Usage

Import

So MSS can be used as simply as:

from mss import mss

Or import the good one based on your operating system:

# MacOS X
from mss.darwin import MSS as mss

# GNU/Linux
from mss.linux import MSS as mss

# Microsoft Windows
from mss.windows import MSS as mss

Instance

So the module can be used as simply as:

with mss() as sct:
    # ...

Intensive Use

If you plan to integrate MSS inside your own module or software, pay attention to using it wisely.

This is a bad usage:

for _ in range(100):
    with mss() as sct:
        sct.shot()

This is a much better usage, memory efficient:

with mss() as sct:
    for _ in range(100):
        sct.shot()

Also, it is a good thing to save the MSS instance inside an attribute of your class and calling it when needed.

GNU/Linux

On GNU/Linux, you can specify which display to use (useful for distant screenshots via SSH):

with mss(display=":0.0") as sct:
    # ...

A more specific example (only valid on GNU/Linux):

with mss.mss(display=":0.0") as sct:
    for filename in sct.save():
        print(filename)

Command Line

You can use mss via the CLI:

mss --help

Or via direct call from Python:

$ python -m mss --help
usage: __main__.py [-h] [-c COORDINATES] [-l {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}]
                [-m MONITOR] [-o OUTPUT] [-q] [-v] [--with-cursor]

options:
-h, --help            show this help message and exit
-c COORDINATES, --coordinates COORDINATES
                      the part of the screen to capture: top, left, width, height
-l {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}, --level {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}
                      the PNG compression level
-m MONITOR, --monitor MONITOR
                      the monitor to screen shot
-o OUTPUT, --output OUTPUT
                      the output file name
--with-cursor         include the cursor
-q, --quiet           do not print created files
-v, --version         show program's version number and exit

New in version 3.1.1.

New in version 8.0.0: --with-cursor to include the cursor in screenshots.