wed Jun 5th at 15:01 CDT


Taking a screenshot on Linux isn’t quite as straightforward. This is because there is no universal screenshot utility installed in Linux. Luckily, most Linux distributions include at least one program that can take a screenshot, and there are more available if you don’t have one installed. In most cases PrtSc key is used take a screenshot of your entire screen in Linux.


FlameShot #

Is a customizable screenshot utility, with in-app editing, GUI capture, and DBus interface.

Note

Using on window managers like Hyprland and river maybe buggy or completely broken. Check issue trackers and forums.

Gnome added UI components that are not normally there, this is not an issue the flameshot devs can fix.

Official Site GitHub

To Install: #

Preferred method

In most cases the Package Manager is the best option

sudo pacman -S flameshot

AUR: flameshot-git

sudo apt install flameshot
sudo dnf install flameshot
sudo zypper in flameshot

Essentials #

For wayland compatibility you will need

  • xdg-desktop-portal
  • xdg-desktop-portal-* (backend like kde, gtk, gnome, xapp, or wlr)
  • Grim

Grim #

Grab images from a Wayland compositor. Grim is needed for most of the screenshot utilities in Wayland.

sourcehut

To Install: #

Preferred method

Use Package Manager

sudo pacman -S grim

AUR: grim-git

sudo apt install grim
sudo dnf install grim
sudo zypper in grim

Slurp #

Select a region in a Wayland compositor and  print it to stdout. Works best with .

GitHub

To Install: #

Preferred method

In most cases the Package Manager is the best option

sudo pacman -S slurp
sudo apt install slurp
sudo dnf install slurp
sudo zypper in slurp

Swappy #

A Wayland native snapshot and editor tool, works great with and .

GitHub

To Install: #

Preferred method

In most cases the Package Manager is the best option

sudo pacman -S swappy

AUR: swappy-git

sudo dnf install swappy
sudo zypper in swappy

Build Instructions #

Dependencies may be different then the names listed depending the distro.

Dependencies #
  • meson
  • ninja
  • cairo
  • pango
  • gtk
  • glib2
  • scdoc Optional dependencies:
  • wl-clipboard (to make sure the copy is saved if you close swappy)
  • otf-font-awesome (to draw the paint icons properly)
Build #

Clone the repository and install the program locally

git clone https://github.com/jtheoof/swappy
cd swappy
meson setup build
ninja -C build

Watershot #

A simple wayland native screenshot tool inspired by 

GitHub

To Install: #

Preferred method

In most cases the Watershot will need to be built

sudo pacman -S watershot

AUR: watershot-git

Build Instructions #

Dependencies may be different then the names listed depending the distro.

Dependencies #
  • fontconfig
  • pkgconfig
  • libxkbcommon
  • Rust
Build #

Clone the repository and install the program locally with cargo. You will need to have , if it is in a non-standard location you can use --grim or -g argument to set a custom path. A compositor that implements layer-shell is also a requirement.

git clone https://github.com/Kirottu/watershot
cd watershot
cargo install --path .