Objective
The objective of this article is to explain how to take a screenshot on Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver Linux desktop.
Operating System and Software Versions
- Operating System: – Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver Linux
Requirements
Privileged access to your Ubuntu System as root or via sudo
command is required.
Conventions
- # – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of
sudo
command - $ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user
Other Versions of this Tutorial
Instructions
Screenshot
screenshot
is a default application for taking screenshots on Gnome desktop. To take screenshot simply hit PrtSc
button on your keyboard and the screenshot of your entire desktop will be taken and saved as *.png
file inside your ~/Pictures
directory.
In many cases we only want to take a screenshot of a small part or selected window. In that case start screenshot
application manually form the start menu:

Make a selection from either taking a screenshot of the entire screen, window or selected area.
Flameshot
Is a most recent addition to a collection of screenshot tools on Ubuntu 18.04. Most likely Flameshot seems to be the most versatile screenshot taking tool with many features which any user, tutor or blogger would appreciate. To get started run the command:
$ flameshot gui
Spectacle
Spectacle application is an alternative to GNOME desktop and default application on KDE plasma desktop for taking screenshots. If Spectacle is currently not available on your Ubuntu 18.04 desktop you can install it by executing the following linux command:
$ sudo apt install spectacle
Start spectacle from your start menu:

Spectacle have multiple modes for taking a screenshot. Feel free to also set delay in seconds.
Kazam
Another powerful utility to make screenshots on Ubuntu 18.04 is Kazam. It can be installed by:
$ sudo apt install kazam

Apart of taking screenshots, Kazam is also capable of recording screen.
Import
It is also posible to take a screenshot from a command line. For this the import
command may be a perfect fit. The most basic screenshot taking technuque with the import
comamnd is:
$ import screenshot.png
The above command will take a screenshot of the entire desktop. However, this barely scratch a surface of the usefulness of this powerful command. See manual page for more options:
$ man import
