Tired of pasting Print Screen into Paint every time? Lightscreen, a free open-source tool, sits in the background, captures on a hotkey, saves the file automatically and can upload it to Imgur for a quick link.
Three capture targets
Lightscreen can capture the entire screen, a specific window, or a portion of the display. The choice of target suits different records: a full-screen image preserves the whole desktop, a window capture focuses on one application, and a selected area isolates a particular detail.
Area mode includes a zoom toggle and precise sizing, a magnifier helps line up the edges, and a delay can be set for menus that close when you press a key.
What can be changed in the options?
The options menu covers image quality and output format. Lightscreen supports PNG, JPG, PPM, XBM, BMP, and TIFF, so a screenshot can be saved in a format suited to the next step in a workflow.
Filenames can use a prefix plus a date or counter. Captures can also be uploaded to Imgur or Pomf-style hosts, and a preview window lets you check, keep or discard a shot first.
A discreet capture workflow
Lightscreen is designed to remain out of view until called by its shortcut. Its system tray icon can also be set to disappear during a screenshot, keeping the captured image focused on the material on screen.
Every hotkey can be changed, and the history window lists earlier screenshots and upload links. Lightscreen is GPL-licensed, built with Qt, and also runs on Linux.
Pros
- Captures the full screen, a window, or a selected area
- Supports PNG, JPG, PPM, XBM, BMP, and TIFF
- Lets you set screenshot image quality and filename prefixes
- Can hide its system tray icon when capturing
Cons
- No built-in annotation or editing tools
- No new releases for several years
Can Lightscreen upload screenshots?
Yes. Captures can be sent to Imgur or Pomf-style file hosts, and the links are kept in the history window.
Which image formats does Lightscreen support?
PNG, JPG, BMP, TIFF, PPM and XBM, with an adjustable quality setting.
Is Lightscreen still updated?
Version 2.5 is the latest release; the open-source code remains available on GitHub.