How to Take a Screenshot in Linux (GNOME) Revisited

I recently wrote a "how to take a screenshot in Linux tutorial", and I included a shell script that helped take screenshots in GNOME with a custom application launcher on the taskbar.

While reading a book called Linux Multimedia Hacks on Safari [aff] I learned about another way to take screenshots in Linux that could replace my shell script.

You can activate GNOME's screenshot tool by invoking it from the terminal with this:

gnome-panel-screenshot

An you can even add a delay as an argument like this:

gnome-panel-screenshot --delay 10

The delay would give you enough time to open a menu or set your screen up the way you would like.

You could add this command to a custom application launcher in GNOME.

1. Right click on the GNOME panel (usually on the top of your screen)
2. Choose Add to Panel, and then Custom Application Launcher
3. Fill out the information as shown below, using the custom command gnome-panel-screenshot --delay 5 (or change the delay to whatever you want)

It works better than the shell script.

For more options when using gnome-panel-screenshot, type gnome-panel-screenshot --help in a terminal.

Taking a Screenshot in KDE

If you are using KDE, try the command ksnapshot.

See my other Linux screenshot tutorial for more options...