Flameshot – Open-source screenshot software

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Overall reception

  • Widely praised as a powerful, convenient, cross‑platform screenshot tool used daily on Linux, Windows, and macOS.
  • Users like that it “does what it says,” is quick, and generally stays out of the way until needed.
  • Some consider it the best option on Linux; others still prefer alternatives (e.g., Greenshot, ShareX, CleanShot X, Skitch, Shutter) for specific workflows or UX.

Wayland and platform support

  • Several report that it now works well on Linux with Wayland.
  • Others still experience serious issues (e.g., not working on Ubuntu 22.04 without Xorg, not working under some compositors like Hyprland, feeling less snappy than under X11).
  • Works on macOS and Windows, but binding to the Print Screen key is reported as easy on Linux/macOS and unclear or harder on Windows.

Core features and UX

  • Strong points: precise region selection, in-place annotations (arrows, text, numbering, highlight, blur, rectangles), quick copy-to-clipboard, and the “pin” feature for floating snippets.
  • Numbered callouts are especially appreciated for documentation and support.
  • Some find the monochrome, context-dependent toolbar icons unintuitive and dislike that icon layout shifts with selection shape.

Comparisons to other tools

  • Compared to ShareX: Flameshot is seen as simpler and less cluttered but missing key features such as built-in video/GIF recording and richer post-capture editing.
  • Compared to Greenshot: Flameshot wins on Linux support and in-place annotations; Greenshot is preferred by some for its separate editor, object-level editing, speed, and overall usability.

Workflows and integrations

  • Common pattern: bind a shortcut (often Print Screen) to launch Flameshot in selection mode, annotate, then copy or save.
  • Several advanced workflows pipe output to scripts: automatic upload to S3 or web hosts, custom image upload APIs, integration with Google Photos or Dropbox, OCR via Tesseract, barcode decoding, and even remote OCR/translation servers.

Limitations and feature requests

  • Frequently requested: editable/movable annotation objects, opening existing images, smoothing for freehand drawings, color picker, more upload backends than Imgur, OCR as a native feature, multi-monitor DPI handling fixes, and integrated screen recording (GIF/MP4).
  • Some users criticize blur for privacy reasons, preferring cropping or opaque rectangles.