How to take a screenshot on Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver Linux

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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

Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa)

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:

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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
flameshot - ubuntu 18.04

Flameshot has many features, run man flameshot to see all possible options, like delayed shot, fullscreen mode and more. To configure flameshot execute command flameshot config

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:

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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

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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

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