Similar to taking screen­shots in Linux, there are several ways to take screen­shots in Ubuntu: Use the [Print/PrtSc] key and op­tion­ally [Alt] or [Shift] in addition, or use certain terminal commands. Con­veni­ently, Ubuntu has its own screen­shot tool, but you can also use programs like Shutter or GIMP. We will show you how the different methods work.

Create screen­shots in Ubuntu using keyboard shortcuts

The easiest way to create Ubuntu screen­shots is using keyboard shortcuts. While this option is easy to use, it only offers very few choices. You will need the [Print] key, which on con­ven­tion­al keyboards is found in the top row between the [F12] and [Scroll Lock] keys. It is labelled either with the word ‘Print’ or with ‘Print Screen’ or ‘PrtSc’. The following keyboard shortcuts are available to take screen­shots in Ubuntu:

  • [Print]: Use the [Print] key to create a photo of your entire screen, which is saved in the Pictures folder.
  • [Print] + [Alt]: Using this com­bin­a­tion, take a screen­shot of the currently active window in Ubuntu.
  • [Print] + [Shift]: This com­bin­a­tion allows you to select which area of your screen you want to pho­to­graph. Drag and click to set the height and width of the image.

If you press [Ctrl] in addition to any of the above com­bin­a­tions, the image will not be saved, but merely copied to the clipboard.

Image: Pictures folder containing screenshots in Ubuntu
By default, new screen­shots are always saved to your Pictures folder.
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The screen­shot tool in Ubuntu

Ubuntu also offers a screen­shot tool, with which you can easily create screen­shots yourself. You can find the tool in the start menu. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Click on the Start menu and enter the search term ‘screen­shot’.
  2. Open the screen­shot tool in Ubuntu.
  3. Now you have the choice of what kind of screen­shot you want to create. Similar to the keyboard shortcut method, your options are an image of the entire screen, an image of the active window, or an image of a selected area.
  4. You also have the option to set a delay. This gives you time to prepare the capture area in the best possible way.
  5. Now click ‘Take screen­shot’ to take a screen­shot in Ubuntu based to your settings.
  6. Once the screen­shot is created, set the storage location. By default, the screen­shots are saved in the Pictures folder.
Image: Tool for screenshots in Ubuntu
Ubuntu’s screen­shot app provides you with several options.

The more com­plic­ated way using the terminal

You can also take a screen­shot in Ubuntu using the terminal. However, this way is a bit more cum­ber­some than the options already presented. First, download and install the programs Im­ageMa­gick and fbgrab. Once this process is complete, type the following command in the terminal:

sudo cat /dev/vcs1 > /Screenshot.txt

This will give you a text file that you can convert via fbgrab. To do this, use the following command in the terminal:

fbgrab Screenshot.png

However, this method offers rather few ad­vant­ages overall.

Useful tools for taking screen­shots in Ubuntu

Instead, it is worth reaching for a pro­fes­sion­al screen­shot tool. Shutter, for example, is not only suitable for simply creating a screen­shot in Ubuntu, but is also very useful for later editing. In addition to the above-mentioned choices for the screen­shot, the program also offers wa­ter­marks, a comment function, sub­sequent shading, and an editor for post-pro­cessing. Es­pe­cially if you create screen­shots in Ubuntu for pro­fes­sion­al use and want to forward them to customers or employees later on, a tool like this is a good choice. Besides Shutter, there are al­tern­at­ives such as GIMP, Flameshot, or Deepin Screen­shot.

Con­clu­sion: Create screen­shots in Ubuntu easily

So, it is possible to create a screen­shot in Ubuntu without any problems. In most cases, the tools provided by the operating system itself are already suf­fi­cient to do this. Only for pro­fes­sion­al use, external tools are the better choice. With these tools, the screen­shots can also be edited or commented on directly.

Tip

If you use another operating system and want to create screen­shots, we have the following guides for you:

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