How can I paste an image from clipboard directly to a file?

Question

I need exactly this one but on Linux:

Anyone know of a way to simply paste a screenshot (taken with PrtScn or Alt+PrtScn) into a Windows Explorer folder and have it be saved as an image (possibly with a dialog asking about image size and format options)? That is, I might take a screenshot with print screen, open a folder and hit Ctrl+V, and a new jpg (or png, or whatever) would appear in that folder with the contents of my screenshot.

Have a look at `xclip`. You may have to set the target format. — dirkt, Jan 14 '21 at 13:04
`xclip` seems to be a useful tool, but it doesn't cover such cases. — ceremcem, Jan 14 '21 at 14:33

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 14 '21 at 15:59

You could write a small script using zenity, xclip and convert.

Start with this, but note that it is yet very basic, and will overwrite clip.png whenever you run it:

#!/bin/bash
size=$(zenity --list --title "Select target size" --column=size original 2560 1920 1280 640)
if [ size = original ]; then
    xclip -selection c -o -t image/png > clip.png
else
    xclip -selection c -o -t image/png | convert -resize $size\> - clip.png
fi

For integration with your file-manager, you could check nautilus-actions or alike.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 14 '21 at 17:48

Install xclip and xdotools
```
sudo apt install xclip xdotools
```

Create an executable file, place it wherever you want with the following content:

#!/bin/bash

xdotool key ctrl+r
xdotool key ctrl+l
xdotool key ctrl+c
xdotool key 0xff1b

dir=$(xclip -selection clipboard -o)
# here the path to your Images folder
img_dir="/home/user/Images/"
img=$(ls -t "$img_dir" | head -n 1)
cp "$img_dir$img" "$dir/$img"

Create a keyboard shortcut for the file.
Press the screen print key. Then press your shortcut.

Tested on Ubuntu 20.04 with Nautilus, Nemo and Thunar.

How can I paste an image from clipboard directly to a file?

2 Answers2