Taking Screenshots

Guidelines

• When taking screenshots of single a application/window, use a white background and include a margin (around 20 pixels) of the white wallpaper, see the image below (this is to ensure that window shadows don't look cropped)
• Set the language to English unless it's a localized screenshot
• Save as PNG image
• Preferably, use the default settings (icons, color scheme, style, window decoration, application settings etc.)
• Preferably, use compositing (Desktop Effects module in System Settings)
• Preferably, use Liberation Sans, 9pt as font

Workflow

In this example KSnapshot is used, but other screen capture applications work as well.

Capturing a shot of KSnapshot using Region

• Open KSnapshot
• Choose a Capture mode
  • Full Screen: Everything on the screen is captured, usually used for desktop screenshots
  • Region: Only a region defined by the user is captured, usually used for application screenshots
• Click on New Snapshot
  • Full Screen: Click anywhere on the screen to take the snapshot
  • Region: Use the mouse to draw a rectangle around the region to be captured (for example around a window). Click on Enter or double click in the region to take the snapshot

Tip

The region can be resized and moved after it's been drawn

• Click on Save As...
• Browse to the location you want to save the image, give it a name (name.png) and click on Save

Hints and Tips

• The Snapshot delay option makes KSnapshot wait a given amount of time (given in seconds) before taking the snapshot. This can be useful in many situations, for example when taking screenshots of drop-down menus
• It's often useful to create a separate user for taking screenshots, to ensure a standard look with the default settings. An alternative is to create an Activity with the settings required for screenshots
• Use Type: Color in the wallpaper settings to get a white background

See Also

• KSnapshot