SnippingTool is a lightweight Windows application designed to capture screenshots, annotate them with precision, and extract text via OCR. It enables users to select regions of the screen, freeze frames for accurate captures, and use tools like arrows, shapes, text, and blur to highlight or redact content.
Key Features:
Capture regions on screen instantly or with a configurable delay.
Annotate screenshots using arrows, lines, shapes, text, numbered steps, and blur effects.
Extract text from images via built-in OCR without external dependencies.
Pin annotated screenshots as floating windows for quick reference.
Record selected screen areas to MP4 (H.264) or AVI files.
Automatically save captures to a specified folder.
Audience & Benefit:
Ideal for professionals needing precise, flexible screenshot tools without subscriptions or telemetry. SnippingTool helps create clear, annotated visuals quickly and efficiently, enhancing productivity for tasks like documentation, tutorials, or feedback sharing.
README
SnippingTool
Record your screen with live annotations.
SnippingTool helps you explain what’s on your screen without turning it into a post-editing job. It is built for demos, tutorials, and bug reports when you want to show something clearly and move on. Draw, blur, and add callouts while recording, then burn everything straight into the final video.
Show your point while recording — Draw on the captured region as you record, then switch between interactive and drawing modes from the HUD.
Stay in control without breaking flow — Pause, resume, stop, switch tools, clear annotations, and open the output folder from one floating HUD.
Redact sensitive content live — Blur annotations now sample from the live recording region, so private details stay hidden in the final video.
Why people use it
Show the problem, not just describe it — Bugs and UI issues are easier to understand when the screenshot or recording already contains the important highlights.
Make tutorials easier to follow — Arrows, text, and numbered steps keep people focused on what matters.
Hide private details before sharing — Blur emails, passwords, tokens, and anything else you do not want on screen.
— Capture, annotate, copy, save, pin, and record without bouncing between tools.
Blur tool — Drag over sensitive content (faces, emails, passwords) to apply a Gaussian blur before sharing
OCR — Copy Text — Draw a lasso around text in the screenshot to extract it via OCR and copy to clipboard (uses Windows.Media.Ocr, no external dependencies)
Open existing image — Load a PNG, JPG/JPEG, or BMP from the tray menu and annotate it without taking a new screenshot
Pin screenshot — Pin the captured screenshot as a floating, always-on-top, resizable window for quick reference while you work
Undo / redo — Full undo/redo stack during annotation
Copy & auto-save — Copy to clipboard; optional auto-save to a configurable folder
Screen recording — Record a selected region to MP4 (H.264 via FFmpeg) or AVI (MJPEG via SharpAvi)
Recording-time annotations — Add shapes and text directly on top of a recording while it is in progress
Capture delay — Configurable countdown (0 / 3 / 5 / 10 s) before the selection overlay appears, useful for capturing menus and hover states
Auto-updates — A background service checks GitHub Releases on every launch and on a configurable schedule (every day / 2 days / 3 days). When a new version is found a tray balloon appears; click it to confirm, watch the progress bar, and the installer runs automatically — no browser, no manual downloads
System tray — Runs silently in the background; all actions accessible from the tray icon
Theme support — Choose Light, Dark, or follow the system theme from Settings
Use cases
Bug reports — Capture a precise region, annotate it, and copy or save the result for issue tracking and support requests
Documentation — Create quick step-by-step screenshots with arrows, numbered steps, and text callouts for guides and tutorials
Live workflow capture — Record a selected region while drawing annotations on top of the recording as you work
Sensitive content redaction — Blur passwords, emails, and other private details before sharing screenshots or recordings
Text extraction — Select text in a screenshot with OCR and copy it directly to the clipboard
Download the latest SnippingTool-Setup-*.exe from the Releases page and run it.
Troubleshooting
MP4 recording does not start — MP4 output needs ffmpeg.exe. Put it next to the app, or choose AVI in Settings.
OCR is unavailable — OCR uses Windows.Media.Ocr and requires a supported Windows build.
Hotkey seems ignored — Make sure another app is not already using the same key and try changing the capture hotkey in Settings.
App is running but not visible — SnippingTool lives in the system tray after launch.
Building from source
git clone https://github.com/dimitar-radenkov/SnippingTool.git
cd SnippingTool
dotnet build SnippingTool/SnippingTool.csproj
dotnet run --project SnippingTool/SnippingTool.csproj
Running tests
dotnet test SnippingTool.Tests/SnippingTool.Tests.csproj
Settings
Open Settings from the tray icon to configure:
Setting
Description
Screenshot save folder
Where auto-saved screenshots are written
Auto-save on copy
Automatically save every screenshot when copied
Capture delay
Countdown (sec) before the selection overlay opens
Capture hotkey
The key that triggers the capture overlay (default: Print Screen)
Recording output folder
Where recorded videos are saved
Recording format
Output format: MP4 (H.264) or AVI (MJPEG)
HUD close delay
How long the recording HUD stays visible after stopping (0 / 3 / 5 / 10 / 15 / 30 s)
Default annotation colour
Pre-selected colour when the overlay opens
Stroke thickness
Default pen/shape width
Auto-update check interval
How often to check for new releases: Every day / Every 2 days / Every 3 days / Never
Theme
App appearance: Light, Dark, or System (follows Windows)
Keyboard shortcuts
Shortcut
Action
Ctrl+Z
Undo last annotation
Ctrl+Y
Redo annotation
Ctrl+C
Copy screenshot to clipboard
Escape
Close the overlay / cancel current action
Project structure
SnippingTool/ Main WPF application
App.xaml.cs DI setup, tray icon, global hotkey
AnnotationTool.cs Enum of all annotation tool types
CountdownWindow Fullscreen countdown overlay
OverlayWindow Region-selection and annotation UI
ViewModels/ MVVM view models
Services/ Screen capture, geometry, update check
Models/ Immutable data records and settings
SnippingTool.Tests/ xUnit test project
Services/ Service unit tests
ViewModels/ ViewModel unit tests
The base version (major.minor) is declared in version.json.
The patch number is derived from the commit height — it increments automatically with every commit, so you never need to touch it manually.
On a tagged release (v*) the version has no pre-release suffix (e.g. 1.2.5). On non-release builds a short commit hash is appended (e.g. 1.2.5-g1a2b3c4).
