BetterScreenShot

A Windows app for screenshots, scrolling captures, and area recordings. Annotate images, then copy them or recognise text directly from them.

My role: Design & development
Platform: Windows
Project: Desktop utility

Download for Windows View code

Windows x64 · Installer .exe · Version 1.1.6 · 85.9 MiB. Double-click to install or update automatically. No separate .NET runtime needed. Text recognition requires the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 Redistributable for x64.

The project

Why I built it

I wanted a screenshot tool that felt right for my everyday work, but I couldn't find anything I liked that was available for Windows. I built BetterScreenShot for myself, with a capture, edit, and copy workflow I could use without switching between apps.

From capture to sharing

Choose a monitor, drag an area, or open an existing image to annotate. The editor has floating tools for highlights, editable arrows, shapes, and text, with undo and redo across edits. Copy the finished image straight into another app or save it as PNG, JPEG, or BMP. Custom keyboard shortcuts and a tray menu keep capture within reach, and the app now has light and dark themes.

Long captures and recordings

Scrolling Capture joins overlapping views as you scroll through a long page. Record Area captures a selected region as an MP4 video or animated GIF, with a video quality choice before recording. When it finishes, preview, copy, or save the recording, or play it in the built-in viewer. Video recording has no audio.

Text stays on your computer

Double-click a word in the image to recognise text, then select a word or a passage across multiple lines. The image and text panel keep the selection in sync. Tesseract runs locally with seven bundled languages, including English and Latvian. Screenshots and recognised text are never sent to a server.

The build

I built the Windows app with C# and .NET 8, using WPF for the editor and Windows Forms for capture overlays. Selection accounts for each monitor's display scaling, while image export and text recognition run in the background. The portable download bundles the application, language models, and .NET runtime into one executable.

Built with

C#
.NET 8
WPF
Windows Forms
Tesseract OCR

In detail

BetterScreenShot dark editor with floating annotation tools over a marked-up image — Floating annotation tools in the dark theme.

Light recording toolbar with video quality, Record video, and Record GIF controls — Choose video quality, then record a selected area as MP4 or GIF.

Dark recording toolbar with video quality, Record video, and Record GIF controls — Recording choices in the dark theme.

Light recording toolbar with a red recording indicator, elapsed timer, and Stop button — The floating toolbar shows the elapsed time while recording.

Dark recording toolbar with a red recording indicator, elapsed timer, and Stop button — Active recording in the dark theme.

Light recording preview with View, Copy, Save, and Discard buttons — Preview the recording, then view, copy, save, or discard it.

Dark recording preview with View, Copy, Save, and Discard buttons — The recording preview in the dark theme.

Light recording viewer playing a video with playback, Copy, and Save controls — Play the finished recording in the built-in viewer.

Dark recording viewer playing a video with playback, Copy, and Save controls — The recording viewer in the dark theme.

Light editor with recognised text in a side panel and matching words selected on the image — Recognise text locally and select it on the image or in the panel.

Dark editor with recognised text in a side panel and matching words selected on the image — Text recognition in the dark theme.

Light editor with a sentence selected across two lines and matching text selected in the panel — Select and copy a passage across multiple lines.

Dark editor with a sentence selected across two lines and matching text selected in the panel — The same text selection in the dark theme.

Light launcher with screen, area, scrolling, recording, open image, and theme controls — Start a screenshot, scrolling capture, area recording, or image edit.

Dark launcher with screen, area, scrolling, recording, open image, and theme controls — The launcher in the dark theme.

Light screenshot preview with copy, save, edit, and discard controls — A small preview offers copy, save, edit, and discard actions.

Dark screenshot preview with copy, save, edit, and discard controls — The screenshot preview in the dark theme.

Next project

Canvas