Frequently Asked Questions about scrot
1. Can I change the start of the selection area?
Yes. Using the arrow keys on your keyboard.
2. When I use the --select and --pointer options, how can I capture the
mouse cursor if the cursor is being used for selection?
Use the --delay option which will give you time to move the cursor
into the selection area you have created.
3. How to avoid canceling the selection when pressing any key on the
keyboard?
Use the --ignorekeyboard option. This option prevents exit by
ignoring any keyboard event, except the ESC key.
4. The --select option leaves rectangle trails of the selection
rectangle. How do I avoid this?
There are 2 ways to solve this:
Try first with: scrot --select --freeze
Or using another selection mode: scrot --select --line mode=edge
But this last one does not behave correctly with some
CWM (Composite Window Manager)
5. My CWM allows me to override shading on some windows by adding the
class name, does scrot have a class name?
Yes. The class name is "scrot" and is useful only when using the
--line mode=edge.
For example for the CWM picom:
shadow-exclude = [
"class_g = 'scrot'",
];
6. Why isn't the --freeze option enabled by default?
The --freeze option generates a call to XGrabServer and, according to
the X11 documentation, says the following:
"[..] disables processing of requests and close downs on all other
connections [...] You should not grab the X server any more than is
absolutely necessary."
We must not have a default behavior that is not recommended by X11.
Also the --freeze option may cause some video players to cause a lag
between video and audio or other unforeseen problems.
Some users are using this option to freeze a video frame and thus
capture it, although it works, keep in mind that this was not the
purpose of the option, but rather to provide another alternative to
the --select option to solve other problems.
7. What image file formats can I save my screenshot?
All formats supported by the Imlib2 library (present and future).
8. What is the image format that is saved by default?
The default format is PNG, even if it does not have a .png file
extension.
9. Does it support redirection of the screenshot to the standard output?
Yes. For example:
'$ scrot -'
'$ scrot -> myfile.png'
'$ scrot - | pngquant -> myfile.png'
10. Is there a default image format in the redirection to the standard
output?
Yes. The default format is PNG and there is no option to change it.
11. What is the default line mode for the --select option?
The default line mode is --line mode=classic
12. Do all sub-options of the --line option work for both line
modes (edge, classic)?
No. For example the opacity sub-option is only for the edge line mode.
To know more consult the man page.
13. When I use the --select option and click on the area of a window that
is below another, this window does not rise, how can I solve this?
The way to force a window to have focus and rise is to add the
--border option.
14. How do I change the opacity of the option --select=hole or
--select=hide?
Using --line opacity=35
15. How do I change the color of the option --select=hole or
--select=hide?
Using --line color='Forest Green'
16. I am using an image (instead of just color) to hide a selection area
with: --select=hide,stamp.png, can I change the opacity of this image?
Yes. Using the opacity sub-option of the --line option:
--line opacity=35
17. I am using an image to hide a selection area with:
--select=hide,stamp.png --line opacity=35, but the image is always
opaque, how do I fix this?
The image you are using must have an alpha channel (RGBA).
You will find out if you do the following:
'$ file stamp.png' shows the following "8-bit/color RGBA",
it has alpha channel,
'$ file stamp.png' shows the following "8-bit colormap",
does not have alpha channel
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