Camera (GNOME Camera) is the default Ubuntu application for taking photos as well as recording videos. In other words, it is the application used to access webcam device in laptop or PC. It is useful i.e. in live streaming and video conferencing (for school teachers, office workers, your family) beside taking simple pictures. We will learn more about it here with a little bit howtos and beneficial references. We remind you that this episode is the continuation in this series after Calendar and before the next one Characters. Now, please enjoy reading!
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<- "Calendar (Your Time and Schedule Manager)"
<- "List of All Ubuntu 24.04 Default Applications"
Logo
Screenshots
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(a) |
(b) |
(c) |
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(d) |
Where:
(a) Camera in default mode (take a photo).
(b) Camera in video recording mode (notice the red button).
(c) Camera's list of shortcut keys.
(d) Camera's About screen. It shows the version 46 taken from Ubuntu 24.04.
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Description
Camera (GNOME Snapshot) is the default photo taker and camera recorder on Ubuntu. It works as long as you have a camera on your desktop, laptop or smartphone running Ubuntu system. On applications menu and dash panel, it is called Camera, while on the Terminal it is called snapshot, and as Ubuntu package it is called gnome-snapshot. Camera is free software licensed under GNU GPL.
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Purposes
1. Make use of webcam device.
2. Take photos.
3. Record videos.
4. Usable in video conference calls.
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How To Run Camera
1. Click Ubuntu button.
2. Click Camera logo.
3. Camera runs.
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How To Use Camera
To take a picture:
1. Run Camera.
2. Click the circle button to the bottom.
3. Photo will be saved in ~/Pictures/Camera directory. Done.
To record a video:
1. Run camera.
2. Select camera instead of photo button.
3. Now circle button will turn red -> click it -> recording starts.
4. Click the red button -> recording ends.
5. Video will be saved in ~/Videos/Camera directory in .webm format. Done.
To take it with delay (countdown) time:
1. Run Camera.
2. Select countdown time e.g. 10 seconds from the option button.
3. Click the button and do a pose.
4. Picture or video is taken after delay time goes off. Done.
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Commands and Integration with Ubuntu Desktop
Camera can be launched via command line:
$ snapshot
When running, a red camera logo will appear on the top panel next to wifi logo:
Location on the Screen and System
Camera can be found on the applications menu.
However, it is not available on the App Center as it comes as a Debian package not a Snap one.
Documentation and User Manual for Camera
There is no User Manual or Documentation for Camera.
There is no F1 key to open the Help document like usual.
Similar Programs
Kamoso - KDE webcam recorder application.
Contributing to GNOME Camera
Camera (Snapshot) is part of GNOME. So, you can contribute to Camera just like how you contribute to other GNOME applications. You can do many things to participate such as make a donation to help fund the project, or help translate Camera to your language, or if you are a programmer, help improving Camera's source code, or simply reporting a bug to the project is considered a contribution and many more. Programmatically, Camera is written in C language with GTK libraries by using (optionally) GNOME Builder code editor. Finally, your contribution to Camera will benefit GNOME, Ubuntu and other GNU/Linux projects as well. To start participating, feel free to see Camera's Official Webpage from References section below.
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References
Get Involved to GNOME Camera Project
In This Series
<- "Calendar (Your Time and Schedule Manager)"
<- "Baobab (Disk Usage Analyzer)"
<- "Archive Manager (File Roller)"
<- "App Center (Ubuntu Software Manager)"
<- "List of All Ubuntu 24.04 Default Applications"
-> Go next to "Characters"
-> Go next to "Disks"