electron-screenshot

简体中文

An Electron-based screenshot tool that lives in the system tray. Trigger capture with a global hotkey, drag to select a region, then confirm to copy to clipboard and optionally save to file / open the editor.

Features

• Tray app: quick actions for “Screenshot”, “Settings”, and “Quit”
• Global hotkey capture (default: F1), configurable from the Settings page
• Region selection: drag to select, click ✓ or press Enter to confirm, press Esc or right click to cancel
• Copy to clipboard on confirm
• Optional auto-save PNG files and keep a local history list (path copy supported)
• Optional auto-open editor after capture
• Adjustable mask opacity (maskAlpha)
• “Pin last screenshot” (always-on-top, draggable/resizable image window)

Install (Download from Releases)

Releases currently provide a Windows installer only.

1. Open the GitHub Releases page and choose the latest version.
2. Download the .exe installer (usually named Electron Screenshot Setup *.exe).
3. Run the installer (you may need to allow Windows SmartScreen).
4. After installation, the app stays in the system tray:
   • Press F1 to start a capture (default hotkey)
   • Use tray menu → “Settings” to change hotkey / save directory, etc.

Tip:

• If the global hotkey can’t be registered, try another combo or run as Administrator.

Prerequisites

• Node.js (recommended: latest LTS)
• pnpm (see package.json#packageManager)

Install

pnpm install

Commands

pnpm dev
pnpm build
pnpm start
pnpm dist
pnpm test

• pnpm dev: start development mode (loads renderer from Vite dev server).
• pnpm build: build to out/ for production preview / packaging.
• pnpm start: preview the built output (run pnpm build first).
• pnpm dist: create installers via electron-builder (run pnpm build first).
• pnpm test: run Vitest.

Configuration

Open the tray menu → “Settings”.

• Screenshot hotkey (hotkey)
  • Default: F1
  • Click the input to record a new hotkey, then click “Save settings” to apply.
  • Supported: function keys (F1–F24) or modifier combos (e.g. Ctrl+Shift+A).
  • If registration fails (occupied / not allowed), the save will be rejected and the previous hotkey is kept.
• Auto save to file (autoSaveToFile)
  • When enabled, the capture is written as a PNG file and recorded in the history list.
• Save directory (saveDir)
  • Only used when auto-save is enabled.
  • Default value is the platform Pictures directory + ElectronScreenshot (if not set).
• Open editor after capture (openEditorAfterCapture)
  • When enabled, the editor window opens and loads the captured image automatically.
• Mask opacity (maskAlpha)
  • Range: 0.60–0.80
  • Default: 0.70

Usage

1. Run the app and keep it in the tray.
2. Trigger capture:
   • Press the hotkey (default F1), or
   • Click “Screenshot” from the tray menu.
3. Drag with the left mouse button to select an area.
4. Release the mouse, then:
   • Confirm: click ✓ or press Enter
   • Cancel: press Esc or right click
5. After confirming:
   • The image is copied to clipboard
   • Optional behaviors apply based on Settings (auto-save / open editor)

Roadmap

• Friendlier error messages when saving fails (clipboard unavailable, permission issues, etc.)
• More obvious saving UI states (disable buttons / small loading)
• Reduce production log noise (remove unrelated console.log)
• More robust coordinate mapping for Windows mixed-DPI multi-monitor setups (with fallback strategies)
• Continued improvements for cross-display selection & virtual desktop edge cases (mixed-DPI alignment)
• macOS / Linux installers (Windows-first for now)
• Auto-update support (leveraging Release metadata)

FAQ

Windows: mixed-DPI multi-monitor scaling

On Windows with monitors using different scaling factors (e.g. 100% + 150%), some setups may show coordinate mismatches (selection looks correct but the final crop is offset, or capture behaves unexpectedly).

Workarounds:

• Prefer setting the same scaling factor for all monitors when possible.
• Trigger capture with the cursor on the target monitor.
• Avoid relying on cross-display selection (current capture flow is display-scoped).

Permissions / capability hints

• macOS: grant Screen Recording permission, otherwise screen capture can fail.
• Linux (Wayland): some environments restrict capture APIs; consider X11 or a proper portal configuration.
• Windows: if the hotkey can’t be registered, try another key combo or run as Administrator.