Get it
If you've already added the repository, just run:
sudo apt install shott
First-time setup (add repository)
curl -fsSL -o /tmp/colaapps-archive-keyring.gpg \
https://colaapps.com/repo/colaapps-archive-keyring.gpg &&
sudo install -D -m 0644 /tmp/colaapps-archive-keyring.gpg \
/etc/apt/keyrings/colaapps-archive-keyring.gpg
sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/colaapps.list > /dev/null <<'EOF'
deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/colaapps-archive-keyring.gpg] https://colaapps.com/repo stable main
EOF
sudo apt update
sudo apt install shott
The first two commands install the ColaApps signing key, so apt verifies every index it
downloads. Needs curl. Debian and Ubuntu.
Added ColaApps before, with [trusted=yes]? That turns
signature checking off — run the block above again, it overwrites the old line.
About
Shott
Take a screenshot, keep it.
Press PrintScreen. The screen freezes and dims, you drag a box around the part you want, and the moment you let go the shot is on your clipboard — ready to paste into a chat, a document, a ticket — with the save dialog already open in case you also want the file.
Don't want the file? Hit Cancel. The clipboard copy has already happened. That is the whole idea: the copy comes first, so cancelling costs you nothing.
Three keys
| Key | What it takes |
|---|---|
PrintScreen |
Select a region. The one you'll use. |
Shift + PrintScreen |
Every screen at once, as a single image. |
Ctrl + PrintScreen |
Just the screen your pointer is on. |
All three can be changed to whatever you like.
Controls
While the screen is frozen:
| Drag | Select — the exact pixel size is shown as you go |
| Release | Take it: clipboard, and the save dialog opens |
| Enter | Take the selection you've drawn |
| Space | Take the whole desktop instead |
| Esc, right-click, or a click with no drag | Cancel — nothing copied, nothing saved |
In the save dialog, Cancel keeps the clipboard copy and writes no file.
Shott sits in the tray. Right-click it for any capture, or for settings. There is no window in your way, and nothing to keep open.
Two screens, or three
Your desktop is treated as one picture, not as a list of screens to choose between. A selection can start on one monitor and finish on another, and it comes out as a single clean image. Mixed resolutions and different scaling are handled.
Settings
Sensible out of the box, all of it adjustable:
- Copy to clipboard — on. Turn it off if you only ever want files.
- Ask where to save — on. Turn it off and shots go straight to your folder, no dialog at all.
- Folder —
Pictures/Shottby default. - File name —
Shott 2026-09-22 08-14-03.png, in your own local time. The pattern is yours to change. - Format — PNG, or JPEG with a quality slider.
- Dim — how much the rest of the screen darkens while you choose.
- Start at sign-in — off by default.
No account, no cloud, no telemetry
Shott has no server side of any kind. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is measured, there is no sign-in and no licence check. Your screenshots go to your clipboard and to the folder you picked — the frozen image it shows you while you drag is held in memory and is never written to disk.
Installing
A per-user install — no administrator prompt. The first time Shott runs it shows itself, says it lives in the tray, and offers to start with your session; after that it starts silently and stays out of the way.
Requirements
| Windows | 10 or 11, 64-bit. Uses the WebView2 runtime that ships with Windows 11 and with any updated Windows 10. |
| Ubuntu | 22.04 or newer, 64-bit, on an X11 session. Wayland is not supported yet — pick "Ubuntu on Xorg" at the login screen. |
Windows 11 normally gives PrintScreen to its own Snipping Tool, which is why the key seems to do nothing at first. Shott spots that and offers one button to take it — the same switch Windows Settings shows under Accessibility → Keyboard, flipped only when you click it, and reversible there whenever you want it back.
On Linux the desktop environment usually holds PrintScreen and whoever asked first wins, so unbind it there or pick another key for Shott.
Known limits
- Wayland sessions are not supported yet; use X11 on Linux.
- The mouse cursor is never in the shot.
- There is no built-in editor — no arrows, no blur, no text. Shott takes the picture and gets out of the way.