In today’s fast-paced digital world, screenshots have become an essential tool for demonstrating processes, sharing information, and troubleshooting issues. Ubuntu, a popular Linux distribution, provides several keyboard shortcuts to take screenshots. In this article, we will delve into how to take and paste screenshots using these shortcuts.
Taking a Screenshot in Ubuntu
Ubuntu offers various keyboard shortcuts to capture screenshots. These shortcuts offer the flexibility to capture the entire screen, an active window, or a specific area of the screen.
Capture the Entire Screen
To capture the entire screen, press the PrintScreen key. This action will create a screenshot and automatically save it in the ‘Pictures’ directory in your home folder. The file will be saved with a name format like ‘Screenshot from YYYY-MM-DD HH-MM-SS.png’.
Capture the Active Window
If you want to capture only the active window, press Alt + PrintScreen. Similar to the previous method, the screenshot will be saved in the ‘Pictures’ directory.
Capture a Specific Area
For more precision, you can capture a specific area on the screen. Press Shift + PrintScreen, your cursor will change into a crosshair. Click and drag the cursor to select the area you want to capture. Release the mouse button to take the screenshot.
Copying Screenshots to the Clipboard
While the above methods save the screenshots directly to a directory, there are times when you may want to copy the screenshot to the clipboard for immediate use. Here’s how you can do it:
Copy the Entire Screen
Press Ctrl + PrintScreen to capture and copy the entire screen to the clipboard.
Copy the Active Window
Press Ctrl + Alt + PrintScreen to capture and copy the active window to the clipboard.
Copy a Specific Area
Press Ctrl + Shift + PrintScreen to select and copy a specific area to the clipboard.
After using any of these shortcuts, you can paste the copied screenshot into any application (like LibreOffice Writer, GIMP, etc.) using Ctrl + V.
Troubleshooting
If you encounter any issues with these shortcuts, it could be due to the specific version of Ubuntu you are using. Some users have reported issues with the Ctrl + Alt + PrintScreen shortcut not working in Ubuntu 16.04 and 17.10. However, it seems to work fine in Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS. If you face any issues, try using the Ctrl + Shift + PrintScreen shortcut instead.
Conclusion
Taking screenshots in Ubuntu using keyboard shortcuts is a quick and efficient way to capture and share information. Whether you want to capture the entire screen, an active window, or a specific area, Ubuntu provides you with the flexibility to do it all. Remember to use the right combination of keys to either save the screenshot or copy it to the clipboard based on your needs. Happy screenshotting!
The screenshots taken using the keyboard shortcuts in Ubuntu are automatically saved in the ‘Pictures’ directory in your home folder. The file will be saved with a name format like ‘Screenshot from YYYY-MM-DD HH-MM-SS.png’.
Yes, you can capture a specific area on the screen by pressing Shift + PrintScreen. Your cursor will change into a crosshair, and you can click and drag the cursor to select the area you want to capture. Release the mouse button to take the screenshot.
