Hey everyone! 👋
I just released version 1.1.1 of DotScramble (formerly Advanced Image Privacy Studio). It's an open-source tool built with Python to help you secure images through obfuscation and pixelation.
Since I'm distributing this as an independent open-source developer (and haven't purchased an expensive code-signing certificate yet 😅), Windows users might encounter a SmartScreen warning or a browser alert when downloading the .exe file.
Don't worry, this is a standard "False Positive" for new open-source apps.
Here is a quick demo showing how to download it and safely bypass the "Unknown Publisher" warning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKx4-TsWuiM
📝 The Steps (TL;DR):
Go to the GitHub Releases Page.
Download DotScramble-windows.exe.
Browser Warning: If Chrome/Edge says "File is not commonly downloaded," click the three dots > Keep > Keep anyway.
Windows SmartScreen: When you run the app, if you see "Windows protected your PC":
Click "More Info".
Click "Run Anyway".
🔧 Tech Stack
Language: Python
Build Tool: PyInstaller / PyArmor
GUI: Tkinter
The code is 100% open source. You can check it out, audit it, or contribute on GitHub: 👉 [https://github.com/kareem2099/DotScramble]
Feedback is welcome! Let me know what you think.
Top comments (2)
Congrats on the v2.0 release! I’ve been looking for a Python-based image obfuscation tool for a personal project—does DotScramble v2.0 add any new pixelation/obfuscation features, or is this release focused mostly on the Windows installation improvements? Also, have you considered a winget package for even easier Windows deployment down the line?
Thanks regarding the release! Sorry for the delayed reply.
You are spot on—this release was heavily focused on Windows deployment and stability. We worked on bundling the Tesseract OCR engine internally (to remove external dependencies) and fixing High-DPI scaling issues for modern Windows screens.
As for new features, the core obfuscation tools (Blur, Pixelation, Magic Eraser) are stable, but I'm planning to add more detection models soon.
A Winget package is a great suggestion! I'm currently finalizing the Microsoft Store submission (MSIX), and Winget will definitely be the next step for easier deployment. Thanks for the support!