Tux Crazy!: Shutter: An amazing screenshot taking tool reviewed

Shutter describes itself as a "feature rich screenshot program" and looking at the screenshot below (which was taken by shutter) , it does seem to be packed with features. It is available for various Linux distributions, either through the package managers or through packages offered at the project web site (provided below).

Figure: Shutter Interface

Capturing tools:

Sessions:
When you want to take screenshots, multiple screenshots will be viewable in your session. The whole series of images can then be saved. Handy tool when you are taking screenshots one by one.

Selection capture:
The selection capture tool consists of a simple and an advanced option. The advanced option allows you to resize the area that is being captured. A small box is also present on the side, which shows a zoomed image of the region where your cursor currently is. This is a very useful addition for taking perfect screenshots.

Screen/Workspace capture:
You can capture any screen or workspace using this tool. You can also capture all workspaces as shown below:

Figure: My four workspaces

It also worked, when I tried to take a screenshot of all 4 workspaces in KDE. Other capturing options such as window, menu and tooltip capture are also present.

Exporting tools:
This is where Shutter really starts to stand out as a program. Not only can you save your screenshot in a variety of formats, you can also upload your screenshot to online image hosting services such as imageshack and ubuntu pics.

Figure: Uploading images.

Editing tools:
Before saving, Shutter offers an array of editing tools. Have a look at the image editor. You can add shapes, lines, text and also blur out areas.

Figure: The image editor

Shutter also comes with a host of plugins that can be used to alter your image. The list is full of different options that you can try and I certainly had a lot of fun using them.

Figure: A list of plugins that can be used.

Figure: The reflection plugin

Shutter indeed does seem to live up to its description and is overall a very useful application. However, a problem was found regarding the website capture tool. It simply did not work properly for many sites. For debian.org, the website capture tool seemed to work just fine.

Figure: Debian.org in all its glory.

However, it only provided a small section of the site when I tried to take a screenshot of youtube.com It didn't work at all for tux-crazy.com. (sniff).

Figure: That's all that came up for youtube.com

Problems aside, this application is an excellent tool for anyone who takes a lot of screenshots. It certainly is full to the brim with features. Try it out, you won't be disappointed.

This program scored a 9 on the review meter because:

The interface is usable.
The software fulfills the goals of its project.
It is readily available and accessible.
It is very stable and dependable.
It contains a good range of useful features.
The interface is responsive

The problem regarding the website screenshot taking is the only reason why this program did not achieve the full 10 points. For more information on this type of grading, please visit the "How software is reviewed" page.

Links
Shutter download packages.
The Review Meter
How software is reviewed