C/C++ project for a classic screenshot tool to save screenshots as PNG files or copy to clipboard when the "Print screen" key was pressed. The code works without special frameworks and uses only the Win32-API. The program should run on Windows 11/10/8.1/2025/2022/2019/2016/2012R2.
Watch version 1.0.0.1 on Youtube
Supports:
- Zoom to mouse position
- Area selection
- All monitors selection
- Single monitor selection
- Selections can be adjusted by mouse or keyboard
- Screenshots will be saved as PNG files and/or copied to clipboard
- Folder for the PNG files can be set with the context menu of the tray icon
- Filename for a PNG file will be set automatically and contains a timestamp, for example "Screenshot 2024-11-24 100706.png"
- Selection can be pixelated
- Selection can marked with a colored box
- Group policy support
| Keyboard/Mouse | Description |
|---|---|
| Print screen | Start screenshot to select point A |
| Tab | Toggle point between A and B |
| Cursor keys | Move point A or B |
| Alt+cursor keys | Fast move point A or B |
| Shift+cursor keys | Find color change for point A or B |
| Return or left mouse button click | OK, confirm selection |
| ESC | Cancel the screenshot |
| Insert | Store selection |
| Home | Use stored selection |
| Delete | Delete stored and used selection |
| +/- | Increase/decrease selection |
| PageUp/PageDown, mouse wheel | Zoom In/Out |
| A | Select all monitors |
| B | Box around selected area |
| C | On/off save to clipboard (Can be set/forced by group policy) |
| F | On/off save to file (Can be set/forced by group policy) |
| M | Select next monitor |
| P | Pixelate selected area |
| S | On/off alternative colors |
| F1 | On/off display internal information on screen (Can be set/forced by group policy) |
After double click the abiSnip.exe the program starts in the tray icon area and waits for the "Print screen" key to be pressed
When the "Print screen" key was pressed the background is dimmed and the user can select the first point A
After selecting point A by pressing the left mouse button or the return key the second point B can be selected
After selecting point B by pressing the left mouse button or the return key the selected area will be stored in a PNG file and abiSnip goes back to the tray icon area.
The tray icon has a context menu for common functions
This project is licensed under the terms of the CC0 Copyright (c) 2024-2025 codingABI.
- Visual Studio 2022 or
- Dev-C++ 6.3
The compiled EXE files x64/x86 are digitally signed with my public key
30 82 01 0a 02 82 01 01 00 a1 23 c9 cc ed e5 63 3a 68 d8 48 ea 8e eb fe 6d c5 59 73 7d ff 4d 6a 60 4e a6 5f b3 3a c6 1c 68 37 fa 3d 5f 76 5e 7a ad 70 cb 07 b7 21 da b6 29 ca 49 2b 8f 3f 2a 0c b4 f8 d1 c4 7b ac 45 59 0d fb 29 e1 9c bb fc e7 fb 8c ce 7a c2 5c 14 58 71 c0 25 41 c0 4e c4 f3 31 3e d3 05 5a 71 00 4e 0e 27 92 b3 f3 bb c5 bf 8b 1c fc 2f 69 50 d4 90 be e2 d6 82 44 a4 6e 67 80 b1 e8 c8 9d 1b 3a 56 a4 8c bf ec 19 9e cd ab 2d 46 fd f7 c7 67 b6 eb fb aa 18 b0 07 21 1b 79 a5 98 e0 7d c7 4d 31 79 47 9c 24 83 61 f3 63 b8 ec cc 62 42 6b 80 9a 74 0b 40 33 bd d1 cb 55 28 80 39 85 89 0c 19 e2 80 cb 39 e5 1b 38 d6 e6 87 a7 af ea 6e f9 df 89 79 fc ac f1 15 a2 58 55 df 27 d6 19 54 a1 91 52 41 eb 1d ad 3b 20 2c 50 e5 a3 c1 59 a4 a7 bb 6f 22 01 bb 46 bf e0 66 fb 82 ee dc 03 a7 8a e5 33 af 75 02 03 01 00 01
To run the program only the single EXE file is needed.
Do not run code/binaries, you don't trust!
Some registry values can be set/forced by group policy. The necessary admx/adml files can be found here
The settings under abiSnip - Default Settings (users can override) are not enforced and will be used as default values. The user can change these when needed.
If a setting is enforced by a group policy the corresponding tray icon context menu entry is grayed out.
Group policy settings will be stored under:
- HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\codingABI\abiSnip
- HKCU\SOFTWARE\Policies\codingABI\abiSnip
abiSnip.exe [/af] [/ac] | [/f | /rd | /re | /s | /v | /?]
When abiSnip is started with one of these arguments, this new abiSnip instance exits afterwards automatically. This has no impact to already started abiSnip instances. These instances keep on running.
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| /ac | Create screenshot of all monitors and copy screenshot to clipboard |
| /af | Create screenshot of all monitors and save screenshot to file |
| /f | Open screenshot folder |
| /rd | Disable program start at logon for all users. By default the program start at logon for all users is disabled. (You need local administrator permissions to use this argument. When done every user can enable the program start at logon for his logon with the abiSnip tray icon context menu entry Start program at logon) |
| /re | Enable program start at logon for all users. By default the program start at logon for all users is disabled. (You need local administrator permissions to use this argument. When done the abiSnip tray icon context menu entry Start program at logon is grayed out) |
| /s | Open screenshot selection |
| /v | Show version information |
| /? | Show program arguments |
abiSnip uses registry values under:
- HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKLM\SOFTWARE\codingABI\abiSnip
- HKCU\SOFTWARE\codingABI\abiSnip
- HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\codingABI\abiSnip
- HKCU\SOFTWARE\Policies\codingABI\abiSnip
| Registry value | Type | Content | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| abiSnip | REG_SZ or REG_EXPAND_SZ | Full quoted path to abiSnip.exe, for example "C:\abiSnip\abiSnip.exe" | Starts abiSnip automatically at logon for all users. Can be set with program argument /re. To disable the automatic start delete this registry value or use program argument /rd. There is no GUI option to change this value. |
| Registry value | Type | Content | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| abiSnip | REG_SZ or REG_EXPAND_SZ | Full quoted path to abiSnip.exe, for example "C:\abiSnip\abiSnip.exe" | Starts abiSnip automatically at logon for the current user |
Same as HKLM\SOFTWARE\codingABI\abiSnip and HKCU has a higher priority as HKLM
| Registry value | Type | Content | Description | Can be overwritten by group policy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| defaultZoomScale | REG_DWORD | 1-32 | Initial zoom level for the mouse position while screenshot selection (If this registry value does not exist, the default value is 4) | Yes |
| DEV | REG_DWORD | For my internal development use only | No | |
| disablePrintScreenKeyForSnipping | REG_DWORD | 0x1 | Disables the 'Use the Print screen key to open screen capture' option in the Windows settings, to prevent conflicts between abiSnip and the Windows capture tool (Default: This registry value does not exist and the user gets a prompt when needed) | Yes |
| displayInternalInformation | REG_DWORD | 0x0 = Disabled, 0x1 = Enabled | Displays internal program information while screenshot selection (If this registry value does not exist, the default value is 0x0) | No |
| saveToClipboard | REG_DWORD | 0x0 = Disabled, 0x1 = Enabled | Copy screenshot automatically to clipboard (If this registry value does not exist, the default value is 0x1) | Yes |
| saveToFile | REG_DWORD | 0x0 = Disabled, 0x1 = Enabled | Saves screenshot automatically to a file (If this registry value does not exist, the default value is 0x1) | Yes |
| screenshotDelay | REG_DWORD | 1-60 | Delay in seconds when tray icon contextmenu entry "Screenshot (delayed)" is selected (If this registry value does not exist, the default value is 5) | Yes |
| screenshotPath | REG_SZ or REG_EXPAND_SZ | Path | Folder to save the screenshot PNG files, for example %UserProfile%\Pictures or c:\Data (If this registry value does not exist, the same folder in which the abiSnip.exe is located is used) | Yes |
| storedSelectionBottom | REG_DWORD | 0x0-0xFFFFFFFF | Stored selection | No |
| storedSelectionLeft | REG_DWORD | 0x0-0xFFFFFFFF | Stored selection | No |
| storedSelectionRight | REG_DWORD | 0x0-0xFFFFFFFF | Stored selection | No |
| storedSelectionTop | REG_DWORD | 0x0-0xFFFFFFFF | Stored selection | No |
| useAlternativeColors | REG_DWORD | 0x0 = Disabled, 0x1 = Enabled | Use alternative colors while screenshot selection | No |
REG_EXPAND_SZ is needed for registry values, when environment variables like %UserProfile% are used in registry values.
In most cases the x64 is the right version for you. x86 is only necessary for older 32-bit Windows versions.
There is no installation necessary. Just copy the abiSnip.exe to a folder, for example create a new folder c:\abiSnip\ and copy the abiSnip.exe to the new folder.
Double click on abiSnip.exe. There is no start menu entry for abiSnip, because it is not necessary.
Set the check mark for the tray icon context menu entry Start program at logon
Start abiSnip.exe /re as administrator.