--- name: "scrot" section: "1" platform: "linux" package: "scrot" version: "2.0.0-1" release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/scrot" --- # scrot(1) command line screen capture utility ## NAME **scrot** - command line screen capture utility ## SYNOPSIS ``` scrot [-bcfhimopuvz] [-a X,Y,W,H] [-C NAME] [-D DISPLAY] [-d SEC] [-e CMD] [-k OPT] [-l STYLE] [-M NUM] [-n OPTS] [-q NUM] [-s OPTS] [-t % | WxH] [-w NUM] [[-F] FILE] ``` ## DESCRIPTION **scrot (SCReenshOT) is a simple command line screen capture utility, it uses** **imlib2 to grab and save images.** **scrot has many useful features:** - • **Support for multiple image formats: JPG, PNG, GIF, and others.** - • **The screenshot's quality is configurable.** - • **It is possible to capture a specific window or a rectangular area on the** **screen.** **Because scrot is a command line utility, it can easily be scripted and put to** **novel uses. For instance, scrot can be used to monitor an X server in absence.** **scrot is free software under the MIT-feh license.** ## OPTIONS - **-a, --autoselect *X,Y,W,H*** **Non-interactively choose a rectangle starting at** **position X,Y and of W by H resolution.** - **-b, --border** **When selecting a window, grab the WM's border too.** **Use with -s to raise the focus of the window.** - **-C, --class *NAME*** *NAME* **is a window class name. Associative with -k.** - **-c, --count** **Display a countdown when used with -d.** - **-D, --display *DISPLAY*** *DISPLAY* **is the display to use; see [X(7)](/X/7.md).** - **-d, --delay \[b\]*SEC*** **Wait** *SEC* **seconds before taking a shot.** **When given the \`b\` prefix, e.g \`-d b8\`, the delay** **will be applied before selection.** - **-e, --exec *CMD*** **Execute** *CMD* **on the saved image.** - **-F, --file *FILE*** **Specify the output file. If** *FILE* **is "-", scrot will** **output the image to stdout. The filename is** **expanded according to the format specified in** **SPECIAL STRINGS. The output file may be specified** **through the -F option, or as a non-option argument.** - **-f, --freeze** **Freeze the screen when -s is used.** - **-h, --help** **Display help and exit.** - **-i, --ignorekeyboard** **Don't exit for keyboard input. ESC still exits.** - **-k, --stack\[=*OPT*\]** **Capture stack/overlapped windows and join them. A** **running Composite Manager is needed for it to work** **correctly.** *OPT* **is optional join letter: v/h** **(vertical/horizontal). Default: h** - **-l, --line *STYLE*** *STYLE* **indicates the style of the line when the -s** **option is used; see SELECTION** *STYLE***.** - **-M, --monitor *NUM*** **Capture Xrandr monitor number** *NUM***.** - **-m, --multidisp** **For multiple heads, screenshot all of them in order.** - **-o, --overwrite** **By default scrot does not overwrite the output** *FILE***, use this option to enable it.** - **-p, --pointer** **Capture the mouse pointer.** - **-q, --quality *NUM*** *NUM* **must be within \[1, 100\]. A higher value** **represents better quality image and a lower value** **represents worse quality image. Effect of this flag** **depends on the file format, see COMPRESSION QUALITY** **section. Default: 75.** - **-s, --select\[=*OPTS*\]** **Interactively select a window or rectangle with the** **mouse, use the arrow keys to resize. See the -l and** **-f options.** *OPTS* **it's optional; see SELECTION MODE** - **-t, --thumb % \| *WxH*** **Also generate a thumbnail. The argument represents** **the thumbnail's resolution: if the argument is a** **single number, it is a percentage of the full size** **screenshot's resolution; if it is 2 numbers** **separated by an "x" character, it is a resolution.** **If one of the resolution's dimensions is 0, it is** **replaced by a number that maintains the full size** **screenshot's aspect ratio. Examples: 10, 25, 320x240,** **500x200, 100x0, 0x480.** - **-u, --focused, --focussed** **Use the currently focused window.** - **-v, --version** **Output version information and exit.** - **-w, --window WID** **Window identifier to capture.** **WID must be a valid identifier (see [xwininfo(1)](/xwininfo/1.md)).** - **-Z, --compression LVL** **Compression level to use, LVL must be within** **\[0, 9\]. Higher level compression provides lower file** **size at the cost of slower encoding/saving speed.** **Effect of this flag depends on the file format, see** **COMPRESSION QUALITY section. Default: 7.** - **-z, --silent** **Prevent beeping.** - **--format FMT** **Specify the output file format. E.g "--format png".** **If no format is specified, scrot will use the file** **extension to determine the format. If filename** **does not have an extension either, then PNG will** **be used as fallback.** - **--list-options\[=*OPT*\]** **List all program options. If argument is "tsv" it** **outputs a TAB separated list intended for scripts.** **Default is "human". Note that the tsv format is not** **stable and may change in the future.** ## SPECIAL STRINGS **-e, -F and** *FILE* **parameters can take format specifiers that are expanded** **by scrot when encountered. There are two types of format specifier:** **Characters preceded by a '%' are interpreted by [strftime(3)](/strftime/3.md). The second kind** **are internal to scrot and are prefixed by '$'. The following specifiers are** **recognised by scrot:** ``` $$ A literal '$'. $a The system's hostname. $F The output file format. $f The image's path (may be relative, ignored when used in the filename). $h The image's height. $m The thumbnail's path (may be relative, ignored when used in the filename). $n The image's basename (ignored when used in the filename). $p The image's pixel size. $s The image's size in bytes (ignored when used in the filename). $t The image's file format (ignored when used in the filename). $w The image's width. $W The name of the window (only for --select, --focused and --window). \n A literal newline (ignored when used in the filename). ``` **Example:** ``` $ scrot '%Y-%m-%d_$wx$h.png' -e 'du -h $f' ``` **This would create a PNG file with a name similar to 2000-10-30\_2560x1024.png** **and show the disk-usage with [du(1)](/du/1.md).** ## SELECTION MODE **When using -s, optionally you can indicate the action to perform with the selection area.** **Some actions allow optional parameters too.** ``` capture Capture the selection area, this action is by default and does not need to be specified. hole Highlight the selected area overshadowing the rest of the capture. hide,IMAGE Hide the selection area by drawing an area of color (or image) over it. Optionally indicate name of the image to use as cover. Image has priority over color. blur,AMOUNT Blurs the selection area. Optionally you can specify the amount of blur. Amount must be within [1, 30]. Default: 18. ``` **In modes 'hole' and 'hide' the color of the area is indicated by 'color' property of the** **line style and the opacity of the color (or image) is indicated by property 'opacity', SELECTION** *STYLE* **If the 'hide' mode uses an image that does not have an alpha channel, the opacity parameter** **will be ignored and it will be drawn fully opaque.** **Examples:** ``` $ scrot --select=hide $ scrot -shole --line color="Dark Salmon",opacity=200 $ scrot -sblur,10 $ scrot -shide,stamp.png --line opacity=120 ``` ## SELECTION STYLE **When using -s, you can indicate the style of the line with -l.** **-l takes a comma-separated list of specifiers as argument:** ``` style=STYLE STYLE is either "solid" or "dash" without quotes. width=NUM NUM is a pixel count within [1, 8]. color="COLOR" Color is a hexadecimal HTML color code or the name of a color. HTML color codes are composed of a pound sign '#' followed by a sequence of 3 2-digit hexadecimal numbers which represent red, green, and blue respectively. Examples: #FF0000 (red), #E0FFFF (light cyan), #000000 (black). opacity=NUM NUM is within [0, 255]. 255 means 100% opaque, 0 means 100% transparent. For the opacity of the line, this is only effective if the compositor supports _NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY. mode=MODE MODE can be "auto", "edge" or "classic" without quotes. edge is the new selection, classic uses the old one. "auto" uses "edge" if -f flag isn't active, "classic" otherwise. "edge" ignores the style specifier, "classic" ignores the opacity specifier. ``` **Without the -l option, a default style is used:** ``` mode=auto,style=solid,opacity=100 ``` **The default width is automatically derived from the display DPI.** **Example:** ``` $ scrot -l style=dash,width=3,color="red" -s ``` ## COMPRESSION QUALITY **For lossless formats (e.g PNG), the quality options is ignored. For lossy** **formats where the quality and compression are tied together (e.g JPEG),** **compression will be ignored. And for image formats where quality and** **compression can be independently set (e.g WebP, JXL), both flags are respected.** ## EXAMPLES **Following are a couple examples of using scrot with other utilities.** **Copying screenshot to clipboard using [xclip(1)](/xclip/1.md):** ``` $ scrot - | xclip -selection clipboard -target image/png ``` **Taking a screenshot and optimizing its size with [optipng(1)](/optipng/1.md):** ``` $ scrot -e 'optipng -o4 $f' ``` **Selecting a window by PID with [xdo(1)](/xdo/1.md):** ``` $ scrot -w $(xdo id -p PID) ``` **Taking a screenshot and annotating it with [ImageMagick(1)](/ImageMagick/1.md):** ``` $ scrot - | magick - -pointsize 64 -gravity North -annotate +16+16 'hello, world!' out.png ``` ## AUTHOR **scrot was originally developed by Tom Gilbert.** **Currently, source code is maintained by volunteers. Newer versions** **are available at https://github.com/resurrecting-open-source-projects/scrot** ## SEE ALSO **[ImageMagick(1)](/ImageMagick/1.md)** **[optipng(1)](/optipng/1.md)** **[xclip(1)](/xclip/1.md)** **[xdo(1)](/xdo/1.md)** **[xwininfo(1)](/xwininfo/1.md)**