I'm currently using Nobara 42 with Fedora 42, featuring KDE Plasma and Wayland, while also utilizing the Nvidia build. My goal is to make the Print Screen button function like it does in Windows. I want it to take a screenshot, immediately copy it to the clipboard without any pop-up windows, and without interrupting the active application, like a game that uses Print Screen for saving screenshots. Right now, Spectacle opens every time I press Print Screen and takes focus, which is not ideal. I've disabled the global keybind for Print Screen, so it no longer interrupts my active applications, but it also doesn't copy the screenshot to the clipboard. Ideally, I would like the Print Screen function to handle this without stealing focus or blocking inputs from my active window.
5 Answers
Unfortunately, not consuming the input seems tricky because of Wayland's design. You could try setting a different shortcut, like Shift+Print Screen with a command like `spectacle --fullscreen --background --copy-image`. That could work better for you.
Have you checked the shortcuts in your system settings? Sometimes, there are additional command options that might not be obvious at first glance.
I checked them initially, but I missed the command details. I went back and set the Print Screen to use the console command mentioned before.
Are you really looking to replicate the Windows behavior of just copying a screen snapshot to the clipboard? I think there's a key combo like Meta+Shift+Print Screen. Keep in mind, though, that Spectacle overlays a GUI, which lets you edit or save the image. You might also explore setting it to auto-save if that helps.
That functionality isn't useless for my needs; directly copying to the clipboard is handy for quick pastes. Letting me choose what part of the screen to capture is also a definite plus!
While I'm not a KDE user, you might want to explore if there are different shortcuts for capturing the screen or specific windows. I checked the Spectacle manual and noticed you can modify the command to use `-b` for background (to skip the GUI) and `-c` for clipboard, which should give you the behavior you want!
That definitely works! Using those options, you can get a screenshot straight into the clipboard without any focus issues. I totally forgot that console commands have options—thanks for the tip!
It seems strange to pass all key presses to the focused window, like Windows does! I’d suggest remapping the Print Screen key to something else instead of trying to squeeze too much functionality into it. You could use a utility for more specific keybindings, like keys or xwaykeyz.
From what I understand, that's mainly the case for Print Screen. Other global shortcuts in Windows still work fine. I think xwaykeyz is definitely worth looking into for more flexible keybinding options!
I ended up going with that suggestion after looking up the Spectacle manual, adding -nonotify to avoid popups.