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Ubuntu 22.04 comes with a out of box Screenshot App, when pressing PRINT. Taking a screenshot in 22.04

When a screenshot is taken, it will be automatically saved to ~/Pictures/Screenshots as PNG. Is it possible to alter that so the screenshots will be automatically saved as .jpg?

bfontaine
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user3169083
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3 Answers3

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The build-in screenshot tool of Gnome Shell 42 does not expose options to change the default file format (nor the default save location). Your only option will be to convert the file yourself.

Note that .jpg is a lossy format. Some visual information is thrown away during compressing, and artifacts may reveal, especially when dealing with line art. .png, in contrast, is lossless, so preserves the information exactly. It may also be more efficient for screenshots with lines and solid graphics. .jpg is more space efficient for photos with lots of shades and gradients.

vanadium
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If using "screenshot" app, change the extension from png to jpg when saving the picture. If using the "print screen" key, the default is png, which you should not attempt to change.

rob grune
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Ubuntu 22.04: How to rapidly take a screenshot, save it as a JPG, and edit it using the Shutter program to add highlighting

You can't exactly make the default PrintScreen-button Ubuntu 22.04 snipping tool save as JPG by default, but converting it is really easy:

Press PrtSc, make your selection, and press Enter. It takes a screenshot and saves it by default at this path, for instance: /home/gabriel/Pictures/Screenshots/Screenshot from 2022-12-19 18-28-23.png. It also presents a pop-up at the top of your main monitor, like this:

enter image description here

Click on that pop-up (you have to be fast, as you only have a second or two), and it opens it up in your "Image Viewer" default image viewing app.

From there, click the hamburger icon (3 horizontal lines), and go to "Save As...":

enter image description here

Change the extension in the "Name" box from .png to .jpg and click "Save" and Image Viewer will convert it to JPG for you.

You can also click the "Supported image files" drop-down menu at the bottom-right of the Image Viewer instead, to select your desired save format to convert the file to, as shown in this screenshot here:

enter image description here

I know this doesn't change the snipping tool's default behavior, but it's a decent work-around for now until they (hopefully) add that desired feature.

Going further: adding highlighting

Shutter works fantastic for editing images quickly! Install it with:

sudo apt install shutter

Once converted as explained above, the image is now a JGP file, and it is still opened up in the Image Viewer. Click the hamburger icon again but this time go to "Open With..." (you can see this option above "Save As..." in an earlier image above). Then, choose "Shutter". Either double-click it, or use the "Select" button:

enter image description here

In Shutter, click the "Edit" button:

enter image description here

Choose the "Highlighter" tool:

enter image description here

Then highlight and save:

enter image description here

Voila! You're now a snipping tool expert, ready to go write a tutorial like this one.

Note: Shutter doesn't work to take screenshots on Ubuntu 22.04 since Wayland, instead of X, is the default window system, and Shutter currently only works with the X window system, which was previously Ubuntu's default prior to Ubuntu 22.04.

Update 2 June 2023: to change Ubuntu 22.04 to use X instead of Wayland, see my answer here under the section "To use the X11 Window Manager in Ubuntu".

Gabriel Staples
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    Converting a png first to jpeg, then opening it for editing definitely is a bad idea. Edit the ong instead and edit, then save as jpg. That will minimize quality loss, going through jpeg compression only at the end instead of twice. – vanadium Dec 20 '22 at 08:28
  • @vanadium, I don't know what you mean, nor how to do that. Taking a screenshot saves it as PNG. What is "ong", by the way? And what does it mean to "Edit the ong instead and edit, then save as jpg?" I'm guessing there's a typo, but I'm not following. – Gabriel Staples Jun 03 '23 at 01:54
  • @vanadium, oh, maybe I understand. You mean to open the original PNG screenshot in Shutter, edit it, then save it as a JPG from Shutter, right? (Instead of saving it as a JPG, then opening it in Shutter and editing it, then saving it again as a JPG). – Gabriel Staples Jun 03 '23 at 01:56