Better Screenshots

Screenshot tool with image and background customizations plus cloud uploads.

• Configurable via TOML/JSON/YAML files with hot-reload support.
• Optional cloud hosting for uploading screenshots and generating shareable links.

Philosophy: Leverage existing tools (grim, slurp, scrot) for capture, focus on unique value (background customization, config-driven workflow).

Features

Capture Modes

• Full screen - Capture all monitors or single monitor (via grim)
• Window - Select and capture a specific window (via grim)
• Region - Interactive region selection (via slurp)
• Delayed - 3s, 5s, 10s countdown options

Background Customization

• Solid color backgrounds
• Gradient backgrounds (with direction control)
• Custom image backgrounds
• Frame/Border styles (solid, rounded)
• Shadow depth and blur
• Padding around screenshot
• Rounded corners for background and screenshot
• Preset templates (Instagram, Twitter, blog-ready sizes)

Output Options

• Formats: PNG, JPEG, WebP
• Copy to clipboard
• Auto-save with custom naming pattern

Installation

Prerequisites

# Wayland
grim          # Screenshot capture
slurp         # Region selection

# X11 (fallback)
scrot         # Screenshot capture

# Optional
wl-copy       # Clipboard (Wayland)
xclip         # Clipboard (X11)

Install via SSH (All Linux Distros)

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/snhsish/better-screenshots/main/install.sh | sh

This script will:

• Download the latest binary
• Install to ~/.local/bin/better-screenshots
• Check for required dependencies (grim, slurp)

Nix Installation

• Coming soon.

Usage

# Capture with default settings from config
better-screenshots

# Override config options
better-screenshots capture --mode region --format png

# Full screen capture
better-screenshots capture --mode fullscreen

# Window capture
better-screenshots capture --mode window

# Delayed capture
better-screenshots capture --delay 5

# Use a preset
better-screenshots capture --preset "Instagram Post"

# Copy to clipboard only (don't save)
better-screenshots capture --clipboard-only

# Custom output path
better-screenshots capture --output ~/my-shot.png

CLI Commands

# Show help
better-screenshots --help

# List available presets
better-screenshots presets

# Show config file path
better-screenshots config-path

# Create default config file
better-screenshots init-config

Configuration

Config files are checked in this order (first found wins):

1. ~/.config/better-screenshots/config.toml
2. ~/.config/better-screenshots/config.json
3. ~/.config/better-screenshots/config.yaml

Run better-screenshots init-config to create a default config file.

TOML Config Structure

# ============================================
# CAPTURE SETTINGS
# ============================================
[capture]
default_format = "png"
save_directory = "~/Pictures/Screenshots"
naming_pattern = "screenshot_%Y%m%d_%H%M%S"
default_mode = "region"  # fullscreen, window, region
delay_seconds = 0

# ============================================
# BACKGROUND SETTINGS
# ============================================
[background]
default_type = "gradient"  # solid, gradient, image
default_color = "#1a1a2e"
padding = 32
shadow_enabled = true
shadow_blur = 20
shadow_offset_x = 0
shadow_offset_y = 10
shadow_color = "#000000"
frame_enabled = true
frame_width = 0
frame_color = "#ffffff"
frame_radius = 16
background_radius = 16

[background.gradient]
enabled = true
start_color = "#ff5858"
end_color = "#ffc8c8"
direction = "horizontal"  # vertical, horizontal, diagonal

[background.image]
enabled = false
path = "~/Pictures/bg.png"
fit = "cover"  # cover, contain, stretch
opacity = 1.0

# ============================================
# OUTPUT SETTINGS
# ============================================
[output]
jpeg_quality = 90
png_compression = 6
copy_to_clipboard = true
show_save_dialog = false

# ============================================
# CLOUD HOSTING
# ============================================
[cloud]
enabled = false
provider = "self_hosted"  # self_hosted, imgur, cloudinary, s3

[cloud.self_hosted]
api_url = "https://your-server.com/api"
api_key = ""

[cloud.third_party]
service = "imgur"
api_key = ""

[cloud.advanced]
auto_upload = false
copy_link_to_clipboard = true
delete_after_days = 30  # 0 = never

# ============================================
# PRESETS
# ============================================
[[presets]]
name = "Instagram Post"
width = 1080
height = 1080
background_type = "solid"
background_color = "#1a1a2e"
padding = 40

[[presets]]
name = "Twitter Image"
width = 1200
height = 675
background_type = "gradient"
gradient_start = "#1a1a2e"
gradient_end = "#16213e"
padding = 32

Keybind Integration

Configure in your window manager (i3, Sway, etc.):

# Sway
bindsym $mod+Print exec better-screenshots capture --mode region
bindsym Print exec better-screenshots capture --mode fullscreen

Tech Stack

License

MIT