Shotpad review

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Shotpad is an open-source Linux desktop application for capturing, annotating, beautifying, and exporting screenshots. It supports GNOME, KDE Plasma, XFCE, MATE, Cinnamon, and LXQt across X11 and Wayland. Capture modes cover areas, screens, windows, the clipboard, and delayed captures, while annotation tools include freehand pen and highlighter tools, arrows, lines, rectangles, ellipses, text, and numbered badges. It is suited to Linux users who need local screenshot markup, redaction, and OCR without relying on an online service.

Its standout capability is the combination of offline OCR and editing controls. Users can extract text from selected screenshot regions with bundled language support, then crop, rotate, flip, undo, or redo edits before export. Redaction options include blur, pixelation, and solid blocks, giving the tool practical coverage for screenshots that contain sensitive information. Background controls extend beyond a simple canvas, with gradient, solid, image, and transparent options. Export is available at 1×, 1.5×, 2×, and 3× scale.

Shotpad keeps a narrow focus on local Linux screenshot work rather than presenting a broad cross-platform workflow. Its distribution is through a standalone AppImage or pipx, and its capture support spans both major Linux display protocols, X11 and Wayland. That makes it a strong fit for documentation, issue reports, tutorials, and visual notes created on Linux. Users who need a Linux-native capture and annotation utility with offline OCR should consider it; those who require another operating system or a wider workflow beyond screenshot editing should look elsewhere.

Shotpad pros and cons

• Where it wins
  • Works with X11 and Wayland capture
  • Includes blur, pixelate, and solid-block redaction
  • Offline OCR and export scaling up to 3×
• Where it doesn't
  • Available only on Linux
  • Export scaling uses four preset options
  • OCR relies on bundled language support

Shotpad fact sheet, pricing and score →

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Last updated 7 Oct 2026 · How we research and update