/screenpen

ScreenPen is a simple screen annotation software that allows drawing directly on the screen.

Primary LanguagePythonGNU General Public License v3.0GPL-3.0

ScreenPen

Multiplatform screen annotation software that allows drawing directly on the screen.

Package version License Number of downloads

Wayland users!

Wayland is not supported yet.

Description

Screen annotation software which allows drawing directly on the screen. It is an open source and multiplatform (all systems that support Python) alternative to tools such as Epic Pen. Supported shapes:

  • line,
  • rectangle,
  • chart (using matplotlib).

The behavior of the program depends on the Window System you use:

  • if the system supports "live transparency then a transparent background is used (you can see a video playing in the background),
  • if not then the screenshot is taken, and the user draws on the captured image (you see a static image of the screen),
  • sometimes your WM may be detected as not supporting "live transparency". In that case try running with -t parameter to force it._

Demo (video)

demo.mp4

Note: The app is created ad-hoc only for my use case. It may contain bugs...

Usage

Installation and execution

Tu run the program you need to have Python installed and execute following:

pip install screenpen
screenpen                # or python -m screenpen

NOTE: Your WM may be detected as not supporting "live transparency". In that case try running with -t parameter:

screenpen -t

Controls

  • Left mouse button - drawing.
  • Right mouse button - quit.
  • Keyboard shortcuts:
    • Ctrl+Z - undo,
    • Ctrl+Y - redo,
    • hold Shift - change mouse cursor icon to arrrow.

TODO

  • Better Matplotlib charts support.

Compatilibity notes

Screenpen (from 0.2 version) is compatible with PyQt5 and PyQt6, nevertheless the PyQt5 is currently in the requirements and recommended. It is possible to run it using PyQt6 by running:

pip install matplotlib>=3.2 numpy>=1.8 PyQt6
pip install screenpen --no-deps