Scrot
minimalistic command line screen capturing application
scrot is a minimalist command line screen capturing application. It allows a substantial degree of flexibility by specifying parameters on command line, including the ability to invoke a third-party utility to manipulate the resulting screenshot.
Description
Features of the program include the ability to limit the scope of capturing to a specific screen area, to set the delay (if needed to capture some menu or another UI element which is shown only when focused) and to specify the filename template using wildcards (including those of the strftime function from the C standard library). Other features include creating thumbnails of the taken screenshots and specifying the quality of the resulting image if lossy format is required.
The scrot utility follows the UNIX philosophy principles formulated by Doug McIlroy: the only thing it does is screen capturing, though it allows one to specify a command for further manipulations of a resulting file.
The ability to control scrot from the command line allows the user to run it over the network with tools like OpenSSH to get a screenshot of a remote desktop or execute it as the window manager command binding.
In February 2019, scrot was forked as part of the Resurrecting Open Source Project. This updated fork is being used for the Arch Linux package of scrot.
As of version 1.8.1, 2023-01-21, scrot does not support Wayland-based systems because, by design, Wayland is more secure than X11 and does not allow one application to capture the content of other applications' windows.
“Scrot” enters the record as minimalistic command line screen capturing application. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Scrot, minimalistic and command can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Scrot” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Scrot, minimalistic and command provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7439308. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2019 and 2023.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Scrot”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Scrot primary sources, Scrot archive and Scrot research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Scrot”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Scrot” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.