Brief: We list the best Linux GIF recorders for Linux in this article and show you how to use these tools to record your screen as GIF in Linux.
When we talk of screen recording tools for Linux, most of us think about video recording. But, for those who don’t know, there also is another way to record your desktop session, that is animated GIF recording.
Now, (Graphics Interchange Format) GIF is a file format that is hugely popular because of its animation support. And it is widely used all over the internet.
Here we are going to see the best GIF screen recorder tools for Linux. They are separated into GUI and CLI sections for convenience.
Best GIF Recorders for Linux [GUI]
Since I use Ubuntu, I have included the installation steps for Ubuntu based Linux distributions. I am sure that Fedora, SUSE and Arch Linux users can find the installation way from their official web pages.
1. Peek
Peek has the most straightforward and intuitive user interface among the GUI GIF recorders. It’s slick in design and simple to use.
Pros
- Customizable frame-rate.
- Delay timer support.
- Polished user interface.
Cons
- Limited feature-set.
- No native support for Wayland display server protocol.
Installation on Ubuntu
Peek has its own official PPA. For installing, use the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:peek-developers/stable
sudo apt update
sudo apt install peek
And you are ready to go.
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2. Gifine
Gifine is a tool for recording and editing GIF animations. It offers many advanced features but has a bit of rough user interface.
Pros
- Built-in editing and trimming support
Cons
- Not so nice and polished user interface as the alternatives.
Installation on Ubuntu
Installing Gifine is not so end-user friendly. First, you have to install various dependencies of Gifine and it’s installer luarocks. And then install Gifine via luarocks. Carefully enter the following commands in a terminal window for installing Gifine on Ubuntu:
sudo apt install ffmpeg graphicsmagick gifsicle luarockscmake \
compiz gengetopt slop libxext-dev libimlib2-dev mesa-utils \
libxrender-dev glew-utils libglm-dev libglu1-mesa-dev \
libglew-dev libxrandr-dev libgirepository1.0-dev
sudo luarocks install lgi
sudo luarocks install --server=http://luarocks.org/dev gifine
Now, you can run Gifine with the command gifine.
3. SilentCast
SilentCast is a very lightweight tool for recording GIF. It might not feel very user-friendly while using, but it does its job quite well.
Pros
- Lightweight and minimal
Cons
- Not so friendly user-experience
Installation on Ubuntu
You will have to compile SilentCast from source for installing. Enter the following commands to fetch the source, compile and then install it:
cd /tmp
wget -O silentcast.tar.gz https://api.github.com/repos/colinkeenan/silentcast/tarball
rm -rf silentcast && mkdir -p silentcast
tar -zxvf silentcast.tar.gz -C silentcast --strip-components=1
cd silentcast
make
sudo ./install
sudo apt install ffmpeg imagemagick
That’s all. Now you can start and stop your recording session with the command silentcast.
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Best GIF Recorders for Linux [CLI]
4. Byzanz
Byzanz is a simple tool to record a running X desktop as animated GIF. It is part of the GNOME project.
Pros
- Super lightweight
- Works flawlessly
Cons
- Being a CLI tool, you have to enter each options manually (meaning, no drag & select screen area for recording)
Installation on Ubuntu
Installing Byzanz on Ubuntu is just one command away:
sudo apt install byzanz
Now, you can record GIFs using the byzanz-record command.
N.B.: There was also another CLI tool named Kgif on the initial list I made. But sadly, I couldn’t get it to work properly on my system. If you are interested you can give it a try too.
That’s all for today. Which Linux gif recorder do you like the most? Do you know about another one? Let us know what you think in the comment section below. :)
