Take Screenshots and Edit Them in Ubuntu Using Shutter

Ubuntu’s built-in screenshot tool, gnome-screenshot, handles the basics—press Print Screen, get an image. But the moment you need to annotate, crop, highlight, or blur sensitive information, you’re reaching for GIMP or an online editor. Shutter fills that gap. It’s a feature-rich screenshot application that captures, edits, and exports—all without leaving the app. This guide covers installation, every capture mode, the built-in editor, and why Shutter became the go-to screenshot tool for Ubuntu power users.

Why Shutter Over gnome-screenshot

Here’s a quick comparison:

If you take more than a couple of screenshots a week, Shutter pays for itself in saved time almost immediately.

Step-by-Step Installation

Step 1 — Install from the Ubuntu Repositories

Shutter is available in the default Ubuntu repositories for 12.04 through 13.10:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install shutter

Step 2 — Install the Editing Libraries

The built-in image editor depends on a Perl canvas library that may not be pulled in automatically:

sudo apt-get install libgoo-canvas-perl

Without this package, Shutter will work for capturing but the Edit button will be greyed out.

Step 3 — Launch Shutter

Open Shutter from the Dash (search for “Shutter”) or run it from the terminal:

shutter &

Shutter places an indicator icon in the system tray for quick access.

Step 4 — Configure Global Keyboard Shortcuts (Optional)

For faster access, map Shutter’s capture modes to keyboard shortcuts. Open System Settings → Keyboard → Shortcuts → Custom Shortcuts and add:

• Full screen: shutter --full mapped to Print Screen
• Selection: shutter --selection mapped to Shift+Print Screen
• Window: shutter --active mapped to Alt+Print Screen

This replaces the default gnome-screenshot bindings with Shutter equivalents.

Capture Modes

Full Screen

Click the Desktop button in the toolbar or press your configured shortcut. Shutter captures every pixel on every connected monitor and adds the image to its session tray.

Window Capture

Click the Window button, then click any window on your desktop. Shutter captures that window, including its decorations (title bar, borders, shadow). You can also select from a list of open windows in the dropdown.

Selection Capture

Click the Selection button, then click and drag a rectangle on screen. A crosshair cursor appears, and Shutter displays the pixel dimensions as you drag. Release to capture.

Menu and Tooltip Capture

Use the delay feature for capturing elements that disappear when you click away. Set a 5-second delay, click Selection, quickly open the menu or hover over the tooltip, and wait for the capture to trigger.

Web Page Capture

Shutter includes a plugin that captures entire web pages, including content below the fold. Access this via File → Capture Web Page, enter the URL, and Shutter renders and captures the full page.

Using the Built-in Editor

After capturing an image, click the Edit button (or double-click the thumbnail in the session tray). The editor opens with a comprehensive toolbar:

Drawing Tools

• Arrow: Draw straight arrows to point at specific elements. Customise colour, thickness, and arrowhead style.
• Rectangle/Ellipse: Draw shapes around areas of interest. Choose filled or outline, adjust colour and opacity.
• Text: Place text labels anywhere on the image. Set font, size, colour, and background.
• Freehand: Draw freehand lines for informal annotations.
• Line: Straight lines with adjustable weight and colour.

Highlighting and Obscuring

• Highlight: Draws a translucent coloured rectangle, making an area stand out.
• Pixelate: Blurs a selected region, ideal for hiding passwords, email addresses, or personal information.
• Auto-increment numbers: Places numbered markers (1, 2, 3…) on the image for step-by-step illustrations.

Cropping

Select Image → Crop to trim the image to a specific area. The crop tool displays a resizable rectangle with handles.

Export and Sharing

Shutter saves captures to a configurable directory (default: ~/Pictures). The filename pattern is customisable under Edit → Preferences → Main → Filename. Common patterns include:

• %Y-%m-%d_%H%M%S — timestamp-based names.
• %T_screenshot — type-based prefix (selection, window, full).

Supported Formats

Shutter exports to PNG, JPEG, BMP, and other formats. PNG is the default and recommended choice for screenshots with text, as it’s lossless. Switch to JPEG for photographic content where file size matters.

Upload Plugins

Shutter shipped with plugins for uploading directly to image hosting services. These were accessible under Screenshot → Export. While specific hosting services have changed over the years, the plugin architecture allowed third-party upload targets.

Common Pitfalls

Edit button greyed out. This is the most common issue and is caused by the missing libgoo-canvas-perl package. Install it and restart Shutter. On some Ubuntu versions, you may also need libgoo-canvas-perl dependencies:

sudo apt-get install libgoo-canvas-perl libgoo-canvas-perl

System tray icon not appearing. In Unity, the system tray whitelist controls which applications can show indicators. If Shutter’s icon is missing, add it to the whitelist:

gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.Panel systray-whitelist "['all']"

Log out and back in for the change to take effect.

Screenshots appear black or corrupted. This typically indicates a compositor conflict. If you’re running a compositing window manager and also have a standalone compositor (like Compton), they may interfere with screen capture. Disable the standalone compositor and rely on the window manager’s built-in compositing.

Shutter slow to start. Shutter is a Perl application, and startup time can be noticeable on slower hardware. Once running, it stays in the background via the system tray. Add Shutter to your startup applications so it’s always ready.

Shutter vs Other Tools

Beyond gnome-screenshot, other alternatives existed in the Ubuntu ecosystem:

• Scrot — command-line only, no editor. Great for scripting, poor for interactive use.
• ImageMagick import — powerful CLI tool but steep learning curve.
• GIMP — overkill for simple annotations, but unmatched for heavy editing.

Shutter sat in the productive middle ground: powerful enough for professional documentation, accessible enough for everyday use.

Final Thoughts

Shutter transformed screenshot workflows on Ubuntu. The combination of flexible capture modes, a capable built-in editor, and session management made it indispensable for anyone writing tutorials, filing bug reports, or documenting processes. Install it once, set up your keyboard shortcuts, and the Print Screen key becomes dramatically more useful.