Taking Screenshots

You can take a screenshot in any of the following ways:

From any panel

You can add a Take Screenshot button to any panel. For instructions on how to do this, see Section 4.3.2 ― Adding an Object to a Panel. Click on the Take Screenshot button to take a screenshot of the entire screen.

Use shortcut keys

To take a screenshot, use the following shortcut keys:

Default Shortcut Keys	Function
Print Screen	Takes a screenshot of the entire screen.
Alt+Print Screen	Takes a screenshot of the window which is active.

You can use the Keyboard Shortcuts preference tool to modify the default shortcut keys.

From the Menubar

Choose Applications ▸ Accessories ▸ Take Screenshot.

From the Terminal

You can use the gnome-screenshot command to take a screenshot. The gnome-screenshot command takes a screenshot of the entire screen, and displays the Save Screenshot dialog. Use the Save Screenshot dialog to save the screenshot.

You can also use options on the gnome-screenshot command as follows:

Option	Function
--window	Takes a screenshot of the window that has focus.
--delay=seconds	Takes a screenshot after the specified number of seconds, and displays the Save Screenshot dialog. Use the Save Screenshot dialog to save the screenshot.
--include-border	Takes a screenshot including the border of the window.
--remove-border	Takes a screenshot without the border of the window.
--border-effect=shadow	Takes a screenshot and adds a shadow bevel effect around it.
--border-effect=border	Takes a screenshot and adds a border effect around it.
--interactive	Opens a window that lets you set options before taking the screenshot.
--help	Displays the options for the command.

When you take a screenshot, the Save Screenshot dialog opens. To save the screenshot as an image file, enter the filename for the screenshot, choose a location from the drop-down list and click the Save button. You can also use the Copy to Clipboard button to copy the image to the clipboard or transfer it to another application by drag-and-drop.

GNOME Desktop User Guide

Taking Screenshots