Framing anything on screen

[Snood]

John Coppens wrote:
> I've done that a lot of times using the GIMP, in many cases after doing
> a screenshot. But I've been thinking... it would be nice to be able to do
> that _before_ taking a screenshot (or just without taking a screenshot -
> just to make part of the screen more important while explaining it).
> 
> I particularly like the style of the 'clip' action of the GIMP.
> 
> Is there any app that does this, if not, is there a way to do this?
> (i.e., generate an all-encompassing mask over the screen, including
> panel, etc). One interesting solution would be to build it into the
> screenshooter.

Using the Xfce4 Screenshooter in combination with Xfce4 compositor works 
beautifully for this as is. I use a darker desktop image or solid color 
as the backdrop to increase the effect of dimming on windows that are 
partially transparent. Tweaking the opacity of various windows, 
decorations, panels, x-terminal-emulator windows, etcetera lets me get 
the desktop to "highlight" exactly what I want highlighted. If I want 
one panel or another highlighted I adjust their transparencies 
accordingly, set the screenshooter's dealy before capturing setting, 
then use the mouse cursor placement to highlight the panel I want to 
emphasize.

Regards,
Sam