import.im6
Capture an image of an X server window
SYNOPSIS
import.im6 [options...] [output-filename]
import.im6 [options...] output
PARAMETERS
-adjoin
Join images into multi-image file
-annotate geometry text
Annotate image with text
-border geometry
Surround image with border
-bordercolor color
Border color
-channel type
Apply option to select image channels
-colorspace type
Set image colorspace
-comment string
Add comment to image
-compress type
Image compression type
-crop geometry
Preferred size and location of image crop
-debug events
Display copious debugging information
-define format:option
Define specific format options
-delay value
Display next image after pausing
-density geometry
Horizontal and vertical density
-depth value
Image depth
-display server
X11 server to contact
-dispose method
Layer disposal method
-dither
Apply error diffusion to image
-encoding type
Text encoding type
-extract geometry
Extract area from image
-font name
Render text with specific font
-frame geometry
Surround image with frame
-geometry geometry
Preferred size or location
-gravity geometry
Horizontal and vertical backdrop placement
-help
Print program usage
-interlace type
Type of image interlacing
-interpolate method
Pixel color interpolation method
-label name
Assign label to image
-limit type value
Limit resources
-log format
Format of debugging information
-monitor
Monitor progress
-monochrome
Transform image to black and white
-negate
Replace each pixel with complement
-page geometry
Size and location of image
-pause value
Pause between snapshots (default 3)
-pointsize value
Font point size
-quality value
JPEG/MIFF/PNG compression level (0-100)
-quiet
Suppress all warning messages
-remote command
Execute remote command
-resize geometry
Resize captured image
-respect-parentheses
Settings remain in effect until parenthesis
-rotate degrees
Rotate image
-sampling-factor geometry
Horizontal and vertical sampling factors
-screen
Select image from screen
-seed value
Seed random number generator
-set attribute value
Set image attribute
-silent
Operate silently
-snaps value
Number of screen snapshots
-strip
Strip image of all profiles and comments
-thumbnail geometry
Create thumbnail
-transparent color
Make color transparent
-trim
Trim image edges
-update seconds
Detect window changes every seconds
-verbose
Print detailed information
-version
Print program version
-window
Select window with mouse (default)
-window root
Select entire X screen
-window id
Select window with ID
DESCRIPTION
The import.im6 command, part of ImageMagick 6, captures screenshots from an X Window System display. It saves images of entire screens, specific windows, or mouse-selected regions to files in formats like PNG, JPEG, TIFF.
Use it for quick screenshots, GUI testing, documentation, or automation. Run import.im6 foo.png and drag to select an area; the image saves automatically.
Options enable full-screen capture (-window root), window borders (-frame), resizing (-resize), rotation, annotations, and more. It supports delays (-pause), multiple snaps (-snaps N), and integrates with other ImageMagick tools for post-processing.
Ideal for X11 environments; outputs high-quality images with customizable quality, depth, and compression. Deprecated in ImageMagick 7, where import was redesigned—use import.im6 for legacy compatibility on modern systems.
CAVEATS
Requires X11 display server; incompatible with Wayland without XWayland. Legacy tool in ImageMagick 7+; may conflict with newer import. High resource use for large screens or sequences.
EXAMPLES
import.im6 screenshot.png (select region with mouse)
import.im6 -window root screen.png (full screen)
import.im6 -screen -pause 2 -snaps 5 snap%d.png (5 screenshots)
OUTPUT FORMATS
Supports 200+ formats via ImageMagick; append extension like .png, .jpg to output-filename. Use %d for sequences (e.g., snap%d.png).
HISTORY
Part of ImageMagick since version 4 (1990s); import.im6 specific to v6 (2006-2018). Retained for backward compatibility as ImageMagick 7 (2017+) redesigned import for multi-image support.
