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Shotpad

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What Shotpad is

Shotpad is a free Linux application for capturing, annotating, beautifying, and reading text from screenshots. It captures areas, screens, or windows, then supports cropping, rotation, flipping, unlimited undo and redo, and exports at 1×, 1.5×, 2×, or 3×. Screenshots can use gradient, solid, image, or transparent backgrounds with padding, rounded corners, borders, shadows, tilt, grain, and aspect ratios. Annotation tools include a pen, highlighter, arrows, lines, shapes, text, numbered badges, and blur, pixelate, or solid-block redactions. Grab text copies OCR results from a selected region, recognizing English, Turkish, Azerbaijani, and Russian. The recognizer runs locally, works without a network connection, and uploads nothing; redactions are included in the pixels OCR reads. Shotpad supports X11 and Wayland capture, clipboard exchange, and several Linux desktop environments. It is distributed through pipx or a self-contained AppImage and licensed under GPL-3.0-or-later.

Who it suits

Shotpad suits Linux users who need screenshot capture, annotation, visual styling, OCR, and pixel-based redaction. It is also useful for people preferring local processing and free, open-source distribution.

What it does well

  • Free Linux screenshot and annotation app
  • Local OCR works offline
  • Multiple redaction and annotation tools
  • Exports up to 3×
  • Available through pipx or AppImage

What to know first

  • Linux only
  • Some desktop environments are untested
  • GNOME 46 and earlier have a shortcut issue
  • GPL-3.0-or-later license includes no warranty

Verdict

Shotpad combines screenshot editing, presentation styling, OCR, and redaction without network processing. Check desktop-environment compatibility, especially the documented GNOME shortcut limitation, before installing.

Facts from Shotpad's own pages

Annotations
Annotation tools include pen, highlighter, arrows, lines, shapes, text, numbered badges, redaction, and eraser. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
Beautification
It supports gradient, solid, image, or transparent backgrounds, plus padding, shadows, borders, grain, aspect ratios, and tilt. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
Capture and editing
It captures areas, screens, or windows and supports cropping, rotating, flipping, undo and redo, and export at up to 3×. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
Desktop support
The project lists GNOME, KDE Plasma, XFCE, MATE, Cinnamon, and LXQt support on X11 and Wayland; several other desktop environments are recognized but marked untested. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
Distribution
It can be installed with pipx or downloaded as a self-contained AppImage. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
Editing
Shotpad supports cropping, rotating, flipping, unlimited undo and redo, and export at 1×, 1.5×, 2×, or 3×. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
Free plan
Yes · github.com, 20 Sept 2026
Installation
Shotpad can be installed through pipx or downloaded as an AppImage, which includes its own Python and Qt. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
Integration
Shotpad supports copying finished images to the clipboard and opening or pasting images from other applications. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
Known limitation
The README describes a capture shortcut issue on GNOME 46 and earlier when no other window is open; GNOME 47 and 48 are marked untested. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
Latest release
The GitHub releases page lists Shotpad 1.0.7 as the latest release and dates it August 8. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
License
Shotpad is licensed under GPL-3.0-or-later, and the README says the product name and icon remain the maker’s property. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
Maker
The README identifies Turan Ismayilov as the copyright holder and says copyright is © 2026. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
No telemetry
The README says Shotpad never checks for updates on its own and never phones home. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
OCR
Its bundled OCR recognizes English, Turkish, Azerbaijani, and Russian, and accepts additional Tesseract traineddata files. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
Offline and privacy
The OCR runs on the user’s machine, uploads nothing, and works without a network connection; Shotpad also states that it never phones home. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
Offline processing
The OCR recognizer is bundled, runs on the user's machine, and works without a network connection; the page says nothing is uploaded. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
Purpose
Shotpad is a Linux screenshot capture, annotation, and beautification app with OCR. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
Redaction tools
Yes · github.com, 20 Sept 2026
Redaction behavior
Redactions are baked into screenshot pixels, and OCR reads the redacted image as it will be exported. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
Requirements
The pipx installation requires Python 3.10 or later, while the AppImage includes Python and Qt and has no host dependencies. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
Screenshot styling
It supports gradient, solid, image, or transparent backgrounds, padding, rounded corners, shadows, tilt, and grain. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
Wayland permissions
On Wayland, screen capture uses the XDG desktop portal, and GNOME and KDE request permission on first use. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026

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