Flameshot
Flameshot is a powerful, simple to use screenshot software that includes in-place editing capabilities, support of various shortcuts, and multiple other configuration options.
It is written in C++, can be used via a CLI or GUI, and has multiple interactive editing options of screenshots and custom output destination (save, upload, copy to clipboard, open with other software).
Installation
Emerge
Emerge media-gfx/flameshot:
root #emerge --ask media-gfx/flameshotNote: there are currently no specific USE flags for the package.
Configuration
Flameshot can be configured by using the GUI, the CLI, or by modifying the configuration file.
Without configuration, Flameshot will run with the default settings.
GUI
To configure with GUI, the following command can be used:
user $flameshot configIf changes are made for the first time in the GUI settings, they will also be applied to the configuration file in ~/.config/flameshot/flameshot.ini.
In order for changes to be written to the configuration file, modifications to that specific option must be made. Otherwise, if the default option is unchanged, there will be nothing written into the configuration file.
Command line interface
The following syntax can be used for configurations with CLI:
user $flameshot config [config-options]The available options for CLI configuration can be found by referring to the help pages or the man pages:
user $flameshot config --helpuser $man flameshotChecking for mistakes or issues related to the configuration file can be done with the --check option:
user $flameshot config --checkConfiguration file
Some of the settings, can also be done by editing the configuration file. On Linux the configuration file can be found in ~/.config/flameshot/flameshot.ini.
The configuration file could look like this, please note that this is only an example with only a small set of available configurations and every time a change is made to a setting through the GUI, the new value will be written here:
~/.config/flameshot/flameshot.ini[General]
allowMultipleGuiInstances=true
contrastOpacity=188
copyPathAfterSave=true
disabledTrayIcon=true
savePath=the/configured/path/to/save/screenshots
showDesktopNotification=false
showStartupLaunchMessage=true
uiColor=#960090
It is also possible to make changes to the configuration file directly, which will be immediately applied. This makes it possible, to modify Flameshot settings through the use of scripts and automate the process of screenshots taking. For more, see usage section.
Furthermore, please note that it is possible to use the same configuration file for Windows systems (and reverse).
To accomplish this the savePath variable in the flameshot.ini have to be adjusted to the new correct save path to meet the DOS / UNIX directory structure.
Additionally the flameshot.ini has to be moved to %appdata%\flameshot\flameshot.ini.
Usage
When executed without parameters, the flameshot command will start a running instance of the program in the background without taking any actions. If the system has tray icon support, a flameshot tray icon for further interaction and information will appear.
Arguments
Some key arguments for taking screenshots are:
Capture with GUI tool:
user $flameshot guiThe GUI tool provides the possibility to edit the taken screenshot in-place, to copy it with Ctrl+C directly to clipboard, adding text, correction of the capturing area, resizing, and a lot more of intuitive usable features.
Capture full screen:
user $flameshot fullCapture specific screen:
user $flameshot screen -n <screen number integer>Further arguments are available:
-pto specify a custom save path
user $flameshot gui -p ~/myStuff/captures-dto define a delay in milliseconds
user $flameshot gui -d 2000-cto copy directly to clipboard
user $flameshot full -c -p ~/myStuff/capturesFor more arguments and additional information please refer to the documentation, the README.md and the man pages.
Keyboard shortcuts
This is a a list from the original README.md[1] of available shortcuts in GUI mode:
| Keys | Description |
|---|---|
| P | Set the Pencil as paint tool |
| D | Set the Line as paint tool |
| A | Set the Arrow as paint tool |
| S | Set Selection as paint tool |
| R | Set the Rectangle as paint tool |
| C | Set the Circle as paint tool |
| M | Set the Marker as paint tool |
| T | Add text to the capture |
| B | Set Pixelate as the paint tool |
| ←, ↓, ↑, → | Move selection 1px |
| Shift + ←, ↓, ↑, → | Resize selection 1px |
| Ctrl + Shift + ←, ↓, ↑, → | Symmetrically resize selection 2px |
| Esc | Quit capture |
| Ctrl + M | Move the selection area |
| Ctrl + C | Copy to clipboard |
| Ctrl + S | Save selection as a file |
| Ctrl + Z | Undo the last modification |
| Ctrl + Shift + Z | Redo the next modification |
| Ctrl + Q | Leave the capture screen |
| Ctrl + O | Choose an app to open the capture |
| Ctrl + Return | Commit text in text area |
| Return | Upload the selection to Imgur |
| Spacebar | Toggle visibility of sidebar with options of the selected tool, color picker for the drawing color and history menu |
| Right Click | Show the color wheel |
| Mouse Wheel | Change the tool's thickness |
| Print screen | Capture Screen |
| Shift + Print | Screenshot History |
| Ctrl + drawing line, arrow or marker | Drawing only horizontally, vertically or diagonally |
| Ctrl + drawing rectangle or circle | Keeping aspect ratio |
Shift + drag a handler of the selection area: mirror redimension in the opposite handler.
Shortcuts for taking screenshots
If shortcuts for screenshots are desired, they must be manually enabled. This is done by setting one or more of the desired command-line options from the Usage section as commands for specific key combinations on the system. (For example flameshot gui)
Since these settings can be achieved in different ways across different desktop environments, window managers, and system settings it is recommended to check the related Gentoo Desktop Environment Wiki Section of the installed desktop environment or the Window Manager Section if using a minimal Window manager system or to refer to the documentation of the used interface, to find out how to set up custom shortcuts.
For KDE Plasma and XFCE there is a description in the README on github, how to achieve this.
Troubleshooting
Flameshot does not start and / or GUI does not open on a minimal window manager
Flameshot works the best with dbus, so make the session dbus aware. Refer to Window Manager. For example for i3:
~/.xinitrcexec dbus-launch --exit-with-session i3
GNOME Wayland and Plasma Wayland
The Support on GNOME Wayland and Plasma Wayland is still Experimental.
No tray icon on GNOME
The gnome-extra/gnome-shell-extension-appindicator extension is necessary to see the system tray icon.
Other
See Flameshot Troubleshooting section