Ubuntu – Overlay translucent image on desktop / above all windows

displaykdekubuntutransparencywindow

I want a translucent PNG overlayed on top of my screen (above all windows). I'm using this to mark a visible region while streaming.

So far I've figured out that qiv -transparent filename.png will add a mask to the window, but it's a boolean mask. I don't get translucent fading with the alpha channel.

I know several effects have opacity, and I can sent window opacity, so I'm hoping there's some way to display an image that way.

What program, tool, or widget can I use to blend an image onto the top of the desktop?

Best Answer

I was unable to find a stock solution so ended up modifying the pqiv program to achieve this.

I wrote an article explaining details.

The branch of pqiv is here. The command-line options for the desired effect are:

pqiv --click-through --keep-above --transparent-background --hide-info-box  filename.png
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