ScreenForge is a modern, fast screen capture and annotation app for Windows. Lightshot-style workflow with drawing tools, numbered steps, blur/pixelate, freeform collage canvas, region GIF recording, and one-click cloud upload.
Free Windows screenshot tool · Turkish UI · Windows 11–inspired dark theme
Built with .NET 9 · WPF · SkiaSharp
Looking for a Lightshot alternative, a better Snipping Tool, or a lightweight screen recorder for short GIFs? ScreenForge combines capture, annotation, export, and upload in one tray app:
- Capture a region, fullscreen, or a freeform collage canvas
- Annotate with arrows, shapes, pen, highlight, text, numbered steps, and blur / pixelate
- Export PNG, JPEG, or WebP — solid background or transparent
- Record a region as GIF and preview before save
- Upload to the cloud and get a shareable link
- Global hotkeys, system tray, settings, and auto-update
| Area | What you get |
|---|---|
| Capture | Region, fullscreen, freeform (collage) canvas |
| Annotation | Arrow, shapes, pen, highlight, text, steps, blur/pixelate |
| Freeform mode | Multi-select, copy / paste / duplicate, system clipboard PNG |
| Output | Copy, save (PNG/JPEG/WebP), cloud upload, region GIF |
| Export | Background or transparent + crop from the right edge |
| System | Tray icon, global hotkeys, settings, automatic updates |
Region selection and mode bar (Region · Fullscreen · Freeform).
Arrow, step numbers, highlight, text, ellipse, and blur over the selection.
| Action | Default |
|---|---|
| Capture region | Alt + Shift + S |
| Fullscreen | Win + Alt + F |
| Fullscreen + upload | Win + Alt + U |
| Freeform / collage | Win + Alt + C |
Change shortcuts under Settings → Hotkeys.
Grab the latest build from GitHub Releases:
| File | Use |
|---|---|
ScreenForge-win-Setup.exe |
Installer (auto-update ready) |
ScreenForge-win-Portable.zip |
Portable — no install |
Also mirrored under Releases/ in this repo for packaging workflows.
- Windows 10 / 11 (x64)
- No separate runtime install needed for release builds (self-contained packaging via Velopack)
Requires the .NET 9 SDK.
dotnet build ScreenForge.sln -c Release
dotnet run --project ScreenForge/ScreenForge.csproj -c Releasedotnet test ScreenForge.Tests/ScreenForge.Tests.csproj -c ReleaseOptional README assets:
dotnet run --project tools/ReadmeAssets -c Release -- docs/readme| Layer | Choice |
|---|---|
| Runtime | .NET 9 |
| UI | WPF + Windows Forms interop |
| Drawing | SkiaSharp |
| Tray | H.NotifyIcon.Wpf |
| Updates | Velopack |
| MVVM helpers | CommunityToolkit.Mvvm |
Yes. ScreenForge is free to download and use for personal and internal work. See the License section for redistribution.
It targets a Lightshot-like capture-and-annotate flow on Windows, with steps, blur, freeform collage, GIF region capture, and cloud upload. It is lighter than full ShareX-style tool suites and focused on daily screenshot workflows.
Not full video. It records a selected region as an animated GIF, with preview before export.
PNG, JPEG, and WebP, plus clipboard copy and optional cloud upload.
The UI is Turkish. The project and this README are documented in English for discoverability.
ScreenForge/ # Main WPF application
ScreenForge.Tests/ # Unit tests
docs/readme/ # README images
Releases/ # Packaged installers & portable zip
scripts/ # Packaging helpers (Velopack)
tools/ReadmeAssets/ # Optional screenshot asset generator
Issues and pull requests are welcome. For bugs, include Windows version, ScreenForge version, and steps to reproduce.
Personal / internal use. For redistribution, contact the repository owner.
Keywords: Windows screenshot tool · screen capture · annotation · Lightshot alternative · snipping tool · GIF recorder · blur · pixelate · WPF · SkiaSharp · .NET 9