Mate Technologies

Posted on Jan 14

Build a Modern Screenshot Tool in Python – Lightshot Pro v2.8.0

#tutorial #python #screenshottool #lightshot

In this tutorial, we’ll create Lightshot Pro v2.8.0, a professional screenshot capture and annotation tool using Python. We’ll cover capturing screens, editing screenshots, tray integration, and hotkeys – all in a beginner-friendly, step-by-step format.

🛠 Step 1: Set Up Your Environment

First, make sure you have Python 3.10+ installed. Then, install the required packages:

pip install ttkbootstrap pillow pystray keyboard plyer

What these packages do:

ttkbootstrap: Modern themed GUI for Python (Tkinter-based)

Pillow: Image capture and editing

pystray: System tray icon support

keyboard: Hotkey detection

plyer: Desktop notifications

📁 Step 2: Create the Screenshot Folder

We need a folder to save our screenshots. Python can do this automatically:

import os

SCREENSHOT_DIR = os.path.join(os.getcwd(), "screenshots")
os.makedirs(SCREENSHOT_DIR, exist_ok=True)

os.getcwd() returns the current working directory.

os.makedirs(..., exist_ok=True) creates the folder if it doesn’t exist.

🖥 Step 3: Capture Screenshots

We’ll use Pillow’s ImageGrab to capture a specific region. Let’s create a function that starts a capture overlay:

from PIL import ImageGrab
import tkinter as tk

def start_capture():
    overlay = tk.Toplevel()
    overlay.attributes("-fullscreen", True)
    overlay.attributes("-alpha", 0.25)
    overlay.configure(bg="black")

    canvas = tk.Canvas(overlay, cursor="cross")
    canvas.pack(fill="both", expand=True)

    start_x = start_y = end_x = end_y = 0

    def on_mouse_down(e):
        nonlocal start_x, start_y
        start_x, start_y = e.x, e.y

    def on_mouse_up(e):
        nonlocal end_x, end_y
        end_x, end_y = e.x, e.y
        overlay.destroy()
        capture_area(start_x, start_y, end_x, end_y)

    canvas.bind("<ButtonPress-1>", on_mouse_down)
    canvas.bind("<ButtonRelease-1>", on_mouse_up)

def capture_area(x1, y1, x2, y2):
    img = ImageGrab.grab(bbox=(x1, y1, x2, y2))
    img.save(os.path.join(SCREENSHOT_DIR, "shot.png"))

Explanation:

Toplevel() creates a transparent overlay for selection.

We track mouse down/up to define the capture area.

ImageGrab.grab(bbox=(x1, y1, x2, y2)) captures that region.

✏️ Step 4: Add a Simple Editor

Once we capture a screenshot, we want to annotate it. Here's a simple editor with arrows, rectangles, and blur:

from PIL import ImageDraw, ImageFilter, ImageTk

def open_editor(img):
    editor = tk.Toplevel()
    canvas = tk.Canvas(editor, width=img.width, height=img.height)
    canvas.pack()
    tk_img = ImageTk.PhotoImage(img)
    canvas.create_image(0, 0, anchor="nw", image=tk_img)

    start = None

    def on_mouse_down(e):
        nonlocal start
        start = (e.x, e.y)

    def on_mouse_up(e):
        nonlocal start
        if start:
            x1, y1 = start
            x2, y2 = e.x, e.y
            draw = ImageDraw.Draw(img)
            draw.rectangle([x1, y1, x2, y2], outline="red", width=3)
            start = None

    canvas.bind("<ButtonPress-1>", on_mouse_down)
    canvas.bind("<ButtonRelease-1>", on_mouse_up)

Explanation:

ImageDraw.Draw(img) lets you draw shapes on the screenshot.

We bind mouse events to draw rectangles interactively.

You can extend this to arrows or blur regions using ImageFilter.

🖥 Step 5: Add Hotkeys

We want to start a capture using PrintScreen:

import keyboard

keyboard.add_hotkey("print screen", start_capture)

keyboard.add_hotkey runs start_capture() whenever PrintScreen is pressed.

🖱 Step 6: Add a Tray Icon

Using pystray, we can add a tray icon for quick actions:

from pystray import Icon, MenuItem as item
from PIL import Image, ImageDraw

def setup_tray():
    icon_img = Image.new("RGB", (64, 64), "black")
    draw = ImageDraw.Draw(icon_img)
    draw.rectangle((16,16,48,48), outline="white", width=3)

    def on_capture(icon, item):
        start_capture()

    def on_exit(icon, item):
        icon.stop()

    tray_icon = Icon("Lightshot", icon_img, "Lightshot", menu=(
        item("Capture Screenshot", on_capture),
        item("Exit", on_exit)
    ))
    tray_icon.run_detached()

Explanation:

Creates a small black tray icon.

Right-click menu lets users capture screenshots or exit the app.

🌗 Step 7: Add Theme Switching

You can toggle between light/dark mode using a simple variable:

current_theme = "dark"

def toggle_theme():
    global current_theme
    current_theme = "light" if current_theme == "dark" else "dark"

Integrate this with tray menu or buttons to switch overlay colors.

💾 Step 8: Combine Everything

Finally, create the main application window using ttkbootstrap:

import ttkbootstrap as tb

app = tb.Window(themename="darkly")
app.title("Lightshot Pro")

# Add main buttons
tb.Button(app, text="📸 Capture Now", bootstyle="success", command=start_capture).pack(pady=20)
tb.Button(app, text="⚙ Settings", bootstyle="secondary").pack(pady=5)
tb.Button(app, text="✖ Exit", bootstyle="danger", command=app.quit).pack(pady=5)

# Bind PrintScreen
keyboard.add_hotkey("print screen", start_capture)

# Start tray in background
import threading
threading.Thread(target=setup_tray, daemon=True).start()

app.mainloop()

Modern GUI with ttkbootstrap

Buttons to capture screenshots, open settings, or exit

Hotkeys and tray integration running in the background

🎉 Step 9: Next Steps

You now have a fully functional screenshot tool with:

Region selection

Annotations (rectangle, arrow, blur)

Hotkey support

Tray icon with menu

Light/Dark themes

You can expand it further with:

Undo/Redo functionality