How to take a screenshot in Linux

John Smith
11 months ago

Taking screenshots in Linux is a great way to capture information for later reference or sharing. The OS provides several methods for creating and saving screenshots, allowing users to quickly and easily take pictures of their screen. In this article, we’ll show you how to take a screenshot in Linux using the standard options available.

Table of contents:

What is a screenshot?

A screenshot is a digital image of what is currently being displayed on the screen. Screenshots can be useful when you need to show someone exactly what you’re seeing or to capture something before it disappears from view. Taking screenshots on your computer, phone, or tablet is simple and easy. It only takes a few steps depending on which device you are using.

How to take screenshots in Linux?

Taking screenshots in Linux is quite simple. 

  • All you need to do is press the Print Screen (PrtSc) key. Depending on your version of Linux, this will capture a screenshot of the entire screen or just the active window, and it will be saved in your home directory as a PNG file.
  • You can also take screenshots using various graphical tools available for Linux, such as Gnome Screenshot, Shutter and Ksnapshot. These tools provide more options than simply pressing the PrtSc button and allow you to crop and edit the image before saving it. 
  • If you’d like to record video from your screen instead of taking a still shot, you can use a tool like Kazam or SimpleScreenRecorder to capture a video of your desktop. This is useful for creating tutorials or demonstrating how to use a certain piece of software. 

No matter which method you choose, taking screenshots on Linux is an easy way to share what’s on your screen with others. Have fun capturing and sharing your screenshots!

Tips and tricks

Taking screenshots in Linux is a breeze compared to other operating systems. With the right tools, you can quickly and easily create images of what’s happening on your screen. Here are some tips and tricks for using screenshot utilities on Linux: 

  • Use the Print Screen button. This is probably the easiest way to take a screenshot in most versions of Linux. All you need to do is press the “Print Screen” key (usually labeled PrtScn or something similar) on your keyboard and it will capture an image of whatever’s currently being displayed on your screen. 
  • Try GNOME Screenshot. GNOME Screenshot is one of the most popular screenshot programs available for Linux, and it’s included with many modern distributions. To use it, simply press the Super key (sometimes called the Windows key) and search for “screenshot”. When you open it, you’ll get a few options to choose from, such as selecting an area of your screen to capture or taking a screenshot of an individual window. 
  • Try KDE Screenshot. If you’re using KDE Plasma as your desktop environment, then KDE Screenshot is another great option to consider. To open it, just press Alt+F2 and type “ksnapshot” into the command prompt that appears. From there, you can select what portion of your screen to take a screenshot of and also set a delay for your screenshot, if needed. 
  • Consider a third-party tool. If you’re looking for more features than what the default Linux screenshot tools offer, then there are plenty of third-party options to consider. Some popular choices include Shutter and Greenshot, both of which are available in most major Linux distributions’ software repositories. 

No matter what method you choose, taking screenshots on Linux is easy and can be done with just a few simple steps! With these tips, you can quickly capture images of whatever’s happening on your screen and easily save them or share them with friends or colleagues. Give it a try today!

In conclusion

Taking screenshots in Linux is simple and straightforward with the ‘screencapture’ command. It takes just a few steps to install, customize and use the command on your system. You can take screenshots of entire screens, selected areas, or specific windows. Additionally, you can modify the screenshot settings by changing the output format, delay time before taking the screenshot, and more. With this flexible tool at your disposal, capturing what’s happening on your screen is easy and efficient. 

Now that you know how to take screenshots on Linux using ‘screen capture’ command, you can capture any image or text from your display for whatever purpose you need it for.