shotdock

Wayland screenshot and screen recording tool with window framing and an optional floating dock.

Supports Hyprland, Sway, River, Niri, and other Wayland compositors.

Showcase

Canvas Background	Window Framing	Floating Dock

Features

• Area & Window Snip: Interactive region selection with window snapping (slurp).
• Window Framing: Rounded corners, Gaussian drop shadow, macOS-style titlebar, and gradient canvas backdrops.
• Offline Framing: Frame existing image files via shotdock frame <file>.
• Screen Freeze: Freeze screen content during area selection (hyprpicker).
• Screen Recording: 60 FPS H.264 video recording with monitor, window, or region selector (wf-recorder).
• OCR Text Extraction: Extract text from screen directly to Wayland clipboard (tesseract).
• Optional Floating Dock: GTK4 LayerShell toolbar for quick visual access.

Quick Start

Installation

yay -S shotdock

CLI Capture

# Snip region or click window
shotdock -a

# Capture window or region with framing
shotdock -w

# Capture focused monitor
shotdock -f

# Extract text to clipboard (OCR)
shotdock -t

# Toggle screen recording
shotdock -r

Installation

shotdock is built with native Wayland protocols and GTK4 layer-shell libraries.

Dependencies

Core Requirements

• gtk4 & gtk4-layer-shell
• grim & slurp
• imagemagick (ImageMagick 7 for shadow and canvas pipelines)
• wl-clipboard
• libnotify (notify-send)

Optional Tools

• hyprpicker: Freezes screen animations during area snips (--freeze / -z)
• tesseract & tesseract-data-eng: Optical Character Recognition (-t)
• wf-recorder: Video screen recording (-r, --record-area)
• satty or swappy: Interactive annotation editor
• rofi: Interactive recording target selection menu

Package Manager Installation

Arch Linux (AUR)

# Using yay
yay -S shotdock

# Using paru
paru -S shotdock

Install recommended optional dependencies on Arch:

sudo pacman -S hyprpicker tesseract tesseract-data-eng wf-recorder swappy rofi

Pre-compiled Binary (Generic Linux x86_64)

Download the standalone tarball from GitHub Releases:

tar -xzf shotdock-v0.1.4-x86_64-linux.tar.gz
sudo install -Dm755 shotdock /usr/local/bin/shotdock

Fedora

sudo dnf install gtk4-devel gtk4-layer-shell-devel grim slurp ImageMagick wl-clipboard libnotify tesseract wf-recorder swappy rofi

Building from Source

Ensure Rust stable is installed:

git clone https://github.com/sirrryasir/shotdock.git
cd shotdock
cargo build --release
sudo install -Dm755 target/release/shotdock /usr/local/bin/shotdock

Cargo Install

Install directly into Cargo’s binary directory:

cargo install --path .

Compositor Keybindings

Example keybindings for Wayland compositors.

Hyprland (hyprland.conf)

# Screenshots
bind = SUPER, P, exec, shotdock -a
bind = SUPER CTRL, P, exec, shotdock -a --freeze
bind = SUPER ALT, P, exec, shotdock -w
bind = , Print, exec, shotdock -p

# Utilities
bind = SUPER CTRL, T, exec, shotdock -t
bind = SUPER, R, exec, shotdock -r
bind = SUPER SHIFT, D, exec, shotdock

# Floating dock blur rules
layerrule = blur, shotdock
layerrule = ignorezero, shotdock

Sway (config)

bindsym $mod+p exec shotdock -a
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+p exec shotdock -a --freeze
bindsym $mod+Alt+p exec shotdock -w
bindsym Print exec shotdock -p
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+t exec shotdock -t
bindsym $mod+r exec shotdock -r
bindsym $mod+Shift+d exec shotdock

Niri (config.kdl)

binds {
    Mod+P { spawn "shotdock" "-a"; }
    Mod+Ctrl+P { spawn "shotdock" "-a" "--freeze"; }
    Mod+Alt+P { spawn "shotdock" "-w"; }
    Print { spawn "shotdock" "-p"; }
    Mod+Ctrl+T { spawn "shotdock" "-t"; }
    Mod+R { spawn "shotdock" "-r"; }
    Mod+Shift+D { spawn "shotdock"; }
}

Capture Modes

shotdock provides CLI commands for all capture operations.

1. Area Snip (with Window Snapping)

Interactive selection via slurp. Drag a rectangular box or click on any window to select it:

shotdock -a

Saves the capture to disk and copies it to the Wayland clipboard.

2. Screen Freeze Selection

Freezes screen content during selection using hyprpicker:

shotdock -a --freeze
# or
shotdock -z

3. Window & Region Framing

Captures a window or region and applies 16px rounded corners, Gaussian drop shadow, window titlebar, and canvas background:

shotdock -w

4. Focused Monitor

Captures the currently focused monitor:

shotdock -f

5. All Connected Monitors

Captures a full desktop span across all monitors:

shotdock -p
# or
shotdock --all

6. OCR Text Extraction

Extracts text from a selected area to the clipboard using Tesseract:

shotdock -t

Modifier Flags

Examples

# Snip and open in editor
shotdock -a -e

# Framed capture without shadow
shotdock -w --no-shadow

# Framed capture without titlebar
shotdock -w --no-titlebar

Floating Dock

Run shotdock without arguments to open the GTK4 LayerShell dock:

shotdock

• Escape: Close dock
• Enter: Trigger capture for active mode
• Click buttons to trigger actions or click gear icon for settings popover

Window Framing & Canvas Themes

shotdock applies rounded corners, drop shadows, window titlebars, and background canvas gradients.

Window Framing

When framing is applied:

1. Rounded Corners: 16px anti-aliased corner radius.
2. Drop Shadow: Multi-pass Gaussian drop shadow cast evenly on all sides.
3. Window Titlebar: Dark mock titlebar with macOS-style window controls.

Capture Commands

# Framed capture (titlebar + shadow + canvas)
shotdock -w

# Framed capture without shadow
shotdock -w --no-shadow

# Framed capture without titlebar
shotdock -w --no-titlebar

Canvas Themes

Framing Existing Images (shotdock frame)

Frame existing images via CLI:

# Basic framing
shotdock frame screenshot.png

# Frame with custom output file
shotdock frame terminal.png -o docs/terminal_framed.png

# Apply canvas theme
shotdock frame window.png --theme Sunset -o framed_card.png

# Copy framed output directly to clipboard
shotdock frame code.png -c

# Strip titlebar
shotdock frame app.png --no-titlebar --theme Breeze

Screen Recording

shotdock uses wf-recorder for H.264 video recordings.

Recording Profile

Default configuration:

• Codec: libx264
• Rate control: Constant Rate Factor crf=18
• Frame rate: 60 FPS (record_fps)
• Pixel format: yuv420p
• Preset: veryfast

Interactive Target Selection

Trigger screen recording:

shotdock -r

shotdock opens a selection menu (via rofi if installed):

1. Display: Choose a monitor to record.
2. Window or Area: Click a window or drag a region using slurp.

To start region recording directly without the menu:

shotdock --record-area

Process Management

• Start: Run shotdock -r.
• Stop: Run shotdock -r again.
• Signal: wf-recorder is sent SIGINT to cleanly finalize the MP4 container.
• Clipboard: File path to the .mp4 is copied to clipboard.
• Default Directory: ~/Videos/Recordings/.
• PID File: Tracked in $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/shotdock/record.pid.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

Extract plain text directly from any screen region into your Wayland clipboard.

Usage

1. Trigger OCR mode via the floating dock or CLI:

   shotdock -t
   

2. Drag a rectangular selection over any on-screen text, terminal buffer, error dialog, or image.
3. The extracted text is immediately written to your Wayland clipboard (wl-clipboard) and an interactive notification displays a preview of the recognized text.

Configuration

Configure the language model in ~/.config/shotdock/config.json:

{
  "ocr_lang": "eng"
}

The language code matches Tesseract dataset codes (e.g., eng, deu, fra, spa, jpn).

Dependencies

• tesseract: The OCR engine
• tesseract-data-eng: English language trained data (or language pack of your choice)
• wl-clipboard: Wayland clipboard tool (wl-copy)

Configuration Reference

The configuration file is located at ~/.config/shotdock/config.json:

{
  "show_cursor": false,
  "freeze": false,
  "window_shadow": true,
  "macos_titlebar": true,
  "canvas_theme": "Transparent",
  "timer_seconds": 0,
  "save_to_disk": true,
  "copy_to_clipboard": true,
  "open_in_editor": false,
  "save_dir": "~/Pictures/Screenshots",
  "editor": null,
  "ocr_lang": "eng",
  "studio_quality": true,
  "record_fps": 60
}

Schema

• show_cursor (boolean): Include mouse cursor in screenshots. Default false.
• freeze (boolean): Freeze screen animations during snip via hyprpicker. Default false.
• window_shadow (boolean): Render 16px rounded corners and Gaussian drop shadow. Default true.
• macos_titlebar (boolean): Add dark mock titlebar with window controls. Default true.
• canvas_theme (string): Background canvas preset. Default "Transparent".
• timer_seconds (number): Countdown delay in seconds before capture (0, 3, 5, 10). Default 0.
• save_to_disk (boolean): Write screenshot PNG to save_dir. Default true.
• copy_to_clipboard (boolean): Copy screenshot PNG to Wayland clipboard. Default true.
• open_in_editor (boolean): Immediately launch annotation editor after capture. Default false.
• save_dir (string): Directory path for saved screenshots (supports ~/).
• editor (string or null): Custom editor binary (e.g. "satty" or "swappy"). Default auto-detects satty then swappy.
• ocr_lang (string): Tesseract OCR language model code. Default "eng".
• studio_quality (boolean): Enable 60 FPS visually lossless H.264 recording profile (CRF 18). Default true.
• record_fps (number): Target framerate for video recording. Default 60.

Canvas Themes

• "Transparent": Alpha PNG with soft drop shadow.
• "FollowSystem": Dynamic gradient matching desktop wallpaper palette (Wallbash).
• "RealWallpaper": Screenshot centered over blurred desktop wallpaper.
• "White" / "Black": Solid studio backdrops.
• "Sunset": Pink to purple gradient (#f43f5e to #8b5cf6).
• "Candy": Violet gradient (#ec4899 to #a855f7).
• "Breeze": Cyan to blue gradient (#06b6d4 to #3b82f6).
• "Raindrop": Blue to indigo gradient (#3b82f6 to #6366f1).
• "Midnight": Deep dark indigo gradient (#1e1b4b to #0f172a).
• "Forest": Emerald to green gradient (#059669 to #10b981).