ScreenCapture
I got tired of using several programs to capture images of the software
I was developing and wrote my own program -
ScreenCapture.exe.
This has the advantage that I can capture any window (release the mouse in the title bar),
or any Windows control (buttons, radio buttons, edit fields, and so forth)
in any Windows application.
Just left click the Get Control Image button
and release the button over the control you want.
The captured image can be
- Copied to the clipboard
- Saved as a png, jpeg, or bmp file
ScreenCapture.exe
| Examples
| Notes
| Size Comparisons
ScreenCapture.exe
This is an image of ScreenCapture.exe
(resized for display here)
after capturing the temperature control
from my Water Vapor Computations program.
The function of the buttons is obvious.
Besides capturing an image,
- You can obtain an image from a file or the clipboard.
-
The Save File and Copy to Clipboard buttons are disabled
(greyed out) if there is no image.
-
The Read from Clipboard button is disabled
(greyed out) if there is no image in the clipboard - in this case, it contained text.
- The clipboard images are in bitmap (bmp) format and can be transferred between
most Windows programs.
I use the clipboard to transfer images to/from
GIMP
when I need to make minor mods - like hiding a username in an error box.
Loading a file is a simple way to check its contents or to convert it from
one type to another.
Examples
As an example, these images are from my Water Vapor Computations program.
This first image shows the entire application - it was captured by releasing
the mouse in the window title bar.
By releasing the mouse on the words Cloud base,
I was able to capture just the TPanel control.
Releasing on Altitude or anywhere inside the panel,
except on a control, produces the same result.
Releasing on the words Lapse Rate,
I was able to capture just the radio group.
And so forth - any Windows control you release the mouse on will be captured.
Text on a Delphi form is not implemented as a Windows control
and can not be captured -
edit boxes, radio buttons, and the like are.
Some applications (like GIMP) don't use any Windows controls and, as a result,
only complete windows can be capture, but not individual controls.
Notes
- In Windows XP, the upper window corners are rounded and the program will
capture whatever is on the screen behind them.
I move the window so that there is a white background.
- The program hides itself when making a capture and moves to the foreground
after a capture (so you can see what was captured).
- The captured window is moved to the top of the stack. Therefore, even if it is partially hidden when you release the mouse,
the captured image does not contain some other application's data.
The exception to this a window under the lower Taskbar - the Taskbar stays on top!
- F1 displays an About box.
- jpeg files are saved at maximum quality. (I hate compression artifacts in screen shots.)
Size Comparisons
Using the large image above (shown at 50% here), these are the file sizes
| png | 18 KB | ScreenCapture
|
|---|
| 18 KB | GIMP
| | 23 KB | MS Paint
| | jpeg | 138 KB | At max quality
|
|---|
| bmp | 1,079 KB | Way too large
|
|---|
|
|
|
I was not able to detect any visual difference between the files.
Author:
Robert Clemenzi