A more appropriate Mint screen-shot

[Vilsen]

Someone said: SCROT ,
someone said : GNOME-SCREENSHOT ;
Why can't I modify the MINT-SCREENSHOT I already have ??




I have been searching many years on the "web" but cant't find the answer to HOW TO configure/ make
mint-screenshot - wich is implemented when hitting PRTSC-key - without the annoying and meaningless
dialogue-box. I want it to work exactly like it did in Ubuntu 12 Classic desktop and in some version of KALI -linux
except the ridiculous "flash" that appears in KALI.

It can't be impossible to fix. Please : does someone know ????

I just want to hit the PRTSC-key and automatically a capture is made of the whole screen without the mouse pointer of course.

No questions asked - just AUTOSAVE it to the directory I have choosen in some textfile/configfile/ whatever... /Desktop /pictures ..
doesn't matter really.

I rarely use the alt-prtsc option to capture just the active window so I can live without that option also.



I did not understand whether you thought I should switch to cinnamon or if you could use or install gnome-screenshot
with or instead of the current MINT screenshot?

Hi all you helpful people ! Well I use MATE because I find it the most effective Desktop Environment and easy to customize also.

I did get into Linux-users-world by Ubuntu 2007/8 sometime and I think Ubuntu 8 whas the first installation I did .

By the time Ubuntu 12 (or it could have been 11 ??) I suddenly with happiness discovered that my so often used ingenious
handy utility that I had been without from 1984 when my first PC was bought until and during all these horrible years
of distress and misery caused by MS WINDOWS
did work the way I liked:


PRESS PRTSCR and in the background without annoying dialoguebox , meaningless sound, etc
autosaved screencapture with timestamp in my chosen directory.

If it should be JPG or PNG I don't know, but I figure it doesn't matter really.

Someone said: SCROT , someone said : GNOME-SCREENSHOT ;

Why can't I modify the MINT-SCREENSHOT that I already have ??





Please...someone.

VILSEN !

[gm10]

There is no mint-screenshot. If you're using the Cinnamon edition then your screenshot tool is called gnome-screenshot, but for your MATE environment the tool is called mate-screenshot. You can modify it if you download the source package, modify the source code to suit your needs and recompile it. This is Linux, free and open-source software is the thing.

However, as you've clearly already been suggested, it's easier to simply install another existing screenshot tool that does exactly what you want, e.g. scrot.

[Pierre]

that screen_shot is part of the Upstream Path that the LinuxMint Project inherited,
and as such, that issue would have to "fixed" in either the Ubuntu OR Debian project(s).

as it's very unlikely, that the Team.LinuxMint would devote much time to this issue.

[Hoser Rob]

... Why can't I modify the MINT-SCREENSHOT that I already have ?? ...

There's no reason why you can't. Just download the source code, modify it, and submit your patch. But if, as I suspect, you don't know a thing about programming you may be sorry you asked. And these rants are guaranteed to make devs ignore anything you say.

[Quetzal]

"Rants"?

Hardly a 'rant' I think. Maybe just an attempt at a lengthy explanation.
Not everyone on these pages is a native English speaker either.

[karlchen]

Hi, Vilsen.

You told that you used the Mate desktop. Unless I remember incorrectly, by default, Mate brings along mate-screenshot. This should be the name of the executable behind the screenshot application.

Therefore, the terminal command mate-screenshot --help should display the commandline options which mate-screenshot understands.
One of the commandline options should instruct mate-screenshot to do precisely what you want.
Write down the precise commandline, which you need.
Test that the commandline really does what you want before proceeding.

Next go to System Settings and locate the application which permits you to configure keyboard shortcuts. Check the commandline which <PrtScr> will invoke. Then change this commandline to be what you have written down in the previous step.

Sorry, my steps cannot be more precise at the moment, because I am typing this from Windows 7.

Regards,
Karl

[phd21]

Hi Vilsen,

There are other screenshot (printscreen) applications that anyone can install and use in any edition and version of Linux Mint like "Ksnip", "Shutter", "Flameshot", "Ksnapshot", etc... My favorite is "Ksnip" and can do what you want and much more.

Ksnip
viewtopic.php?f=47&t=260112&hilit=Ksnip


Hope this helps ...

[gm10]

I did not understand whether you thought I should switch to cinnamon or if you could use or install gnome-screenshot
with or instead of the current MINT screenshot?

Hi all you helpful people ! Well I use MATE because I find it the most effective Desktop Environment and easy to customize also.

If you try gnome-screenshot, don't use the version that comes with Mint, it was modified and does not support what you want. Install Ubuntu's version, it works like you remember, and then create a symlink so it gets used instead of mate-screenshot.

If you are using Linux Mint 19, this will set this up for you (it would have to be modified for other versions of Mint):

Code: Select all

apt install gnome-screenshot/bionic
ln -s /usr/bin/gnome-screenshot ~/.local/bin/mate-screenshot

After that your screenshots will automatically be saved to your ~/Pictures folder without further interaction.

[Vilsen]

I did not understand whether you thought I should switch to cinnamon or if you could use or install gnome-screenshot
with or instead of the current MINT screenshot?

Hi all you helpful people ! Well I use MATE because I find it the most effective Desktop Environment and easy to customize also.

If you try gnome-screenshot, don't use the version that comes with Mint, it was modified and does not support what you want. Install Ubuntu's version, it works like you remember, and then create a symlink so it gets used instead of mate-screenshot.

If you are using Linux Mint 19, this will set this up for you (it would have to be modified for other versions of Mint):

Code: Select all

apt install gnome-screenshot/bionic
ln -s /usr/bin/gnome-screenshot ~/.local/bin/mate-screenshot

After that your screenshots will automatically be saved to your ~/Pictures folder without further interaction.

QUESTIONS:

I do use MINT MATE 18.3 , not 19 !

How should gnome-screenshot/bionic be modified ?
How is a symlink created ?

[gm10]

I do use MINT MATE 18.3 , not 19 !

How should gnome-screenshot/bionic be modified ?
How is a symlink created ?

Ok, try like this then, instead of bionic we pull it from xenial, your version's base repository:

Code: Select all

apt install gnome-screenshot/xenial
ln -s /usr/bin/gnome-screenshot ~/.local/bin/mate-screenshot

The second command creates the symbolic link. It's a file system reference that redirects to a different location. In this case we redirect requests for mate-screenshot to gnome-screenshot.

[Vilsen]

I am very grateful for this constructive and versatile proposal that I did now and it worked out very well.

I guess I can change back or to something else regarding the symlink. If I understand something about programming at all, this method is different, but still as useful as a previously suggested variant, where SCROT was linked to the PRTSR key. Here's the link already made to the feed screenshot but you make the gnome screenshot "become" mate-screenshot - have i understood this right or am I riding a bike ???

What is the difference between apt install gnome-screenshot/bionic and apt install gnome-screenshot/xenial ??


I got this strange behavior that the screen went BLACK for a tenth of a second . Is this really necessary ?

I like JUST the screen snapshot and nothing more. Maybe the option to save in another directory but I can live
with ~/Pictures folder but the fact is that because I am i sweden and my language is swedish there is no
~/Pictures folder but strangely enough the screenshots was saved in /Bilder which is the swedish word for pictures.


THANK A LOT !

[Vilsen]

I do use MINT MATE 18.3 , not 19 !

How should gnome-screenshot/bionic be modified ?
How is a symlink created ?

Ok, try like this then, instead of bionic we pull it from xenial, your version's base repository:

Code: Select all

apt install gnome-screenshot/xenial
ln -s /usr/bin/gnome-screenshot ~/.local/bin/mate-screenshot

The second command creates the symbolic link. It's a file system reference that redirects to a different location. In this case we redirect requests for mate-screenshot to gnome-screenshot.

THANKS AGAIN !

I just found out a simple way of changing the directory to
save:


I ran dconf-editor and found the gnome-screenshot and there I could change directory to my desktop instead.

[gm10]

You are welcome, and yes, you've understood what the symbolic link does very well. Changing the keybinds instead would also have worked, but I feel my solution is both easier to implement and easier to undo again (just delete the link).

About apt install gnome-screenshot/xenial: If you run this you will see that gnome-screenshot is available in different versions from different sources:

Code: Select all

apt list -a gnome-screenshot

By appending /xenial we select the version from the xenial repository.

In that respect there's actually something important that I forgot: By default, the Mint repositories are configured with a higher priority. Thus Update Manager will change gnome-screenshot back to the Mint version. To prevent this, we'll give the xenial repository a higher priority for the gnome-screenshot only. To do this, please run this:

Code: Select all

printf "Package: gnome-screenshot\nPin: release a=xenial\nPin-Priority: 900\n" | sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/gnome-screenshot.pref

With that in place, in the future even if you just do apt install gnome-screenshot without the /xenial addition, it will still select that version regardless. Same goes for Update Manager.

Last but not least, the screen going dark for a moment when taking a screenshot is a feature to give you feedback that a screenshot was taken, but unfortunately I do not think that it can be disabled other than by modifying the program itself. If it's a problem best take a look at the other screenshot tools that were linked to you.

[Vilsen]

This is what happened:


mate18@mate18-desktop ~ $ apt list -a gnome-screenshot
Listar… Färdig
gnome-screenshot/sylvia 3.18.0-2linuxmint2 amd64 [uppgraderingsbart från: 3.18.0-1ubuntu2]
gnome-screenshot/xenial,now 3.18.0-1ubuntu2 amd64 [installerat,uppgraderingsbart till: 3.18.0-2linuxmint2]

mate18@mate18-desktop ~ $ gnome-screenshot
** Message: Unable to use GNOME Shell's builtin screenshot interface, resorting to fallback X11.

BUT: IT DID WORK ! It works every time I invoke it from the terminal when typing: gnome-screenshot


mate18@mate18-desktop ~ $ ln -s /usr/bin/gnome-screenshot ~/.local/bin/mate-screenshot
ln: misslyckades att skapa symbolisk länk '/home/mate18/.local/bin/mate-screenshot': Filen eller katalogen finns inte

IN ENGLISH:
ln: failed to create symbolic link '/home/mate18/.local/bin/mate-screenshot': The file or directory does not exist

SO THIS DID NOT WORK ! Both mate-screenshot and gnome-screenshot are now situated in /usr/bin
I have sreenshots if that could help !



AND :

I gained great inspiration from this and now I came to think of something that I had needed since 1984 when
my first PC was bought:

IS IT POSSIBLE To be able to connect a keyboard key (NOT a keyboard combination, such as Ctr-XX, Alt-YY, etc.) to a program like in these cases ? SCROLL LOCK or PAUSE BREAK = 2 keys just sitting there, doing nothing since IBM designed the keyboard (I think it was IBM ??) and do not make any use.

Is it possible to connect Gnome screenshot to ScrollLock instead? or PauseBreak ???

[gm10]

gnome-screenshot/sylvia 3.18.0-2linuxmint2 amd64 [uppgraderingsbart från: 3.18.0-1ubuntu2]
gnome-screenshot/xenial,now 3.18.0-1ubuntu2 amd64 [installerat,uppgraderingsbart till: 3.18.0-2linuxmint2]

As you can see it wants to upgrade to the /sylvia version again. Please run the code I posted in my previous post to give the /xenial version priority.

mate18@mate18-desktop ~ $ gnome-screenshot
** Message: Unable to use GNOME Shell's builtin screenshot interface, resorting to fallback X11.

That message is expected since you're not running the full gnome desktop. As you noticed, it doesn't matter, the X11 fallback works fine.

mate18@mate18-desktop ~ $ ln -s /usr/bin/gnome-screenshot ~/.local/bin/mate-screenshot
ln: misslyckades att skapa symbolisk länk '/home/mate18/.local/bin/mate-screenshot': Filen eller katalogen finns inte

This means you do not have the folder ~/.local/bin. It exists in a default Mint 18.3 installation but I suppose your home folder wasn't created along with it, so you've got your own custom configuration. No problem, we'll just place it in a system path that I know exists for sure in Mint 18, both on disk and in your path:

Code: Select all

sudo ln -s /usr/bin/gnome-screenshot /usr/local/bin/mate-screenshot

It will work just the same.

IS IT POSSIBLE To be able to connect a keyboard key (NOT a keyboard combination, such as Ctr-XX, Alt-YY, etc.) to a program like in these cases ? SCROLL LOCK or PAUSE BREAK = 2 keys just sitting there, doing nothing since IBM designed the keyboard (I think it was IBM ??) and do not make any use.

Is it possible to connect Gnome screenshot to ScrollLock instead? or PauseBreak ???

You can. Menu > Keyboard Shortcuts and then find the "Take a screenshot" entries, click on them to define the new key want to use.

[Vilsen]

Unbelievable ! That's exactly what I thought but I dared not create that directory.

Refinement of the keyboard WORKED! I thank you !!!!! Wondering how many does not know these useful and important features of LINUX MINT ??

I thank you a lot !

[Vilsen]

DONE:

mate18@mate18-desktop ~ $ printf "Package: gnome-screenshot\nPin: release a=xenial\nPin-Priority: 900\n" | sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/gnome-screenshot.pref
[sudo] lösenord för mate18:
Package: gnome-screenshot
Pin: release a=xenial
Pin-Priority: 900
mate18@mate18-desktop ~ $ apt list -a gnome-screenshot
Listar… Färdig
gnome-screenshot/sylvia 3.18.0-2linuxmint2 amd64
gnome-screenshot/xenial,now 3.18.0-1ubuntu2 amd64 [installerat]

mate18@mate18-desktop ~ $

[gm10]

Utomordentlig!

(says google translate )

[karlchen]

Epilogue: I like the way how mate-screenshot behaves. Leaves the final decision to me.

[Vilsen]

Epilogue: I like the way how mate-screenshot behaves. Leaves the final decision to me.

WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU MEAN ? What do you mean by that ? The final decision? Do you mean that it's good with a dialoguebox or vice versa?

Why don't you think I want to make the final decision ? I want the final decision ! ALWAYS ! My decision is:

I want NO dialogue-box and nothing else but : Pressing PRTSCR-key ( or another decided BY ME ) captures screen image and saves it in the folder I DECIDED in the format I DECIDED . Alt-PrtScr captures only the active window. What else could anyone want ? Look at the attached pictures: where you see that the gnome screenshot has more setup options than the mint screenshot