Is it possibly to insert a screenshot in Confluence Pages?
Asked by Olaf Huber:

Hello

When I got it right, in order to share content easy, one has to stick to the confluence "pages" and their editor instead of using Worddokuments etc..

Is it somehow possible to insert **directly** (CRTL+V) screenshots (e.g. taken with Hard Copy Pro) in confluence pages?

I don't want to first save the screenshot and than insert it by browsing through our directories in order to find the picture again.

Thank you in advance

Olaf


Answers:
author: Jan-Peter Rusch
body: Olaf,

one aspect for our company to introduce Confluence was the ability to copy\&paste screenshots directly into pages and handle attached files via drag\&drop.

We use Confluence 5.5.4 and various browsers (IE, Firefox, Chrome). Takeing a screenshot via Snipping Tool or even Alt-Print and pasting it with STRG-V is working without any problem on side. Each screenshot is automatically converted to an attached file and displayed inside the page. The page you are copying to must be in edit mode for using STRG-V. Drag\&Drop works without having the page in edit mode. Just drop the file on the page. It will be attached automatically.

I just did a retest with Firefox 31 \& IE 11. Works like a charm...

comments: author: Olaf Huber
body: Hello Jan-Peter

That sounds great, but unfortunately it doesn't work here.

Right now I'm doing my tests in a hosted "on demand" environment by Atlassian. So I assume that both Jira and Confluence are the latest versions.

I guess that our Browser might be the weak link in the chain.

We're using IE10 (Version 10.0.9200.17054; Update-Versions 10.0.19 (KB2976627)

And you retested with IE 11...

I'll ask our IT whether there are any reasons against updating to IE11


author: Ale? La?ar
body: Just for information.... It is very depended on policy settings from authority :)

If domain admin send some settings, they could make this diffs.

Btw we have IE11 and when i open this site in it, I missing link for comments, likes etc.

This feature should work, but not in all states (depend on browers, company policies etc)


author: Olaf Huber
body: Hello Ales

Thank you for this information. I think at this point I stop going deeper into the subject, as it seems to open a big, big "IF THEN ELSE" scenario which goes way, way beyond my knowledge. I'll save my screenshots and insert this files in the confluence pages...

But thank you all for your help and input


author: Ale? La?ar
body: If ti works for you, it is great! :)

Have a nice day!


author: Olaf Huber
body: Hello Jan-Peter

We've just updated to IE11 and your right!

"Works like charm" is even understated!

It just brilliant!!!


author: Ale? La?ar
body: Hi Olaf.

It is possible, but id depends on browser. In Chrome it working. (Pasting screenshots via CTRL+V)

And if you want to insert image from web, you can copy it via right click and then paste, but be careful, because it creates images linked to source.

comments: author: Mick Davidson
body: Ales, interesting. I use FireFox and wasn't aware of this.

I've just tried it in FF and it works, but, it doesn't attach the graphic to the page, so in a way it doesn't exist in Confluence.

I've checked this by running a hard return on the page and by navigating to other pages and then re-opening the original. None of these make any difference: the graphic is still not an attachment.

So copying and pasting in this way looks like it works, but there's the possiblity that something might happen to the graphic and it gets lost somehow. Sounds like it's better just to attach it properly frist. :)

Cheers.


author: Ale? La?ar
body: Mick, i forgot write that this have a VERY strange behavior... Really. Because one time it works and sometimes not. Sometimes was happend that you insert image, but there is no data... So yes, attaching is safety :)


author: Sasha Reminnyi
body: Hi Olaf,

I will just add a comment here. There is now an add-on available on the Marketplace that allows you to add not one but many screenshots directly into a Confluence page - to create step-by-step explanations. It's called [StepShot](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/net.stepshot.plugins.confluence.v35)


author: RVal
body: There is a nice free software I use - FastStone Capturehttp:

//www.faststone.org/FSCaptureDetail.htm

It lets you copy screenshot of whole window or any area of your screen (rectangular or freehand shape). Then you can add your marks or highlights to it if you want and then you can Ctrl + C \& Ctrl + V your image into Confluence

comments: author: Ale? La?ar
body: How it help with direct pasting? :)


author: Olaf Huber
body: Your reading my mind, just what I thought...

The tool Val talks about is just like Hard Copy Pro, the tool we use:

It only copies the captured image to the windows clipboard.

And then still you can't paste it directly to a confluence page as this is a "web form" (or however it is called) and not a Word document...

But in Jira I found a feature which might do the job partly, at least for the time being:

[](https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/AOD/Attaching+a+Screenshot)<https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/AOD/Attaching+a+Screenshot>


author: Ale? La?ar
body: :) True.

But as wrote Jan-Peter, in newwest versions of Confluence are a lot of funcionalities enabled almost in all browsers. So for that what you wrote is Confluence right choice.


author: Ale? La?ar
body: And which version? But good point is that Atlassian make it supported and there are many features which are working only in IE (maybe FF).

And yes, there are many options and functions and what you need, you can try to find it on marketplace and a lot of good plugins are free.


author: Olaf Huber
body: Thank you.

Unfortunatly we are using IE in our company and as stated, I'm a mechanical engineer, not a software developer. So writing a trivial app is not an option for me ;-)

But I guess, I simple have to be flexible and adopt to working with the confluence pages and, knowing their screenshot limitations, find a workaround (e.g. save and insert) for this. Then I can make use of all the other confluence benefits.


author: Ale? La?ar
body: It is hard Olaf, because all web apps have a one huge trouble... browsers like Chrome, FF, Safari etc have almost the same behavior, but for example IE... every version is different :)

Confluence is really good as knowledge base and you can set watching the page, so then coming notifications to users about changes, comments etc. It is great app, but this is problem about web and os mechanisms. So i dont think that you find web app which is good at all points. Conlfuence is good for that what you wrote.

You can attached office document to page in Confluence and then online edit (only in few browsers). But here is one plugin (Arsenal Lockpoint) which can locked files when somebody editing them. When you dont using attachment and you are using confluence page, you can editing content and when somebody other with permissions start editing, there is message on top of screen about that. Something like this: User Hulk editing this page now.

Or other option, if it should be only for a few users and intern, maybe try to write your own trivial app :)


author: Olaf Huber
body: Thank you both!

Maybe its because I'm a mechanical engineer that I don't knew that web technology is not something like a word document.

There you can easily attach any screenshot you like by CRTL+C in Hard Copy Pro and CTRL+V in the document...

So when I got you right, in order to attach a screenshot to a confluence page I first have to save the screenshot as jpg (with a somewhat intelligent name) than on the confluence page I have to click insert, then picture, then browse to the file, upload the file, etc. etc. And this for EACH picture!!!

Hmm, I believe Confluence is just the wrong tool for our purposes...

But maybe you know other applications

This is what we want to do (use case):

3 users and a bundle of Worddocuments we are working on.

Placed somehow the web (as "single source of truth"), so that one user can modify this document in his usual office application (while it is automatically locked for the other two)

After he modified it, the other two users should be informed of this new version and of what has been modified.


author: Mick Davidson
body: Olaf,

I don't think this is possible. You have to attach the images to the page first, so they have to be saved somewhere.

You can also use drag and drop in a variety of areas/ways.

Cheers.