How to install and use Byzanz in Ubuntu?

Byzanz is a command-line tool and GNOME panel applet which can be used to record your current desktop in the form of animated GIFs or videos. It is especially used in web publishing and creating GIFs for other purposes.

You can use it on GNOME as well as non GTK desktop environments like KDE.

In this article, I will discuss how to install and use Byzanz in Ubuntu Linux.

Features of Byzanz

The key features of Byzanz are –

Easy to use the command-line tool
You can record GIFs and videos
Supports recording the entire screen, single window, or arbitrary region
It can record the mouse cursor
Offers a delay timer so that you can better prepare for recording
Additionally, it allows capturing audio

How to install Byzanz in Ubuntu Linux

The Byzanz is available in the default Ubuntu repository you can directly download it by using the apt command in your terminal.

But before you install a package on your system make sure the apt package repository is updated –

sudo apt update

Next use the following command to install Byzanz on your system –

sudo apt install byzanz

Press y and then enter if it asks for your confirmation.

How to use Byzanz on Ubuntu

Before you use Byzanz for recording your desktop in a short gif file first use the given command to know the dimensions of your screen.

xdpyinfo | grep dimensions

This will display the screen resolution of your system.

To record your screen use the following command in your terminal

byzanz-record --duration=30 --x=0 --y=0 --width=1024 --height=768 desktop.gif

Here you can customize the dimension by modifying its width and height. Once recorded you can find the file inside your home directory.

You can find the details list of options that can be used with the byzanz-record command on its man page.

man byzanz-record

Alternatively, you can run the given command to see the help –

byzanz-record --help

How to remove Byzanz from Ubuntu

Now for any reason, if you want to remove Byzanz from your Ubuntu system then use the given command in your terminal –

sudo apt remove byzanz -y

Run the given command to remove any unused dependencies from your system –

sudo apt autoremove

Conclusion

So by using the above guide we hope you have successfully installed Byzanz on your Ubuntu system and are able to use it for recording desktop activities in gif format.

Now if you have a query or feedback then write us in the comments below.