How to screenshot and record on Linux

Linux user needs to choose a preferred software for everything. I will show how I take a screenshot and record a video to upload to my blog.

Screenshot – mate-screenshot

I use mate-screenshot. I use Linux-Mint Mate version. So it is installed by default.

If you use Linux-Mint, you can take a screenshot by Print Screen button. Likewise, Alt + Print takes a screenshot of a window.

But I sometimes want to take a screenshot of an area. Of course, it’s possible to do it from the window but I want a shortcut for it.

We can see all the options by adding --help.

$ mate-screenshot --help
Usage:
  mate-screenshot [OPTION…] Take a picture of the screen

Help Options:
  -h, --help                     Show help options
  --help-all                     Show all help options
  --help-gtk                     Show GTK+ Options

Application Options:
  -w, --window                   Grab a window instead of the entire screen
  -a, --area                     Grab an area of the screen instead of the entire screen
  -c, --clipboard                Send grabbed area directly to the clipboard
  -b, --include-border           Include the window border with the screenshot
  -B, --remove-border            Remove the window border from the screenshot
  -d, --delay=seconds            Take screenshot after specified delay [in seconds]
  -e, --border-effect=effect     Effect to add to the border (shadow, border or none)
  -i, --interactive              Interactively set options
  --version                      Print version information and exit
  --display=DISPLAY              X display to use

So we can use -a option here.

mate-screenshot -a

So, click Add button to open Custom Shortcut screen.

Add command mate-screenshot -a to Command: and click Apply. Don’t forget to give the arbitrary name.

Then, you register your shortcut. Double-click Shortcut column followed by pressing your shortcut keys.

After the shortcut value changes, you can take a screenshot with the shortcut.

Video recording – Kazam

I use Kazam to record a video.

You can directly install it by the following commands.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install kazam

I normally use it to create a sample video for Flutter application. If you check my Flutter post, you can check them. So, it’s important for me to have Window option. It also has a feature to wait xx seconds before starting the recording.

If you want to finish the recording, you can do it from the icon at the right bottom.

I guess you can directly edit the video if one of the tools is installed. You can select one of the following.

• OpenShot Video Editor
• Pitivi
• Avidemux

I tried to edit a video after saving the file but an error occurred in Avidemux anit was not able to edit it. I shouldn’t choose Save for later but needed to select Edit with Avidemux.