View source for Tips/Take screenshots faster with Spectacle using shortcuts

==Introduction==
KDE Plasma offers a simple yet powerful screenshotting tool called Spectacle, and here you’ll learn how you can capture your screen using super convenient shortcuts.
[[File:Take screenshots faster with spectacle using shortcuts thumb.png|800px|frameless|center]]

==Taking screenshots with Spectacle==
{{Note|While reading this tutorial, you might get confused when we mention the Meta key. In Plasma, the Meta Key is what you might know as the Super, Start, Windows, or Command key. If you have trouble finding it, it’s the key that sits between <keycap>Ctrl</keycap> and <keycap>Alt</keycap> on most keyboards.}}
===Capture a specific window===
[[File:Kde spectacle main window screenshot.png|frame|center|This is Spectacle's main window]]

If you want to take a screenshot of a specific window, there are two shortcuts you can use.

To capture the active window, just press <keycap>Meta+PrintScreen</keycap>.

If you want to capture the window under the cursor, press <keycap>Meta+Ctrl+PrintScreen</keycap>.

Doing any of those with Spectacle closed will automatically save your screen capture to your Pictures folder. With it open, it will update the picture in Spectacle’s window.

===Screenshot with a rectangular selection===

Pressing <keycap>Meta+Shift+PrintScreen</keycap> will bring up the rectangular selection. You can then click and drag to select a rectangular region of the screen and press <keycap>Enter</keycap> to take the screenshot. If you want to cancel, you can also press <keycap>Esc</keycap>.

[[File:Rectangular selection spectacle.png|frame|center|The help tooltip also shows a lot more shortcuts you can use while in that mode]]

===Capture the entire desktop===

Finally, if you want to capture everything on your screen, press <keycap>Shift+PrintScreen</keycap>.

[[File:Kde screenshot desktop.png|frame|center|KDE Plasma Desktop]]

===Take screenshots without a keyboard===

If you’re on a device without a keyboard, like a Steam Deck, you can still take screenshots without a keyboard. To take a screenshot, you can simply open Spectacle from the Application Launcher which is usually the icon at the bottom left corner of your screen. Spectacle will take a screenshot based on the last used settings.

After you capture your screen, you can either take a new screenshot with different settings by clicking on the <menuchoice>Take a New Screenshot</menuchoice> button or save the one you made by clicking on the <menuchoice>Save As…</menuchoice> button and selecting where you want to save it to:

[[File:Save screenshot spectacle kde.png|frame|center]]

If you do happen to have a keyboard, you can press <keycap>PrintScreen</keycap> to open Spectacle as well.

See how fast you can capture your screen using keyboard shortcuts in KDE Plasma? That’s only the tip of the iceberg though. You can also customize the shortcuts, annotate over pictures, share, and even print.

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[[Category:Tips]]