Qt-based screenshot tool Flameshot has scored its first major update in 3 years, finishing up its Qt6 port, and adding a flurry of improvements in the process.
For those unfamiliar with Flameshot, it is a powerful yet easy to use screenshot app. It offers an on-screen interactive GUI with annotation and markup tools (pen, arrows, text, etc), plus bags of options. It works on most Linux distributions and desktop environments.
The last major release was Flameshot 12.0, which launched back in July 2022. Since then, the Qt6 port has been a major focus, along with bug fixes, better integration with Wayland-based compositor, and more bug fixes.
For more on what’s changed in the new version, read on.
Flameshot 13.0: What’s New?
Privacy safeguards receive particular attention in Flameshot 13.0.
The Imgur uploader is now disabled. Flameshot’s developers cite several reasons for doing this, not least the risk for users to accidentally upload sensitive data. They say it “feels very risky” for a screenshot tool to enable this feature by default for all.
The redaction tool also benefits from privacy-minded changes. The tool was updated to use a “secure” pixelation method by redacting using pixels from outside of the chosen area. An option to re-enable the old version is available is included.
Beyond the privacy improvements, this update adds JPEG quality control, a new date format (%d-%m-%Y) can be used in filenames of saved screenshots, and allows the “Screenshot Aborted” desktop notification shown when cancelling a screenshot to be disabled.
An especially helpful change when using the on-screen selection tool: dimensions appear in the capture area. This makes it easy to see what size snippet you’re about to grab. The position of this ‘Selection Geometry Display’ is configurable, set to bottom right by default.
Flameshot 13.0 adds new features and usability improvements:
- Pinned images support rotation and transparency effects
- Set different default sizes for text, circle counter, marker and other tools
- Arrows can be drawn in a reversed way (tip to tail)
- Optional grid overlay to help aligning annotations
- Symmetrical resizing while holding Shift key
- Aspect ratio preservation while holding Ctrl key
- New keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Backspace to cancel selections
- New “Open Save Path” action in the tray menu
Wayland users will notice correctly scaled screenshot previews if fractional scaling is active, and the utility now works with more Wayland compositors, including COSMIC desktop and wlroots tiling window managers like Hyprland, where screengrabs can work via grim.
Of course, Flameshot works on Windows and macOS, as well as Linux.
For those on Windows, Flameshot 13.0 adds dark mode support, WebP saving, and command-line interactivity. On macOS, the tool provides native Apple Silicon builds (no more Rosetta), JPEG clipboard sharing, and pinned image scrolling.
How to Install Flameshot 13.0
Flameshot is free, open source software. You can download official installers for Windows, macOS and Linux (including DEB packages for Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04) from the Flameshot Releases page on GitHub.
The Ubuntu DEB packages you find there may not work properly, so look out for ‘screenshot failed’ toasts in use (possibly due to AppArmor restrictions). You may want to seek out an alternative package, such as the snap (v13 is in the –edge channel there, as of writing).
Also, Flameshot’s Flathub listing is now verified, meaning it’s officially official and will show in the Software Manager app on Linux Mint (the distro hides unverified Flathub listings by default). While version 13.0 is not yet on Flathub, it is coming.