Program A Screen-Capture Tool In C#

Develop a screen-grab tool using C# and the Windows API

What you'll learn
Develop a functional and useful screen-grab tool.
Understand how to import Windows API functions.
Be able to deal with screen-handling even on multi-monitor systems.
Understand hotkeys that trigger actions throughout Windows.
Understand the Windows Procedure (WndProc).
Requirements
Basic knowledge of C# programming (complete beginners should first study my ‘Learn C# Programming’ course)
Visual Studio (free or commercial edition).
Description
Create a screen-capture tool in C#. In this course you will follow the development of a complete project from the ground up. You will end up with a utility that grabs images from screen and saves them to disk in multiple image formats.
In this course you will develop programs that do all the following:


Grab an image of the entire screenGrab an image of a selected windowGrab an image from a second or third monitorMark an area of the screen with the mouse and grab that areaAdd an image of the mouse pointer to grabbed imagesCalculate screen coordinates and offsetsSave images to disk in various image formatsCreate hotkeys to trigger the screen-capture from any applicationUse forms and picture boxes to display imagesUse Windows API functions to add extra features to C#Use file dialogs to save and load imagesCreate transparent and translucent windowsMake forms draggable using API functionsOverride the Windows Procedure to handle events
This is a project-based course that comes with all the source code ready-to-run. It provides a great way for C# programmers to move beyond the basics to explore the development of more complex  C# applications.



Overview

Section 1: The Basics of Screen Capture

Lecture 1 Welcome to the course

Lecture 2 What You will Learn from This Course

Lecture 3 ReadMe

Lecture 4 Source Code Archive [Download]

Lecture 5 A Simple Screen-Grabber

Lecture 6 Pausing Before Screen Capture

Lecture 7 Saving images

Lecture 8 Using Windows API functions

Lecture 9 Saving an image of a selected window

Lecture 10 Saving an image from a secondary screen

Lecture 11 X and Y positions on Multi-screen systems

Lecture 12 Using a PictureBox

Lecture 13 Adding a Save File Dialog

Lecture 14 Using File Dialogs

Lecture 15 Selecting Image Formats

Section 2: Extra Features

Lecture 16 Making the screen-grab tool more useful

Lecture 17 Selecting and Capturing an Area of Screen

Lecture 18 Making a Form Transparent

Lecture 19 Making a Transparent Form Draggable

Lecture 20 Compatibility with Windows versions

Lecture 21 Grabbing The Mouse Pointer

Lecture 22 Drawing the Mouse 'Cursor'

Lecture 23 Creating Hotkeys

Lecture 24 Registering Hotkeys

Lecture 25 WndProc – What is a Windows Procedure?

Lecture 26 Bringing a Window to Front

Lecture 27 Adding The Finishing Touches

Lecture 28 Going Further

Intermediate C# programmers looking for a project to extend their knowledge,C# programmers who want to learn to use the Windows API,Programmers wanting to understand screen-handling and image capturing