Capture screenshot effortlessly — Whether you're a developer, gamer, or content creator, this tutorial will teach you how to create a simple yet powerful screenshot tool in Python! 🚀
Are you looking for an easy way to capture screenshots using Python? 🚀
In this step-by-step guide, we’ll teach you how to create a screenshot tool using Python, starting from a basic command-line method and then building a fully-featured GUI screenshot application using Tkinter and Pillow.
This tutorial is perfect for beginners and intermediate developers looking to enhance their Python skills with real-world projects.
📸 Basic Screenshot Tool in Python (CMD Version)
If you’re just starting, the simplest way to take a screenshot in Python is by using the pyautogui library.
Step 1: Install pyautogui
Open your terminal and install the library:
pip install pyautogui
Step 2: Write the Script
Here’s the minimal Python script to capture the entire screen:
import pyautogui
screenshot = pyautogui.screenshot()
screenshot.save(\”screenshot.png\”)
✅ That’s it! Run this script, and it will automatically capture your current screen and save it as screenshot.png in your working directory.
🖥️ Building a Full GUI Screenshot Tool in Python
Now, let’s step it up and create a graphical screenshot application using Tkinter, Pillow, and ImageGrab.
This tool will allow users to:
Capture the full screen
Select a specific area
Edit the screenshot (draw annotations)
Save the final result
Step 1: Install Required Libraries
Make sure you have the necessary libraries:
pip install pillow
(Tkinter usually comes pre-installed with Python.)
Step 2: The Complete GUI Code
Here’s the full source code for the Python Screenshot GUI Application:
import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import filedialog, messagebox, colorchooser
from PIL import ImageGrab, Image, ImageDraw, ImageTk
import datetime
class ScreenshotTool:
def __init__(self, root):
self.root = root
self.root.title(“Screenshot Tool”)
self.root.geometry(“400×400”)
self.root.configure(bg=’#2e3f4f’)
self.root.iconbitmap(‘icon.ico’) # Make sure you have an ‘icon.ico’ file
self.title_label = tk.Label(root, text=”Screenshot Tool”, font=(“Arial”, 20, “bold”), bg=’#2e3f4f’, fg=’white’)
self.title_label.pack(pady=10)
self.capture_button = tk.Button(root, text=”Capture Full Screen”, command=self.capture_screenshot, height=2,
width=25, bg=’#4caf50′, fg=’white’, font=(“Arial”, 12))
self.capture_button.pack(pady=10)
self.area_button = tk.Button(root, text=”Capture Area”, command=self.capture_area, height=2, width=25,
bg=’#2196f3′, fg=’white’, font=(“Arial”, 12))
self.area_button.pack(pady=10)
self.edit_button = tk.Button(root, text=”Edit Last Screenshot”, command=self.edit_screenshot, height=2,
width=25, bg=’#ff9800′, fg=’white’, font=(“Arial”, 12), state=tk.DISABLED)
self.edit_button.pack(pady=10)
self.save_button = tk.Button(root, text=”Save Last Screenshot”, command=self.save_screenshot, height=2,
width=25, bg=’#1c27b0′, fg=’white’, font=(“Arial”, 12), state=tk.DISABLED)
self.save_button.pack(pady=10)
self.last_screenshot = None
def capture_screenshot(self):
self.root.withdraw()
self.root.after(500, self._do_screenshot)
def _do_screenshot(self):
screenshot = ImageGrab.grab()
self.last_screenshot = screenshot
self.save_button.config(state=tk.NORMAL)
self.edit_button.config(state=tk.NORMAL)
self.root.deiconify()
messagebox.showinfo(“Screenshot Taken”, “Screenshot captured successfully!”)
def capture_area(self):
self.root.withdraw()
self.selection_window = tk.Toplevel()
self.selection_window.attributes(‘-fullscreen’, True)
self.selection_window.attributes(‘-alpha’, 0.3)
self.selection_window.configure(background=’black’)
self.start_x = self.start_y = None
self.rect = None
self.canvas = tk.Canvas(self.selection_window, cursor=”cross”)
self.canvas.pack(fill=tk.BOTH, expand=True)
self.canvas.bind(“<ButtonPress-1>”, self.on_button_press)
self.canvas.bind(“<B1-Motion>”, self.on_move_press)
self.canvas.bind(“<ButtonRelease-1>”, self.on_button_release)
def on_button_press(self, event):
self.start_x = self.canvas.canvasx(event.x)
self.start_y = self.canvas.canvasy(event.y)
self.rect = self.canvas.create_rectangle(self.start_x, self.start_y, self.start_x, self.start_y, outline=’red’,
width=2)
def on_move_press(self, event):
cur_x, cur_y = (self.canvas.canvasx(event.x), self.canvas.canvasy(event.y))
self.canvas.coords(self.rect, self.start_x, self.start_y, cur_x, cur_y)
def on_button_release(self, event):
end_x = self.canvas.canvasx(event.x)
end_y = self.canvas.canvasy(event.y)
self.selection_window.destroy()
self.root.after(500, lambda: self._grab_area(self.start_x, self.start_y, end_x, end_y))
def _grab_area(self, x1, y1, x2, y2):
screenshot = ImageGrab.grab(bbox=(min(x1, x2), min(y1, y2), max(x1, x2), max(y1, y2)))
self.last_screenshot = screenshot
self.save_button.config(state=tk.NORMAL)
self.edit_button.config(state=tk.NORMAL)
self.root.deiconify()
messagebox.showinfo(“Area Screenshot Taken”, “Area screenshot captured successfully!”)
def edit_screenshot(self):
if self.last_screenshot:
self.editor_window = tk.Toplevel(self.root)
self.editor_window.title(“Edit Screenshot”)
self.editor_window.geometry(“800×600”)
self.image_copy = self.last_screenshot.copy()
self.tk_image = ImageTk.PhotoImage(self.image_copy)
self.canvas_edit = tk.Canvas(self.editor_window, width=self.tk_image.width(), height=self.tk_image.height())
self.canvas_edit.pack()
self.canvas_edit.create_image(0, 0, anchor=”nw”, image=self.tk_image)
self.canvas_edit.bind(“<B1-Motion>”, self.draw_on_image)
self.draw = ImageDraw.Draw(self.image_copy)
color_btn = tk.Button(self.editor_window, text=”Choose Color”, command=self.choose_color)
color_btn.pack(pady=10)
save_btn = tk.Button(self.editor_window, text=”Update Screenshot”, command=self.update_screenshot)
save_btn.pack(pady=10)
self.pen_color = ‘red’
def choose_color(self):
color = colorchooser.askcolor(title=”Choose Pen Color”)
if color[1]:
self.pen_color = color[1]
def draw_on_image(self, event):
x, y = event.x, event.y
self.draw.ellipse((x – 5, y – 5, x + 5, y + 5), fill=self.pen_color, outline=self.pen_color)
self.tk_image = ImageTk.PhotoImage(self.image_copy)
self.canvas_edit.create_image(0, 0, anchor=”nw”, image=self.tk_image)
def update_screenshot(self):
self.last_screenshot = self.image_copy
self.editor_window.destroy()
messagebox.showinfo(“Updated”, “Screenshot updated!”)
def save_screenshot(self):
if self.last_screenshot:
file_path = filedialog.asksaveasfilename(defaultextension=”.png”,
filetypes=[(“PNG files”, “*.png”), (“All files”, “*.*”)])
if file_path:
self.last_screenshot.save(file_path)
messagebox.showinfo(“Saved”, f”Screenshot saved to:\n{file_path}”)
else:
messagebox.showwarning(“No Screenshot”, “No screenshot to save!”)
if __name__ == “__main__”:
root = tk.Tk()
app = ScreenshotTool(root)
root.mainloop()
🎨 Features of Our Python Screenshot Application
Modern UI: Styled with custom colors, fonts, and a window icon.
Full-Screen Capture: Instantly grab the entire screen.
Area Selection: Drag to capture only a specific part of the screen.
Edit Screenshot: Annotate with freehand drawing and color picker.
Save to File: Save the edited or original screenshot as a
.png.
This project demonstrates how to combine multiple Python libraries into a beautiful, professional-level app.
📂 How to Add an App Icon
To make the window even more polished, you can add a custom icon.ico:
Download free icons from IconArchive or Favicon.io.
Place the
icon.icoin the same folder as your script.The line
self.root.iconbitmap('icon.ico')sets the window icon.
🚀 Final Thoughts
Congratulations!
You have successfully built not just one, but two powerful Python screenshot tools – a simple one for quick use, and a GUI application ready for daily professional usage.
These projects teach you valuable skills:
Using Python GUI frameworks
Image processing with Pillow
User experience design (custom colors, fonts, icons)
Adding interactive features like freehand drawing
📈 What you have learned in this tutorial:
Python Screenshot Tool
How to Take Screenshot in Python
Build Screenshot App Python
Tkinter Screenshot Application
GUI Screenshot Tool Python
Python ImageGrab Example
Python Pillow Image Editing
📚 What’s Next?
If you loved this project, you can expand it further by:
Adding hotkeys to capture screenshots without opening the app.
Integrating cloud upload (Google Drive, Dropbox).
Allowing screen recording and GIF creation.
Stay tuned for more Python projects and tutorials! 🚀
💬 Got questions? Drop a comment or reach out!