greenflame

Yet another Windows screenshot tool, with very opinionated set of behaviors. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A selection scheme inspired by Greenshot , an editing scheme inspired by Flameshot , all in one tool.

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Usage

Run greenflame.exe. The executable sits in the tray.

Press the Print Screen key, or left-click the tray icon to start an interactive capture. Alternatively, right-click the tray icon and choose a capture mode from the context menu.

In interactive mode, the screen is captured and a region is selected:

• Click and drag to select a rectangle (hold Alt to disable snapping).
• Ctrl + click ➜ select the window under the cursor.
• Shift + click ➜ select the whole monitor under the cursor.
• Shift+Ctrl + click ➜ select the whole desktop.

Once a region is selected:

• Drag the handles on the selection to resize (hold Alt to disable snapping).
• Hold Tab and drag inside the selection to move it (hold Alt to disable snapping).
• Ctrl-S ➜ save directly (no dialog) to the configured default save folder as the configured format (default PNG), then close.
• Ctrl-Shift-S ➜ open Save As dialog, then save and close.
• Ctrl-Alt-S ➜ save directly (no dialog), copy the saved file to the clipboard, then close.
• Ctrl-Shift-Alt-S ➜ open Save As dialog, save, copy the saved file to the clipboard, then close.
• Ctrl-C ➜ copy the selection to the clipboard, then close.
• Escape ➜ cancel or go back.

Save As supports PNG, JPEG, and BMP.

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Hotkeys

All hotkeys use the Print Screen key with modifier combinations. They are also available from the tray icon's right-click context menu.

Hotkey	Action
Prt Scrn	Start interactive capture (select a region)
Ctrl + Prt Scrn	Copy the current window to the clipboard
Shift + Prt Scrn	Copy the current monitor to the clipboard
Ctrl + Shift + Prt Scrn	Copy the full desktop to the clipboard
Alt + Prt Scrn	Recapture the last captured region (same screen coordinates)
Ctrl + Alt + Prt Scrn	Recapture the last captured window (wherever it is now)

The last two hotkeys require a previous capture in the current session. If no previous capture exists, or if the previously captured window has been closed or minimized, a warning toast is shown.

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Command-line mode

With no parameters, Greenflame starts normally in the tray.

You can also run one-shot capture commands (exactly one capture mode per invocation):

Option	Meaning
-r, --region <x,y,w,h>	Capture an explicit physical-pixel region
-w, --window <name>	Capture a visible top-level window whose title matches <name> (case-insensitive contains)
-m, --monitor <id>	Capture monitor by 1-based id
-d, --desktop	Capture the full virtual desktop
-h, --help	Show help and exit

Optional:

Option	Meaning
-o, --output <path>	Output file path (valid only with a capture mode)
-t, --format <png|jpg|jpeg|bmp>	Output format override
-f, --overwrite	Allow replacing an existing explicit --output file

Both --option=value and --option value forms are supported.

Examples:

greenflame.exe --desktop
greenflame.exe --desktop --format jpeg
greenflame.exe --monitor 2 --output "D:\shots\monitor2.png"
greenflame.exe --window "Notepad" --output "D:\shots\note" --format jpg
greenflame.exe --window "Notepad" --output "D:\shots\note.jpg" --overwrite
greenflame.exe --window="Notepad" --output "D:\shots\note"
greenflame.exe --region 1200,100,800,600

A note on output format resolution

1. If --output has a supported extension (.png, .jpg, .jpeg, .bmp), that extension defines the format.
2. Otherwise, if --format is provided, --format defines the format.
3. Otherwise, default_save_format (from [save] in the config) defines the format.
4. If --output extension conflicts with --format, the command fails.
5. If --output has an unsupported extension (for example .tiff), the command fails.
6. If --output has no extension, Greenflame appends one based on the resolved format.

Exit codes

Greenflame uses these process exit codes for command-line invocations. Non-zero codes are unique and not reused.

Code	Meaning
0	Success (includes --help and "already running" tray startup)
1	Failed to register application window classes
2	CLI argument parse/validation failed
3	Failed to create tray window
4	Failed to enforce single-instance tray mode
5	--region capture requested but region data is missing
6	--window matched no visible window
7	--window matched multiple windows (ambiguous)
8	--monitor capture requested but no monitors are available
9	--monitor id is out of range
10	Output path resolution/reservation failed
11	Capture/save operation failed
12	Matched window became unavailable before capture
13	Matched window is minimized

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Configuration

Greenflame reads ~/.config/greenflame/greenflame.ini (i.e. %USERPROFILE%\.config\greenflame\greenflame.ini).

All config keys

Section	Key	Default	Meaning
[ui]	show_balloons	true	Show tray toast notifications after copy/save actions.
[save]	default_save_dir	%USERPROFILE%\Pictures\greenflame (runtime fallback when unset)	Folder used by Ctrl-S, Ctrl-Alt-S, and CLI captures when --output is not provided.
[save]	last_save_as_dir	Falls back to default_save_dir, then %USERPROFILE%\Pictures\greenflame	Initial folder used by Ctrl-Shift-S and Ctrl-Shift-Alt-S (Save As).
[save]	default_save_format	png	Default image format for Ctrl-S, Ctrl-Alt-S, and CLI output paths without explicit extension. Accepted values: png, jpg/jpeg, bmp.
[save]	filename_pattern_region	screenshot-${YYYY}-${MM}-${DD}_${hh}${mm}${ss}	Default filename pattern for region captures.
[save]	filename_pattern_desktop	screenshot-${YYYY}-${MM}-${DD}_${hh}${mm}${ss}	Default filename pattern for desktop captures.
[save]	filename_pattern_monitor	screenshot-${YYYY}-${MM}-${DD}_${hh}${mm}${ss}-monitor${monitor}	Default filename pattern for monitor captures.
[save]	filename_pattern_window	screenshot-${YYYY}-${MM}-${DD}_${hh}${mm}${ss}-${title}	Default filename pattern for window captures.

Example:

[ui]
show_balloons=true

[save]
default_save_dir=C:\Users\you\Pictures\greenflame
last_save_as_dir=D:\shots\scratch
default_save_format=png
filename_pattern_region=screenshot-${YYYY}-${MM}-${DD}_${hh}${mm}${ss}
filename_pattern_desktop=screenshot-${YYYY}-${MM}-${DD}_${hh}${mm}${ss}
filename_pattern_monitor=screenshot-${YYYY}-${MM}-${DD}_${hh}${mm}${ss}-monitor${monitor}
filename_pattern_window=screenshot-${YYYY}-${MM}-${DD}_${hh}${mm}${ss}-${title}

Save filenames

Saved files use one pattern per capture type and Greenshot-style ${VARIABLE} placeholders.

Filename patterns

Supported variables

Variable	Expansion	Example
${YYYY}	4-digit year	2026
${YY}	2-digit year	26
${MM}	2-digit month	02
${DD}	2-digit day	21
${hh}	2-digit hour (24h)	14
${mm}	2-digit minute	30
${ss}	2-digit second	25
${title}	Sanitized window title (spaces and invalid filename chars become _; max 50 chars; falls back to window)	My_App
${monitor}	1-based monitor number	2
${num}	Incrementing counter (6-digit, zero-padded, next available by directory scan)	000042

Default patterns

Capture type	Default pattern	Example output
Region	screenshot-${YYYY}-${MM}-${DD}_${hh}${mm}${ss}	screenshot-2026-02-21_143025
Desktop	screenshot-${YYYY}-${MM}-${DD}_${hh}${mm}${ss}	screenshot-2026-02-21_143025
Monitor	screenshot-${YYYY}-${MM}-${DD}_${hh}${mm}${ss}-monitor${monitor}	screenshot-2026-02-21_143025-monitor2
Window	screenshot-${YYYY}-${MM}-${DD}_${hh}${mm}${ss}-${title}	screenshot-2026-02-21_143025-My_App

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Build and test

• Build instructions: docs/build.md
• Test instructions: docs/testing.md
• Agent-specific repository rules: AGENTS.md

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MIT License