Maim

What is Maim?

Maim started as a small utility in the early 2010s, written in C and GTK, to provide a simple screenshot experience on Linux desktops. Over the years it has been packaged for major distributions such as Arch, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, and Ubuntu, showing a stable release cycle and community maintenance.

It targets users who need quick, keyboard‑driven screenshots without a full‑featured editor. The interface is minimal: a small tray icon and a few hotkeys, making it feel more like the classic Windows screenshot shortcuts than a feature‑rich editor.

Compared to Greenshot on Windows, Maim is less feature‑rich but offers a consistent experience across desktop environments. It lacks built‑in annotation tools or cloud upload, but its simplicity and low resource usage make it a solid choice for power users who prefer a straightforward capture tool.

Best for: Users who need a fast, no‑frills screenshot tool on Linux.

Key features of Maim

• Capture full screen, window, or selected area
• Save to PNG, JPG, or clipboard
• Customizable hotkeys
• Optional image compression
• Supports multiple monitors
• Portable binary available

Tips for Windows users

If you’re coming from Greenshot, note that Maim saves images to a default folder (usually ~/Pictures/Screenshots) unless you change the path. The hotkeys are configurable via the Maim settings; by default PrintScreen captures the whole screen, Shift+PrintScreen selects an area, and Alt+PrintScreen captures the active window. Unlike Greenshot’s dialog, Maim writes the file directly, so you’ll need to open it in an editor if you want annotations. The clipboard option works the same way as Greenshot’s "Copy to clipboard".

Workflow differences: Greenshot offers a context menu on the tray icon; Maim only has a tray icon that shows the last capture. If you rely on the preview window or annotation tools, you’ll need to use an external editor like GIMP or Shotwell after capture.