Use the import program to capture some or all of an X server screen and save the image to a file. import captures the window selected by clicking or program argument. See Command Line Processing for advice on how to structure your import command or see below for example usages of the command.

Example Usage

We list a few examples of the import command here to illustrate its usefulness and ease of use. To get started, let's import an image of an X11 window in the JPEG format:

$ magick import rose.jpg

To select the area you want to capture, move the cursor to the desired window and click (or click and drag) the left mouse button. To cancel the capture, click the right mouse button.

To capture the entire X server screen in the PostScript image format:

$ magick import -window root screen.ps

This command enables you to select a specific area on your screen and copy the selection to your clipboard. You can use this feature to conveniently post images on applications that support image uploading:

$ magick import clipboard:

You can find additional examples of using import in Examples of ImageMagick Usage .

Option Summary

The import command recognizes these options. Click on an option to get more details about how that option works.

Option	Description
-adjoin	join images into a single multi-image file
-annotate `geometry text`	annotate the image with text
-border	include window border in the output image
-channel `type`	apply option to select image channels
-colors `value`	preferred number of colors in the image
-colorspace `type`	set image colorspace
-comment `string`	annotate image with comment
-compress `type`	image compression type
-contrast	enhance or reduce the image contrast
-crop `geometry`	preferred size and location of the cropped image
-debug `events`	import copious debugging information
-define `format:option`	define one or more image format options
-delay `centiseconds`	import the next image after pausing
-density `geometry`	horizontal and vertical density of the image
-depth `value`	image depth
-descend	obtain image by descending window hierarchy
-display `server`	get image or font from this X server
-dispose `method`	layer disposal method
-dither `method`	apply error diffusion to image
-encipher `filename`	convert plain pixels to cipher pixels
-encoding `type`	text encoding type
-endian `type`	endianness (MSB or LSB) of the image
-filter `type`	use this filter when resizing an image
-frame	include window manager frame
-geometry `geometry`	preferred size or location of the image
-gravity `type`	horizontal and vertical text placement
-help	print program options
-identify	identify the format and characteristics of the image
-interlace `type`	type of image interlacing scheme
-interpolate `method`	pixel color interpolation method
-label `name`	assign a label to an image
-limit `type value`	pixel cache resource limit
-log `format`	format of debugging information
-monitor	monitor progress
-monochrome	transform image to black and white
-negate	replace each pixel with its complementary color
-page `geometry`	size and location of an image canvas (setting)
-pause `seconds`	seconds delay between snapshots
-quality `value`	JPEG/MIFF/PNG compression level
-quantize `colorspace`	reduce image colors in this colorspace
-quiet	suppress all warning messages
-regard-warnings	pay attention to warning messages
-repage `geometry`	size and location of an image canvas
-resize `geometry`	resize the image
-respect-parentheses	settings remain in effect until parenthesis boundary
-rotate `degrees`	apply Paeth rotation to the image
-sampling-factor `geometry`	horizontal and vertical sampling factor
-scene `value`	image scene number
-screen	select image from root window
-seed `value`	seed a new sequence of pseudo-random numbers
-set `attribute value`	set an image attribute
-silent	operate silently, i.e. don't ring any bells
-strip	strip image of all profiles and comments
-synchronize	synchronize image to storage device
-taint	mark the image as modified
-transparent-color `color`	transparent color
-trim	trim image edges
-type `type`	image type
-verbose	print detailed information about the image
-version	print version information
-virtual-pixel `method`	access method for pixels outside the boundaries of the image
-window `id`	select window with this id or name